Using Your Phone Overseas

Roaming can cause your phone bill to increase significantly and may cause a dent in your pocketbook. For some of those charges, a few options are available. Here is a guide to using your phone overseas

Speak with your service provider prior to travel. Ask what international roaming packages or plans they have available to travelers and see if any are feasible with your budget. Most networks offer free low-speed data in most countries and 25 cents per minute for long-distance calls. Check Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T sites to learn more.

You should ask about hotspot and cellular data to learn how it works while traveling. If need be, turn off your cellular data and use WiFi.

If the options presented doesn’t work for your budget, ask the representative to unlock your phone so you can use a new sim card while abroad. Sim cards are relatively cheap when traveling and can be used in most unlocked phones. Purchase a plan that works for you for the duration of your trip and it might be cheaper and more beneficial.

If the sim card you purchased does not work with your phone, buy a cheap unlocked phone in that country or on Amazon.

Also, keep in mind there are a variety of communication and social media apps available for use to keep in touch with your loved ones. They include Skype, WhatsApp and Messenger.

Choose the option that works best for you and use that extra money to do something more fun.