A Traveler’s Guide to Taking a Smartphone Abroad

The summer tourist season will soon be upon us, to run away, plugging and the concept of far away lands.

However, while technically disconnected ideas look easy while they are abroad, travel abroad is no Smartphone connection stress can quickly offset the benefits of a digital Detox. When the plane landed in a strange place, you might realize that can disable an unable to find mobile maps or place to eat on the phone. Rely on the printed travel guide may find the original and immediately inform those Muggers, you take a large amount of cash.

So what should I do? There are two ways to put your mobile phone abroad and access to data-saving methods and pay full price. Cheapest method involves some tinkering, and planning ahead at full price it is easy, but need to pay even more money to your carrier.

First, the full price of options. For many years, United States wireless customers have been able to additional payments to their carrier for international roaming, or be able to seamlessly use a foreign network. Among other options, AT&T sell international packages with small amounts of data (800 megabytes, enough to last for a week or so) for $120 and Verizon Wireless charges $ 10 a day roaming in many countries. In recent years, the United States t-mobile and Sprint (Sprint) began offering free international roaming, but with a warning: the data transfer speed is very slow.

Tony · Employment, Alekstra, analyzes cell phone bill, Chief Executive of research firm said, he finally succumbed to paying AT&T additional $120, whenever he went abroad more and more fed up with in Europe and New York, juggling multiple cell phones and SIM cards.

"After all the setbacks, they managed to me," said Mr. Some of the extra money to pay for AT&T or Verizon is the most convenient option smart phone abroad, he said.

Frugal Traveler, there are some smart alternatives if they are willing to do a little homework.

Well, to bring "unlocked" smart phones are unrestricted, used with a carrier, into a foreign carrier's store, purchase data, and the SIM card in a mobile phone. (In the wireless industry jargon, these are called prepaid international SIM cards). Moreover, some overseas operators let you order SIM cards in advance, so you can get to it before your trip, or take it to the hotel.

Here is your guide to smart phones cheaper foreign, including five of the most popular forms of mobile service cost-Alekstra analysis of tourism destination of China, Japan and the United Kingdom, and France and Spain.

Unlock your Smartphone

First, use the foreign operators ' SIM card, you usually have to unlock your Smartphone, or buy a cheap unlocked cell phones. Typically, when you purchase a new smart phone, to lock it so you can use it only with the carrier. You have paid after hanging up the phone, you may require the carrier to unlock it.

Consider the AT&T iPhone 6S: payment device after $ 650, unlock the website requests you can go to AT&T. Unlock iPhone 6 I bought from a friend in my experience, AT&T system takes a few minutes to process the request, and then told me the phone was unlocked.

Each carrier unlock process online can be found with a Web search. Verizon generally does not lock the new generation of smart phones, but you should call the customer service to check the unlock before you travel. Sprint (Sprint) asks on its website or through the customer service over the phone unlocked. T-mobile provides a software application, Android users unlock; otherwise, you can contact t-mobile phone, or online chat, request it.

Or, you can buy cheap unlocked cell phones. Motorola's Moto g provides its second generation, customer recommended cheap Android phone, at about $ 150 on Amazon.

Download Apps for Messaging
If you get a foreign SIM card, you will be using a different phone number from your regular one. To simplify taking a smartphone abroad, we recommend ignoring traditional phone and texting services and relying on free communication services that rely purely on data connections.

Preparing to insert a new SIM card into a cellphone in India. CreditAsmita Parelkar for The New York Times

There are many data-based apps for messaging and calling. WhatsApp, the messaging company acquired by Facebook, is a reliable service that can be used in most countries for placing phone calls or sending messages over a data connection.

In China, the messaging app WeChat is popular.

Apple iPhones include iMessage and FaceTime, services for sending messages and placing calls over a data connection. If someone wants to contact you, tell them to use one of those services.

China
Once you have freed your smartphone of carrier restrictions and downloaded a messaging app, it’s time to find a service package for wherever you are traveling. Mr. Toikka recommends buying service from well-known carriers in each country because they are more reliable than off-brand carriers.

For China, the big carriers are China Mobile and China Unicom. Both carriers sell a package in their stores that includes one gigabyte of data for $20.40 — enough for a two-week trip.

For a longer visit, you might consider the two-gigabyte package offered by both carriers for $24.90.

If you want to buy a SIM card before the trip, on China Unicom’s websiteyou can order a SIM card including one gigabyte of data for $25 or two gigabytes for $35 and have it delivered to your hotel.

Japan

In Japan, Mr. Toikka recommended considering the carrier eConnect. It sells a one-gigabyte package that can be used for 15 days for $25.95. For a longer visit, it offers a three-gigabyte package for $40.64 that is valid for 30 days.

What’s more, you can order the eConnect SIM card ahead of time on the company’s website and schedule a delivery date to your hotel.

France

In France, Orange offers a two-gigabyte package in its stores for $33.60. That is its largest data offering, but if you run out of data, you can always buy another two gigs. If you order online, Orange offers a “holiday” SIM card that includes one gigabyte of data for $44.86.

Britain
In Britain, the carrier EE offers a handful of options in its stores, including a two-gigabyte package for $21.75 and a four-gigabyte package for $36.25. Both plans are valid for 30 days.

Bottom Line
We recommend foreign SIM cards with a few caveats. If you are traveling to multiple countries — among Britain, France and Spain, for example — you will need a separate SIM card for each country, and the costs will add up quickly. In that situation, contacting AT&T and Verizon to set up international roaming or tolerating T-Mobile and Sprint’s slow data speeds may be better than the extra trouble of juggling multiple SIMs.

Or if you are a business traveler with a good expense account, paying for AT&T’s or Verizon’s international packages are headache-free options. Verizon also offers its $10-a-day TravelPass for roaming in more than 100 countries — a nice option, though the cost will pile up during a longer trip.

Otherwise, you can save a lot of money and get a lot more high-speed data by planning ahead and buying a foreign SIM card.

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