expensive roaming bills

INFOGRAPHIC: How to Avoid Roaming Charges

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INFOGRAPHIC: How to Avoid Roaming Charges

The summer means its traveling season! But don’t let roaming fees ruin your vacation, for more tips on how to avoid these outrageous bills click here.

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4 Actions You Can Take Now to Prevent Jaw-Dropping Roaming Bills

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4 Actions You Can Take Now to Prevent Jaw-Dropping Roaming Bills

With expensive hotel rates, fancy restaurants and transportation expenses, shocking roaming bills have also contributed to the high cost of vacations. Many cell phone users are unaware of the fact that they will be charged more than usual for using their phones outside certain zones.

Here are 4 actions you can take to avoid the outrageous roaming bill:

  1. Enable airplane mode while traveling. The airplane mode prevents any calls and texts to be sent/received. Different phones (iPhone, Samsung) have different settings for example, the iPhone also blocks Location Services while the airplane mode is enabled. This function is useful for preventing any possible charges while traveling to your destination while still having access to music, games, and calendar.
  2. Get an international SIM card before leaving so you can enjoy local rates for calling, texting and data. In the end, this may be cheaper than making that one call using the hotel phone’s outrageous rates.
  3. Turn off data roaming on your phone.
  4. This will prevent your phone from using data on the road while outside the range of your carrier’s cell phone towers.

    iPhone:

    Settings → General → Network → Data Roaming → Off

    BlackBerry:

    Manage Connections Icon → Mobile Network Options → While Roaming → Off

    Android:

    Home → Menu → Settings → Wireless & Networks → Mobile Networks → Data Roaming → Off

  5. Even if you have an international data plan, it is easy to go over any data plan’s limit if you are not careful. Keep in mind that although your phone is tucked away in your pocket, it may still be using a significant amount of data by pushing emails, syncing to your social media, and having automatic application updates. Navigate the settings on your phone to turn off automatic fetching of data.

Here’s an example of how much it could cost you to roam in France:

  • Incoming/Outgoing Calls – $1.39/minute
  • Data – $20/MB
  • Incoming Texts – $0.20/message
  • Outgoing Texts – $0.50/message

Be sure you know your roaming alternatives next time you travel to avoid outrageous roaming bills!