Cell Phones Overseas

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister IDK but that might be true. I think the most I've ever used was less than 2 GB on a European trip, and that included some hotspot time. Still, I agree that podcasts can be data intensive.

Yes, I’ve experienced how much data podcasts can use, and seems ridiculous. I used to download them ahead of time.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 You are the only one I know of that uses anywhere near that much data traveling overseas. It’s a non-issue for most folks.

Probably true.

But also may be the case that people are content to use Wifi or aren't aware of that mobile data in the amounts they use back home can be relatively affordable in other countries.

I know that sometimes around dinner time and early in the morning, some hotel Wifi networks ground to a halt because every guest is using heavily around that time.

If you check online usage, that's the usual pattern, before and after dinner, in the mornings from the time people wake up through breakfast.

So many people are keeping their normal daily routine as for as online usage. Especially as they tend to be away from the hotel from after breakfast to dinner time or after dinner.

My last trip was Australia in November. Australia used to have really expensive data. My recollection was spending like $80 USD for a previous trip to get like 5 or 10 GB at most.

But that market got competitive all of a sudden and I think I got like 30 GB for like 15 or 20 AUD, which is like $11 or $14.


Now you see on sites like GetYourGuide or Klook are mobile data packages, which they will deliver to you at the airports. So there's greater demand for higher amounts of data for tourists to use and carriers are competing to put out more attractive packages.

The whole eSIM market is taking off as well, though their prices aren't that competitive yet.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Yes, I’ve experienced how much data podcasts can use, and seems ridiculous. I used to download them ahead of time.

Because they load it up with more and more commercials.

In fact, the same podcasts I listen to at home, when I download overseas, I get local commercials inserted, in different languages as well, even though it's only English-language podcasts that I'm downloading.

[Kork13]

Question for the crowd --- what's the best way to handle cell phone service while actually living overseas when you'll still frequently call/text/travel back to the US?

Background: I'm in the military, moving to Japan this summer for 2-4 years .... but my family will be staying stateside for an extra year & I'm going to be traveling back to the US somewhat regularly. DW & I would prefer to keep our US numbers if feasible, for simplicity... We're also currently sharing a Verizon phone plan with my brothers -- they're open to switching with us for the cost savings, but it's not essential.

I'm trying to decide between GoogleFi, T-Mobile, or a local Japanese provider. I know that Fi will grant a military exception to their terms limitation on long-term use overseas. I'm not sure if T-Mobile is similarly accommodating -- I've been told both ways. My thoughts: T-Mobile would be cheapest, Fi probably the best fit, and a local service the simplest (though likely least flexible). Appreciate any advice or better ideas...

[PaunchyPirate]

Ok, you T-Mobilers have made me have a change of heart. I had planned on just buying a short-term plan from a European carrier for my 2 (maybe a 3rd in the works) this year. But I decided to look at the fine details at T-Mobile and decided it was worth a try. I transferred from Verizon Pre-Paid to an Unlimited 55+ Magenta plan this afternoon. My monthly bill will go up from $38 to $65, but I get more data, flexibility for Europe, Netflix and AppleTV. It also comes with AAA and I’ll explore switching that when my current year expires in June.

I’m leave for a Mediterranean cruise in less than a month, so I’ll test it in Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece. I didn’t look them all up to see if they appear in the 210 supported countries, but I’m sure most do, if not all.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kork13 Question for the crowd --- what's the best way to handle cell phone service while actually living overseas when you'll still frequently call/text/travel back to the US? Background: I'm in the military, moving to Japan this summer for 2-4 years .... but my family will be staying stateside for an extra year & I'm going to be traveling back to the US somewhat regularly. DW & I would prefer to keep our US numbers if feasible, for simplicity... We're also currently sharing a Verizon phone plan with my brothers -- they're open to switching with us for the cost savings, but it's not essential. I'm trying to decide between GoogleFi, T-Mobile, or a local Japanese provider. I know that Fi will grant a military exception to their terms limitation on long-term use overseas. I'm not sure if T-Mobile is similarly accommodating -- I've been told both ways. My thoughts: T-Mobile would be cheapest, Fi probably the best fit, and a local service the simplest (though likely least flexible). Appreciate any advice or better ideas...

You can maintain your US phone number but it would be best to use anything but voice to communicate internationally.

But I know some countries, they offer plans with voice minutes for several countries. I don't know for the Japanese market though but maybe some of their plans let you call US numbers all the time.

T-Mobile, they give you free SMS internationally but if you call, it's 25 cents a minute. You can do better with VOIP plans like Skype and Fiber on a per minute basis.

But you can use things like iChat, FaceTime, WHatsApp and all you need is to get a lot of data or if you're using Wifi networks, you don't need any mobile data.


However for voice calls, your choices are to pay international calling rates through US carriers or maybe a Japanese carrier offers plans with calls to the US, though it may still cost someone in the US to call your Japanese number.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kork13 Question for the crowd --- what's the best way to handle cell phone service while actually living overseas when you'll still frequently call/text/travel back to the US? Background: I'm in the military, moving to Japan this summer for 2-4 years .... but my family will be staying stateside for an extra year & I'm going to be traveling back to the US somewhat regularly. DW & I would prefer to keep our US numbers if feasible, for simplicity... We're also currently sharing a Verizon phone plan with my brothers -- they're open to switching with us for the cost savings, but it's not essential. I'm trying to decide between GoogleFi, T-Mobile, or a local Japanese provider. I know that Fi will grant a military exception to their terms limitation on long-term use overseas. I'm not sure if T-Mobile is similarly accommodating -- I've been told both ways. My thoughts: T-Mobile would be cheapest, Fi probably the best fit, and a local service the simplest (though likely least flexible). Appreciate any advice or better ideas...

Do some checking. Haven't lived Japan for a while, but their cellphone system operates on a different frequency than the rest of the world. Your US/European phone probably won't work.

You will likely need a Japanese phone but may be able to retain your number if you go through a US based company.

I used Vonage for a VOIP landline with a US number so family could call a local number and have it ring in Japan at no cost.

[marko]

This is an interesting thread but I don’t know, it must just be me:

After spending $5,000 or $10,000 or $15,000 on an overseas trip, the last thing I'm thinking about is how to save $10 a day on cell service. For me, it's just not worth the gyrations.

I'm not trying to be provocative, and YMMV...good for you if this is important to you! A bit of BTD while traveling is just how I approach it. With a cup of Cappuccino going for 11 euros, the cost of my cell coverage kind of fades into the noise level.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko This is an interesting thread but I don’t know, it must just be me: After spending $5,000 or $10,000 or $15,000 on an overseas trip, the last thing I'm thinking about is how to save $10 a day on cell service. For me, it's just not worth the gyrations. I'm not trying to be provocative, and YMMV...good for you if this is important to you! A bit of BTD while traveling is just how I approach it. With a cup of Cappuccino going for 11 euros, the cost of my cell coverage kind of fades into the noise level.

It's not a lot of gyrations. Buy a local SIM card and an appropriate plan. We paid less than $20 for 30 days in Mexico. It took 10 minutes to buy and swap out SIM cards.

$10 a day is $300. I don't mind spending money if I see the value. But I don't see any value in paying $10 a day if I can save that with 10 minutes of effort.

[sengsational]

I'm primarily looking for a solution that works for travel that doesn't require too much fiddling at the destination. And one that doesn't require paying extra all year for something I use for some number of weeks. My gyrations, if you call them that, involve not being surprised by something they're not telling you, but discover when you're trying to do some travel logistics, which, by the way, is the primary use case for me. I'm not using data for videos or listening to podcasts...I bring those on thumb drives or in the phone's memory, and mostly don't watch/listen to them. But nice to have if you're in quarantine with nothing better to do (sounds like the voice of experience, yes?)

As to spending and value, I'm right there. A dollar doesn't become less than a dollar because you've BTD on a big trip. If said big trip would be spoiled by trying to save a dollar, sure, but going for a solution that works and is 1/10th the cost? I'm in!

[FIYes]

I have to admit that when it comes to cellular service I’m not frugal…I’m downright cheap. I have a very inexpensive prepaid cell phone plan, Tracfone, for my regular service. In fact, during the pandemic when I was home all the time, I played their rewards game to the extent that DH has free service for three more years and I have free service for two more years. Last year, for our one international trip, I used Vegolink for me and OneSim for DH. These were data only prepaid sims used with WhatsApp. If we traveled more internationally I would look at options with greater coverage. I really only used the data last year for directions when we were out and about. For calling, I use WiFi calling from the hotel. Navigation and the ability to get in touch with DH when he wanders off are my only cellular needs when traveling overseas.

[jollystomper]

I like Verizon because there is no fiddling at the destination. Move phone out of airplane mode, you connect to the local cell towers,no issues. You know then when the 24 hour daily charge counter starts. Do not want to be charged for a day, put the phone back in airplane mode. Easy peasy for us.

We focus on the trip activities. Anything we are watching/podcasting when in the U.S. can wait until we return. We are able to navigate and keep in touch almost always over wireless, and even when not, we exceeded our 2GB/month limit once and were charged something minimal.

I am more frugal on these trips with airport transportation than with phone. It is still cheaper for us to drive and park for 7-10 days at the airport than take a taxi/Uber/Lyft. I will save my trip money on that .

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollystomper I like Verizon because there is no fiddling at the destination. Move phone out of airplane mode, you connect to the local cell towers,no issues. You know then when the 24 hour daily charge counter starts. Do not want to be charged for a day, put the phone back in airplane mode. Easy peasy for us.

I like T-Mobile because there is no fiddling at any destination. Take it out of airplane mode and leave it there the whole trip. It welcomes you to each country letting you know you are covered. No extra daily charges. Charge by phone call which we basically have none as we use FaceTime and WiFi calling. All other international features included no charge including data and texting. At most we might see 0.25 or 0.50 after a month abroad.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover It's not a lot of gyrations. Buy a local SIM card and an appropriate plan. We paid less than $20 for 30 days in Mexico. It took 10 minutes to buy and swap out SIM cards. $10 a day is $300. I don't mind spending money if I see the value. But I don't see any value in paying $10 a day if I can save that with 10 minutes of effort.

I guess if it weren't for the frugals using FI, WIFI and SIM cards, the phone companies would have no competition and would be charging me $50 a day instead of $10.

So, I guess I'm thankful for the effort!!

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I like T-Mobile because there is no fiddling at any destination. Take it out of airplane mode and leave it there the whole trip. It welcomes you to each country letting you know you are covered. No extra daily charges. Charge by phone call which we basically have none as we use FaceTime and WiFi calling. All other international features included no charge including data and texting. At most we might see 0.25 or 0.50 after a month abroad.

I am curious. Which T-mobile plan do you have?

I have the original $60 for two lines plan. Since Covid I have not used it abroad. IIRC, I had unlimited texting and data though at reduced speeds.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I am curious. Which T-mobile plan do you have? I have the original $60 for two lines plan. Since Covid I have not used it abroad. IIRC, I had unlimited texting and data though at reduced speeds.

We switched to the Magenta MAX senior which includes unlimited data, 40G/month personal hotspot, free texting everywhere, 2x regular speeds internationally, they have now added 5G/month high speed data internationally, Netflix, etc. With the Netflix included it was cheaper than our much older plan and our old plan had some data limits although it did include personal hotspot and 2x international data speeds. Compared to the non MAX plan I think it’s an extra $10/month per line.

[explanade]

I have T-Mobile 55 plan. Have not upgraded to Magenta with the higher prices.

So the $10 or more I save a month more than pays for local SIMs with much greater data.

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kork13 Question for the crowd --- what's the best way to handle cell phone service while actually living overseas when you'll still frequently call/text/travel back to the US? Background: I'm in the military, moving to Japan this summer for 2-4 years .... but my family will be staying stateside for an extra year & I'm going to be traveling back to the US somewhat regularly. DW & I would prefer to keep our US numbers if feasible, for simplicity... We're also currently sharing a Verizon phone plan with my brothers -- they're open to switching with us for the cost savings, but it's not essential. I'm trying to decide between GoogleFi, T-Mobile, or a local Japanese provider. I know that Fi will grant a military exception to their terms limitation on long-term use overseas. I'm not sure if T-Mobile is similarly accommodating -- I've been told both ways. My thoughts: T-Mobile would be cheapest, Fi probably the best fit, and a local service the simplest (though likely least flexible). Appreciate any advice or better ideas...

If you plan to use a local sim with data in Japan, another option would be to get a free Google Voice number before you leave to stay in touch with family and friends back home. You can call or text via the app on your phone or the dashboard on your Laptop or PC. My son in law ported his cell number to Google back in 2009 since he had to carry both his company phone and his personal cellphone all the time. He loaded the GV app on the company cell and now he gets all his personal calls on the app and has no cell bill. A lot of students that study overseas use GV to keep in touch and I use it when I go to the UK. It works great over WIFI as well if you don't have a data plan.

Here is a link to the Reddit Google Voice Group if interested

https://www.reddit.com/r/Googlevoice/comments/

How to use Google Voice Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uK-VqnZPTw

[PaunchyPirate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade I have T-Mobile 55 plan. Have not upgraded to Magenta with the higher prices. So the $10 or more I save a month more than pays for local SIMs with much greater data.

This is very true. And a great choice.

Unless you wish to maintain voice and text message communication with people back in the USA using your regular US number. There's room for both paths to be the "right choice" for different people who have different priorities.

[PaunchyPirate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 We switched to the Magenta MAX senior which includes unlimited data, 40G/month personal hotspot, free texting everywhere, 2x regular speeds internationally, they have now added 5G/month high speed data internationally, Netflix, etc. With the Netflix included it was cheaper than our much older plan and our old plan had some data limits although it did include personal hotspot and 2x international data speeds. Compared to the non MAX plan I think it’s an extra $10/month per line.

audreyh1, this is what I now have exactly (as of yesterday). I normally keep the Cellular Data Roaming set to OFF when here in the US. I assume I need to enable Roaming to connect to the European networks upon arrival, correct? Any other actions I need to do either before leaving or upon arrival in Madrid?