Avoiding all possible charges on iPhone when traveling abroad (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

I will be traveling to and around the Caribbean in a few weeks
and I am a little concerned about any roaming or other extra
charges made to my iPhone.

I don't plan to use the iPhone other than as an alarm clock. For
that reason, I don't want to be charged for data or even incoming
voice mail while the non-phone functions are in use.

Can someone please tell me all the things I need to turn off.

Thanks

 

[Ted Todorov]

If you put it in Airplane mode -- no charges are possible. You can then turn on Wifi (with the phone still in Airplane mode) so you can use local hotspots (plentiful in many countries).

 

[Quincy]

I agree with this, I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and had my iphone in airplane mode the 4 days I was gone, no problem with roaming charges at all.

 

[McPaul]

I never knew you could turn on Wifi while on Airplane mode! Neat!

but yes, Airplane mode does make you safe when abroad.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

And don't forget that with the free Skype app it will be possible to actually utilize the iPhone to make phone calls via Wifi while in Ariplane mode!!

 

[Ted Todorov]

Indeed, first downloaded and used Skype when I was in Costa Rica, and the call quality was pristine. Highly recommended for travelers.

 

[DaveF]

I'm in Ottawa on business this week. To manage cell phone charges, I switched to the North American Int'l plan for the week. I'm charged the additional amount for the int'l plan, prorated for the five days I'm here. So for $5, I can call my wife with unlimited minutes while I'm in Canada. A co-worker, who clued me in to this, also added the int'l data plan to his Blackberry for an additional $10 for the week. It took maybe 20 minutes on the phone with the (very helpful) customer service rep to work out th edetails, explain every thing to me, and get it set for the week.

If AT&T offers similar, this could be an excellent solution to traveling abraod with an iPhone.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

They do offer business users an unlimited int'l data plan for $65/month. Comes in handy when you are traveling in Europe where there is generally better 3G coverage than AT&T offers in the U.S.

 

[DaveF]

Well, I was talking with an iPhone owner at my conference and he said the int'l data plan for Canada is very expensive. (something like $10 for 5 MB) I don't know how that relates to the int'l plan that Michael suggests.