When on a holiday your phone bill can be a lot higher than normal because you use your phone while you’re abroad. When you’re using a network abroad, the data is usually way more expensive than at home. To make sure you don’t make too much costs across the border, we’d like to share some tips for using your smartphone, tablet or laptop. What’s a good way to stay accessible, but have no high costs? Read it in the tips below!
Send text messages, make or receive calls?
On holiday it is more profitable to receive calls than to dial out. Furthermore, a text from overseas is cheaper than calling. So the best way to stay connected is by sending text messages, instead of calling. But if you still want to speak someone at home, send a text message to make a call appointment. To save yourself some costs. Another golden tip? Facetime or skype if you have Wi-Fi! This way you can make free calls when you are traveling. Don’t Facetime or Skype someone when your mobile data is still on, this way your chat with your loved one will be way more expensive than a normal call.
Internet on your smartphone
Nowadays we don’t use our phone to only text and call, but we also use internet a lot. For example by using app like Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps… You’re almost going to ask yourself if you can still live without it! Anyway, fact is that many smartphones-apps are continuously connected to the internet and this can cost you a lot of money at some point. Normally it is already pretty expensive to get over your data limit, but abroad it’s on a whole another level. So make sure to turn off your apps when you don’t use them. Perhaps by not using those apps so much you will enjoy more of your holiday destination too! Another tip: you also consumes less data when you turn off 3G and/or 4G. This way your phone will load things way less quick and by that also uses less data.
To be absolutely sure that you don’t use the internet on holiday you should disable data roaming as you cross the border. All apps on your phone will get partly unusable, think of whats app and facebook. You will only be able to use these apps if there is Wi-Fi present.
Wi-Fi networks and security
As soon as you have found a WiFi connection you can get unlimited Internet access and for example watch movies. Most of the hotels offer Wi-Fi to their visitors. More and more places have the possibility for WiFi. Sometimes you need a password, but these are usually somewhere written in a restaurant or hotel and otherwise you can usually ask.
Please be aware, however, when you’re using Wi-Fi in public places. Hackers can have easy access to other smartphone’s or laptop’s when on a public network. They can then find out your passwords, but also surfing habits or read along with your mails.
Save up your battery
Finally we have one last tip, because it’s not only handy to save on costs while traveling. Often you also have less possibilities to charge your smartphone, tablet or laptop and you would probably like to save on your battery. To save battery power, it is helpful to turn on Wi-Fi only if you really need it, then you’re phone will consume less battery. It is also smart to have your mobile phone on airplane mode, you save the battery of your mobile and your smartphone will also charge more quickly!
How do you use your phone when you’re travelling? Let us know by social media and the comments below!