www.iltanet.org
for voice, data and text messages in the countries they offer service:
AT&T • Sprint • T-Mobile • Verizon
Your carrier offers features and plans to reduce the cost of international roaming. These plans don't offer the same value as your U.S. plan, but they can save you a significant amount of money. As an example, let's compare AT&T's rates for travel
to China. The U.S. data plan has an effective rate of $0.01 per MB. The list rate for international data roaming in China is $20 per MB (about 2,000 times more than the U.S. rate). But if you add AT&T's 50MB international data plan, that brings your rate to 50 cents per MB.
AT&T U.S. Data Plan
$30 for 3000MB (3GB) = $0.01 per MB
Roaming rate: $20 per MB
AT&T International Data Plan
$25 for 50MB = $0.50 per MB
For voice calls, if you use AT&T's 450-minute plan for $39.99, you're paying an effective rate of $0.08 per minute. Compare your roaming rates in China at $2.29 per minute, and that's 28 times more per minute. Add AT&T's World Traveler feature for $5.99 to bring that rate down to $1.99 per minute. Utilizing this plan will pay for itself with as little as 20 minutes of use.
Change Your Habits While You Travel
Check your phone for applications that download large files (e.g., podcasts, songs or movies), and disable these apps for your trip. Synchronize with cloud storage services like Dropbox. Don't use applications that stream content to your phone, such as Pandora or Netflix. Also, be advised that many free games use in-app advertising and might be downloading advertisements to display during your game.
32 ILTA White Paper
Set Your Phone Free Phones purchased in the U.S. are often "locked" to the carrier that sold you the phone, so the phone won't accept SIMs from carriers local to foreign countries. Call your carrier and ask for the unlock code for your device. Once unlocked, your phone can use a prepaid SIM local to your destination (local prepaid SIMs are often available at your destination's airport). You'll trade off having your U.S. phone number active on your device but have the benefit of less expensive data and calling options when making local calls.
Learn Your Voicemail Access Number The preprogrammed voicemail speed-dial on your phone might not work overseas. Check your carrier's website for the voicemail access number to check your messages while away. It also might be a good time to change your voicemail passcode. Ask your conference call provider for an access number local to the country to which you're traveling. Using this number can save you the international long-distance costs of dialing the U.S. or toll-free number you normally dial.
When You Come Back Review your bill. Make sure your carrier added the plans and features you requested before your trip. Call your carrier if you were mischarged or the correct plans weren't added, and ask your carrier to backdate the plan changes so they take effect for the dates of your trip. If you don't have plans to travel again soon, remove the plans and features from your account and restore your previous U.S. plan settings. International travel can be an exciting experience. Spending a few minutes to prepare before your trip can save you from bill-shock when you return.
