iPhone on AT&T -- Avoiding a huge bill in Europe

[magenta321]

I am going on a 14 day transatlantic from Rome to Ft Lauderdale.

 

To save money I: turn off data roaming, and put the phone in airplane mode (is that correct?)

 

Only things already downloaded on my phone will work for me, correct? Will I be able to use tripit to follow my itinerary?

 

I am assuming I cannot get nor send texts in this mode?

 

What are my costs going to look like if I find myself hopelessly lost in Europe and I can't resist the temptation to use the phone to help me find my way like I would "back home?"

[gmadvm]

An international data plan is about $50 for 50 MB and $100 for 100 MB. When in airplane mode, you cannot access the net or send or receive texts or emails. I don't know what a tripit is, but if it stores your information out on the net and then the phone retrieves it, you can't do that in airplane mode. If your phone stores the information, then you can retrieve it in airplane mode.

 

Don't turn it off of airplane mode while on the ship or you will be using the ship's systems which costs a lot. When the ship is docked at the pier, they turn off the ship's systems and the local towers take over, so you will be using local service.

 

We usually get the $50 plan and we reset the network usage on the settings page as soon as we get overseas so we can track how much data I am blowing by sending texts and sending pictures. DH gets upset if I go over. I think we have used google earth on every trip when we got lost finding Harrod's, finding the hotel, roaming the aqueducts out by Appian way with no idea how to get back to Rome.... It's very handy to follow the blue dot. :)

[Paulxyz2004]

The most important thing to avoid cost is to turn Data Roaming off. That setting btw is my default setting all the time, as I don´t ever want my phone connect to anything else for data than to my home network.

 

Now I don´t really need the airplane mode as I don´t regularly get phone calls or text on my cell. Of course if there are many people that might text/call you, you might want to switch into airplane mode, as that will switch off any text / call.

 

Airplane mode will however also switch off any WiFi ability.

[*Sparkle*]

I would purchase AT&T's World Traveler package or at the very least their International package to avoid incurring additional fees while in Europe. Talk to your carrier, I have found they are very helpful and work to help you avoid incurring unnecessary fees.

 

I normally upgrade to the International package for a month before I cruise to the caribbean and South America even if I don't plan on using my phone..:p

[mil76]

I was on the Mariner in July. I have AT&T with unlimited international data through work, so I left the phone and data on the entire cruise. I was on the Holy Land cruise, so we were constantly passing various islands, and I could pick up local networks as we passed (Android phone, not iPhone). So if you don't have an unlimited Int'l data plan, I would definitely heed the advice in previous posts and use Airplane mode. As a person who once got a $750 data bill in Singapore despite thinking I had data roaming turned off, there was nothing so great as looking at my bill and seeing the 225MB of data I used over the 2 weeks in Europe/Israel/Turkey and having no additional charges.

 

One thing I can tell you is that the data on the Mariner is pretty much worthless. I checked my itemized bill which showed all the times I connected and how much data I used during each connection, and the only time I would be able to connect to the ship's data consistently was about 5:00am. There were many times when I was trying to connect to data during the day and evening and couldn't get anything to work. So even if you have unlimited data, don't count on being constantly connected.

[mommabean]

Put your phone in airplane mode right now and try tripit. If it works here, it will work there. I have 2 trip apps. One needs a network, one doesn't.

 

You'll find free wifi in Europe at McDonalds or Starbucks and almost any other coffee shop. If you know you will need directions, put your starting point and ending point into google maps and get the walking directions (or driving if that's what you will be doing) while you have wifi access. The written directions will be saved even if you won't have the blue dot to follow. The step by steps directions are easy to follow as you probably already know. :)

 

Gina

[Sierrachik]

Just an FYI on Airplane Mode and Wi-fi. The default for airplane mode is to turn wi-fi off, yes. You can turn your wi-fi back on though and connect if there is a wi-fi signal.

 

When I cruise I verify data roaming off (it is the default but I always double check), and I also stop my email from checking automatically, but I leave my phone mode on as I need to be able to receive texts (or calls if an emergency relating to my father). When I am connected to wi-fi I manually check email.

 

Have not received any charges above text message charges using the above method. Please note, I've not sailed the same itinerary as you have, just the Caribbean

[Sierrachik]

Regarding never being charged beyond text messages, I've not received calls during the time I was on the ship, just texts. Incoming texts were not charged for, just outgoing. Charges for texts depend on your plan and carrier. I have AT&T with unlimited texting so no charge for incoming and just .50 for outgoing texts.