USA Today Travel → 7 ways to stay connected and save on your wireless charges

[-Lew-]

I'm sure most of us are aware of the advice in this article; however, I'm not familiar with number 3, KnowRoaming. It appears like a no-brainer with lower than cell provider rates for voice and date...one trip to Europe, using pay as you go rates, would more than pay for the initial cost.

 

Anyone have any experience with KnowRoaming?

 

Lew

[slidergirl]

Never heard of KnowRoaming; interesting concept, though.

 

I'm a #1, #2, and #6 person. I buy a data SIM for my iPad Mini for the country I visit, my trusty old Motorola RAZR (still one of the best quad-band non-smartphones) is unlocked *has been since 2009*, and my RAZR is with T-Mo. Works well for me.

[mamagina]

Never heard of KnowRoaming; interesting concept, though.

 

I'm a #1, #2, and #6 person. I buy a data SIM for my iPad Mini for the country I visit, my trusty old Motorola RAZR (still one of the best quad-band non-smartphones) is unlocked *has been since 2009*, and my RAZR is with T-Mo. Works well for me.

 

What sim do you buy for the Ipad mini for data?

[texancruzer]

On a recent trip to France (land based) with my daughter (my husband usually travels with me and we use his phone) I bought an international package from Sprint. You buy for one month but only pay for the time you need (in my case 6 days) The monthly charge was $4.95 So I really only paid like $1.80

 

Now there are other charges - .75 for texts (in or out) and $1.50 per minute for calls (out only) You need to be sure and turn off your DATA roaming as those charges are expensive……. I think my whole bill was under $80.00 and that included some long calls to dh as he wanted to hear all about our days….. but if you kept your calls shorter (just to check in etc) it would be a lot less.

 

I always get online either on the ship or in our hotel each evening so don't need "data" on my phone. I am on vacation and don't use internet during the day….. I check emails, send emails, post pictures to FB etc each night.

 

Works for me.

[insanemagnet]

 

I always get online either on the ship or in our hotel each evening so don't need "data" on my phone. I am on vacation and don't use internet during the day….. I check emails, send emails, post pictures to FB etc each night.

 

But you miss the advantages of having a smartphone, maps, directions, public transport information, local area info, etc.

[texancruzer]

But you miss the advantages of having a smartphone, maps, directions, public transport information, local area info, etc.

 

I dont "miss" it actually. We usually have private tours booked so no worries about maps, directions or public transport info…….. I actually like being "off line" while we travel. DH is pretty much connected to his phone 24/7 at home for work so its nice to have some down time in that respect…… The time difference helps too :D

 

Also if I had needed something of that nature all I had to do was turn on my data roaming……. so it was there if I really needed it - just expensive.

[slidergirl]

What sim do you buy for the Ipad mini for data?

 

I have always bought mine from TIM. They have a couple of plans available just for tablets. If I remember, there is one called something like Welcome that is for tourists. 20EU for 5g of 4G data, good for 30 days. I was there for more than 10 days each time, so this was the best one for me. As a solo DIY traveler, it is indispensable.

I just go down to the TIM store the first day I'm in Rome and buy it. The kids at both stores I went to installed the new SIM and made sure it was working before I left. It was worth it, to me. Internet service in the hotels I stayed at was horrible (even thought I got it free). I'd just use the cell service instead of hassling the wifi. I loved being able to just sit down at a table, order some wine, and read my emails, catch up on Facebook, to find a restaurant. I'd use it for directions with Google Maps. I would do a "picture of the day" for my friends on Facebook - usually some food porn from dinner. When I drove from Rome to Florence, I used it all the way for using Google Maps as my navigator. Like I said, it was worth it to me to have all that immediate connectivity. Oh, it's the one time that you want to have your passport with you - they need it for the purchase for a foreigner.

Edited August 13, 2015 by slidergirl

[insanemagnet]

I dont "miss" it actually. We usually have private tours booked so no worries about maps, directions or public transport info…….. I actually like being "off line" while we travel. DH is pretty much connected to his phone 24/7 at home for work so its nice to have some down time in that respect…… The time difference helps too :D

 

Also if I had needed something of that nature all I had to do was turn on my data roaming……. so it was there if I really needed it - just expensive.

Well there seemed to be plenty of your fellow countrymen who I encountered on a recent cruise around the Med who did "miss it".

 

They had no idea which buses to catch from the ports to town, where they left from, the timetable. And the look of horror when you suggested that they might want to actually use their $1000 iPhone.

[texancruzer]

Well there seemed to be plenty of your fellow countrymen who I encountered on a recent cruise around the Med who did "miss it".

 

They had no idea which buses to catch from the ports to town, where they left from, the timetable. And the look of horror when you suggested that they might want to actually use their $1000 iPhone.

 

Sorry - hope this doesn't offend anyone…… it shouldn't because most of us here on Cruisecritic are the type to actually research and plan BEFORE we go……. but those were the people who get on a plane, fly to Europe to take a cruise and have no idea of what they are going to do, how they are going to do it and just "wing it" as my dh calls it.

 

True story - I actually was in an airport (forgot which one now) and was talking was a woman who was also going on a cruise overseas…… I asked her which ship she was on and guess what ??? SHE DIDNT KNOW :eek:

 

I kind of have no sympathy for those people. With some advance research and planning you can multiply your experiences tenfold. I realize that many of those have done Caribbean cruises where you can walk off the ship and "wing it" but the Med is a very different environment ! Just sayin'

[trvlgirlmq]

I have T-Mobile and one of the reasons I stick with them is the international data included and the reduced text and call fees. We aren't stuck to our phones on vacation but do check in with my 97 year old grandmother and my sister (my niece travels with us). We also like posting real-time pictures for friends and family.

 

I don't really use the data for research as I am a big pre-planner with a binder full of information!

[MATHA531]

There was a time I was a big believer in local sim cards especially for voice and texts. The cheapest were in Britain and there are still some good buys in British sims especially for calls back to the USA from Britain and the eu has been pushing the lowering of intra eu roaming rates which will disappear completely next year butcalls outside the country of origin of the sim outside the eu have been raised to make up to the mobile companies for the loss of revenues.

 

Now having said all that...for Americans if you have a t mobile USA plan and T mobile is a viable alternative at home, their plans looks and was extraordinary this past summer for me. Calls in almost all European countries both to the USA, Canada and even within the eu are 20¢/minute! Unlimited texts? Free. Unlimited data? Free although after a certain amount of use, not a trivial amount btw, slower data rates. But well let me put it this way. During my cruise on the Spirit this past June our first stop was Greece...7 hours ahead of USA eastern time. As soon as I got off the ship, I was waiting in the waiting room for my shore excursion to begin. No wifi there. Turned on my t mobile phone and went to my at bat app. Lo and behold within seconds, I was watching the end of the Yankee game as clear as day on my mlb.tv plan. During our free time in Athens, could listen to my favorite home radio station (WFAN) again without wifi from my data plan. Unbelievably clear and unbelievably technology. Finally pre cruise, I was staying in a hotel in London which had the gall to charge for wife. No problem. Turned off wifi on the phone, used my unlimited data and watched the 7th game of the Rangers-Lightning series on the NBC app. Didn't begin to use my fast data. In other places, of course, it was wifi first. Just incredible.

 

And now, for Americans, t mobile has now extended its plans to include Canada and Mexico as part of our home network...unlimited voice means no roaming charges for example when I stayed in Vancouver last month prior to my Alaska cruise. Just a really great deal if, and I know it's a big if, you can use t mobile USA as a viable plan in your home area.

[slidergirl]

I've had T-Mo since I bought my RAZR in 2006. I was going to be doing some traveling in Germany for a team a week at a time over the course of the winter and I wanted a phone that worked everywhere. With T-Mo, it was easy to use as my ICE phone when I needed it. I still have that phone with T-Mo, and I do use it when I need to make a phone call anywhere.

My Mini is on ATT. Bought it before T-Mo had them. The ATT model had the correct bands to work in Europe on a local SIM. I need to remember to move it over to T-Mo when my contract expires (they had a great $100 of data free when I bought it). So, for now, I just pick up a cheap SIM when I travel - it's part of my known travel expenses that I plan for.