{"id":3380,"date":"2015-10-13T15:33:44","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~travelwriting\/?page_id=3380"},"modified":"2015-10-13T15:33:44","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:33:44","slug":"stay-connected-while-traveling-overseas-but-save-money-using-phone-internet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=3380","title":{"rendered":"Stay connected while traveling overseas, but save money using phone, Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted October 13, 2015<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By EMILY EIDELMAN<\/p>\n

You\u2019re planning the international trip of a lifetime. Flights and hotels are reserved and excursions are booked. The only decision left to make is your phone service. International plans are infamously expensive, but you know you\u2019ll need your phone for work. So, which plan do you buy? None of them \u2013 you can keep in touch for free.<\/p>\n

As you may know from experience, major phone service companies charge at least twice as much for international plans as regular plans. AT&T\u2019s cell phone package is called \u201cpassport.\u201d The prices range from $30-$120 per month. Verizon\u2019s international plans are similar in pricing, with two monthly options between $25-$40. Sprint\u2019s prices range from $40-$80. Pricing for these companies are seemingly low, but they come with hidden fees. Each plan includes charges for data and calls per minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to buy an international plan when you travel, or at least that\u2019s what I thought,\u201d said Matthew Ross, a backpacker from New York. \u201cI thought I would be paying my flat fee, but boy was I wrong. I used all my data in just five days, and I was unknowingly paying for more for the rest of my trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only way to prevent these hidden fees is to not use your phone. This doesn\u2019t mean it has to be off, though. Airplane mode is a hidden benefit available on all smart phones. While your cellular service is turned off, you still have Wi-Fi capabilities. The best part about this? Wi-Fi is free!<\/p>\n

\u201cI often suggest using Wi-Fi only to my clients,\u201d Ada King, a travel agent at Connoisseur\u2019s Travel, said. \u201cI think it\u2019s more important to spend your money on the experience, not the phone plan. It is unbelievably easy to survive without one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi can be found almost everywhere. Hostels, hotels and restaurants often offer free Wi-Fi for patrons. Some cities, including Florence, Taipei, Paris, Tel Aviv and Perth offer free Wi-Fi throughout the city. If you\u2019re in a city without Wi-Fi and you need to reach someone, look for a McDonald\u2019s or Starbucks. Those chains are guaranteed to have free Wi-Fi, King explained.<\/p>\n

As helpful as free Wi-Fi is, it\u2019s impossible to connect everywhere. For Americans who are used to constant Internet powered by data, a spotty or slow connection will take some getting used to. Some apps, though, are still usable without Wi-Fi. Google Maps is one of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to get directions to a new destination, you have to be connected to Wi-Fi,\u201d Ross said. \u201cMost people don\u2019t realize that you can continue using the app when you leave the hostel or restaurant. The smart phone\u2019s GPS system will track your movement without Wi-Fi as long as you don\u2019t put in a new destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since you won\u2019t be paying for cellular service, you have to use apps other than iMessage to communicate. The most popular apps are Viber and Whatsapp. Viber allows users to make free phone and video calls, as well as send free messages. Whatsapp also offers free phone calls and messages, but only for the first year. The following years are $1 per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer Viber,\u201d Sarah Aschebrock, a student from New Zealand studying at the University of Miami, said. \u201cThe service is usually pretty good, making it really easy for me to keep in touch with family and friends back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether your international trip lasts four weeks or four years, your phone is the one trip necessity you don\u2019t have to pay for. Remember to keep your smart phone on airplane mode at all times, and connect to Wi-Fi when you see a safe network. Getting around and staying in touch will be easy and, better yet, it will be free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted October 13, 2015 By EMILY EIDELMAN You\u2019re planning the international trip of a lifetime. Flights and hotels are reserved and excursions are booked. The only decision left to make is your phone service. International plans are infamously expensive, but … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":93,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3380","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3380"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3385,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3380\/revisions\/3385"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}