Phone plan and Iphone for travel?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
2,937
Location
St. Louis
I have someone who travels to various countries. Issue is with ATT it can be expensive. Looking at T-Mobile. Looks like they have better options for travel at a reasonable price. Looking at the Unlimited 55 plan which would be cheaper than ATT. Please enlighten me on T-Mobile.

She is in the market for a new phone. Her Iphone 6 plus has been great. The main complaint now is liking something lighter, but wants to still have an Iphone. I don't understand the difference in models. The XR is the one I priced. She is not very tech savvy, but loves to take pictures. Point and shoot pictures. The 6 plus camera has been great. Looking forward to your thoughts.
 
Not sure how long she will be in one spot - but I always carry my last gen (iP7 when I got my XSM) … then I get a local SIM … It means I carry two phones - but after one single $170 upload and other charges … I went this way.
Otherwise I have an att plan with a data limit that I have to keep an eye on and use WiFi often
(I turn off data before setting my phone on airplane so it will not come on and dump expensive garbage as data on my bill)
When you land - an att message tends to come in with some local data offers ...
 
Well, the 55 plan is for people 55 and older. Otherwise, here stateside my coverage is pretty much the same as my parents who have AT&T, I may get service in a dead spot that they don't and visa versa.

The XR is actually bigger than the XS, 6.1" LCD vs a 5.8" OLED. The XS is slightly smaller over all, and a tiny bit lighter. The XS also has a better dual camera system, which has 2x optical zoom. But the XR has a slightly bigger battery which gives better battery life.

Wait till next month or so to buy one, the new ones are coming out real soon which means the older models should get a nice discount.
 
May I recommend Google Fi?

On Iphones they will actually use the T-Mobile network, including outside US.
For phones, Swappa has been mentioned in other threads.

Also, Apple has a clearance page somewhere.
 
Sprint has one of the most liberal travel allowances for a provider. You get free 3G data in many countries and can purchase LTE data if you need, but I've found the free data speeds to be sufficient for iMessage and photos. No one allows free voice calls, but you can do that on wifi using Facetime voice for free.
 
Originally Posted by pandus13
May I recommend Google Fi?

On Iphones they will actually use the T-Mobile network, including outside US.
For phones, Swappa has been mentioned in other threads.

Also, Apple has a clearance page somewhere.

Another vote for Google Fi.
Easy, seamless, and relatively cheap internationally.
 
4WD, I tried setting up her Iphone 5 for one trip. Unlocked, ready for a SIM. Was just too much technically for her to do. After getting a few $100 plus charges she is getting better about turning off data and using Wifi.

Skippy722. Took a closer look at other Iphones. They all are about the same weight. Actually her Iphone 6 Plus was a little lighter on the spec sheet I read. She does have a heavy duty case. Maybe there are lighter options for that.

Pandus13, Google Fi is interesting. I like the fact she can just go in an ATT or T-Mobile store within a few miles of home. She needs a lot of support just using the device and using proper settings when traveling.

kschachn, was looking at Sprint also. Is Sprint and T-Mobile still going to merge?

T-Mobile plan I looked at has more features than ATT for same price she is paying now. Her friends she travels with use T-Mobile which may help her with support issues when away.
 
I generally buy a SIM in continent or country traveling to and then swap into my iPhone for data. Otherwise I just disable the cellular and leverage wifi when avail on my Verizon plan which has Verizon Wifi calling and texting available anywhere in world.
 
We have T-Mobile and absolutely love it for the free international data. My dad spends a lot of time in Asia, so he uses his T-mobile plan all the time for data. I think it's ~3G speeds, but it's more than adequate for messaging and navigation. He can even do some voice calls through the internet. He saves most of the data intensive things for when he's back on wifi. It doesn't include calls though.

We switched from Sprint a few years back and are glad we did.
 
I handle a lot of corporate phone plans. ATT gives us $10 a day unlimited and Verizon offered the same. Verizon recently went to a monthly charged plan with limits. I have some travelers now that accidentally rack up $1000 bills with Verizon. I can tell you there will be a users tsunami toward ATT here.
 
I just found out a friend she travels with has ATT and that person just recommended using WhatsApp. I do give ATT kudos for reversing some of the larger charges back in the day when I bought a limited data package for travel and wifi was not used. Now International Day Pass just stays on the plan just in case.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
I generally buy a SIM in continent or country traveling to and then swap into my iPhone for data. Otherwise I just disable the cellular and leverage wifi when avail on my Verizon plan which has Verizon Wifi calling and texting available anywhere in world.

One has to be careful how it is disabled. On my phone if you go into Settings and turn off Cellular Data it can still send and receive text messages using the cellular network since it only disables the data portion of the connection used for things like iMessages, WhatsApp or Internet browsing. So if your plan charges you for SMS text messages that will still be charged even if "Cellular Data" is turned off. The only way to prevent that is to use airplane mode which will disable connection to the cellular system. Then you can enable the WiFi, which will allow data transmission.

Also be careful with this too, my daughter's Verizon plan says that calls and texts made while using Wi-Fi Calling also would count as regular cellular calls and texts while in a foreign county. So even when she has the phone on airplane mode and wifi enabled, if she uses the phone "like a phone" then it would cost extra. If an iMessage can't go through and is instead sent as a regular text then it will charge.
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
On my phone if you go into Settings and turn off Cellular Data it can still send and receive text messages using the cellular network since it only disables the data portion of the connection used for things like iMessages, WhatsApp or Internet browsing. So if your plan charges you for SMS text messages that will still be charged even if "Cellular Data" is turned off. The only way to prevent that is to use airplane mode which will disable connection to the cellular system. Then you can enable the WiFi, which will allow data transmission.

Thanks for that tip!

Called ATT. Found out Mexico calling is covered under current plan. So main concern is addressed. I found out that when it says you can roam in Mexico without charge = you can call US without charge. Weight of phone is a moot point. She still wants a big screen. It is good to look at options. Thanks for the help!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top