I've seen a lot of chatter on international calling, but I'm wondering more about data plans - my research so far shows seriously expensive options, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something. I have an iPhone 4 (AT&T) and I want to be able to use my Apps while I'm in Belgium - I want to use TripAdvisor to find a local restaurant while we're driving, I want to use maps, my translator and currency exchange apps. I don't care about calling, I basically just want the cheapest way to use my tiny computer. Anyone had any success with reasonable data internationally?
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2704 posts
The data plans are expensive, but unfortunately I think that's your only option with AT&T, unless you jailbreak your phone and buy a SIM card in Europe. AT&T has several different pricing levels based on usage. You can see what your typical data usage is by going on to the AT&T website, going to your billing, and looking under "usage and recent activity" tab. There's a link to "Analyze Past Usage" that shows what your monthly data use for whatever time period you choose. Mine shows that I use 205-258 MB per month. If you're careful, and turn the phone on only when you need to use a data feature, you could opt for one of the cheaper global data plans (e.g. $24.99 for 20 MB) and use WiFi when you can. There's a way to reset your data usage counter on your phone so you can track it closely. Note that text messaging costs extra and voice mail counts as "data". I myself opted not to get a data plan, just an international calling feature ($5.99 plus per minute charge), and used only WiFi. But I wasn't driving so I didn't need the mapping feature.
Posted by
NY, USA
500 posts
I just ordered iphonetrip sim card for my upcoming 3 week trip to Italy. It is practically unlimited data. It works with locked iphones. It is costing my $15 a day. http://iphonetrip.com
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32349 posts
"I think that's your only option with AT&T, unless you jailbreak your phone and buy a SIM card in Europe." Unfortunately, that's not easily accomplished. European PAYG SIM's are usually limited to voice and text. Data plans are restricted to residents and sold on a contract basis (ie: to those signing onto a term plan) . I've heard there are some networks in the U.K. offering PAYG data, but I haven't seen any details yet. Your best bet is the option mentioned by Lisa, but the iPhone Trip plans aren't cheap! At $15 per day, a 5-6 week trip would be expensive for me. For the internet access I require, Wi-Fi at the Hotel will suffice and will be considerably cheaper. Cheers!
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
We found our iPhone to be a great travel tool in France last summer. We used it to check addresses (which we then plugged into our GPS), opening-closing times, kept up with the US stock market, etc. and the apps are very useful. None of our apps require a data feed including Michelin Restaurants which is great and has the maps preloaded. Translator apps shouldn't need data; our Collins doesn't. Initially, we signed up for the 20MB roaming plan with ATT but quickly realized we needed the 50MB so we changed on the fly. Email and maps are big data hogs, so we turned off email collection and avoided downloading maps unless we had wifi. Experiment before you travel by noting your data usage number, then doing various things on the internet. In total I think we paid $65-70 for a month of data use which we thought was reasonable and well worth the money for having internet access when we weren't around wifi.