Great Cell Phone Presentation by Gabe on Monday Night Travel

Sorry but who is Gabe?

Claudia this says he’s the host of Monday Night Travel

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/travel-classes/monday-night-travel

You can Watch the recorded session on this site.

We have ATT and have not seen that deal for $100. Is it explained in the presentation? Thx

We have Verizon & it would be $210 for 21 days of travel per person. I have been watching & reading info on alternate services. Many "travel Pro" YouTubers are recommending Holafly. We will be in Italy & reviews say it works well there for a fraction of the Verizon price. Has anyone actually used it?

Now I know who Gabe is. Thanks.

The recording isn't up yet, it should be on Wednesday or Thursday.

Usually it seems to go up on Rick's you tube channel a bit sooner than on this web site.

DSM Travel Escape, Verizon also has a $100/month International plan. https://www.verizon.com/plans/international/international-travel/monthly-plan/ The daily plan does get expensive if used everyday. Interesting that Verizon international plans info defaults to it. In the past, I also used the $10/day plan because I stayed in airplane mode unless I really needed data. I use Google Voice on WiFi to call home (landline) and text. I'm going to try the $100/month plan this year in Italy. I need to keep my phone number so no European eSIM and am not going to change my carrier for one international trip a year. Bottom Line: there is a way to save money even using Verizon.
There is also this post from yesterday: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/verizon-now-has-a-plan-that-includes-international-data-and-calling but as noted in the comments, watch out for the details.

When Monday night travel is available, I'll watch it. Thanks for the heads up Travel Junkie.

All the ideas I see mentioned in this thread strike me as unnecessarily expensive. I use Nomad data-only eSIMs when traveling to Europe, at a cost of less than $30/month with 20GB or more of data. With Google Voice I can make calls using the data SIM and pay about a penny a minute for voice calls. But each to his own.

Pat, it was explained very well in Gabe’s Zoom webinar last night. You should have access to it in a few days. The only catch I think to the ATT International Plan is that the 30 days starts at your billing date. We frequently travel for 30 plus days at a time and find the Plan at $100 to be a fair value. My wife and I use just my phone in Europe for calling hotels, restaurants, European or American friends/family as well as texting there and back home. We also use our unlimited ATT data in Europe for internet and Google Maps. Basically, we use the iPhone a ton! Btw, a second phone on the same account is an additional $5 per day. Hope this helps.

We have not used a cel phone in Europe, but our last trip was several years ago. We have used a cel phone in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Eastern Canada.

As we do not use a cel phone at home (we are dinosaurs, I know), so the expense is minimal when we travel. In New Zealand the travel company provided the SIM card and we used a fraction of what was provided.

We realize that a cel phone is a necessity when traveling.

Travel Junkie, thx so much!

@Travel Junkie, did you have to pay roaming charges? I'm heading to Greece soon and have AT&T Unlimited Plan. I intend to use the International Plan for $10 per day.

Thanks for this head's up. I missed it on Monday but will watch online when posted. And thanks to Gabe for a super-useful (to me) topic.

Connie, the $10 per day (or $100 per 30 days) ATT Intl Plan includes roaming. Essentially it is exactly like your plan at home.

Travel Junkie - Great news!! It's just what I wanted to know! Thanks for easing my mind!!

All the ideas I see mentioned in this thread strike me as unnecessarily expensive. I use Nomad data-only eSIMs when traveling to Europe...

SIMs are very much discussed on this forum, as well as data E-Sims as secondary, for data use.

It comes down to convenience and if you need your regular number. Myself, I have Google Fi, so I just travel and never really worry about my phone. No changing SIMs, no needing to activate or later deactivate a plan, no need to worry about usage. I do typically limit calls, using apps, rather than just calling, but we also video call at home. Our monthly bill while traveling is a little higher than at home but not a burden.

"All the ideas I see mentioned in this thread strike me as unnecessarily expensive."

I agree - my carrier offers worldwide data roaming (basically most countries) for $35 a month, and an Asia only plan foe $10 a month. I use VOIP when I need to make phone calls to people not on WhatsApp, and a local SIM for the UK as I am there a lot. I do have a dual SIM phone which means I can keep my number, albeit rates for incoming calls are higher when roaming. But almost everyone calls me on WhatsApp anyway.

I have never heard of Gabe. I thought that Rick hosted Monday Night Travel ... maybe he gave it to some other guy.

Now that Rick is on his travels again, he doesn't often host MNT now. Gabe is just one of three or four staff members who now host it weekly, along with guest presenters (one of his guides) from whichever country is being discussed that week.

The recorded Presentation went live overnight- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqHMHmA7I6I

Gabe has been working at RSE for over six years according to his LinkedIn profile. Currently he is Brand Activation Specialist. Prior to that, he was Public Relations Strategist and Travel Advisor. He is fluent in Spanish, with limited proficiency in French and Portuguese.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-gunnink-a5454a150/

Now that I've watched this presentation, I have to add a big thumbs-up. Excellent discussion.

I have been going back & forth between purchasing Holafly eSIM & using Verizon International.

This trip I decided to use my own Verizon unlimited data, calls, txt plan. Not the $10/day but the $100 for a month.
I could have saved some money but I really like not having another new thing to deal with. Next trip…try something new.

very happy with Tmobile, my plan includes text/voice/data in 11 countries and slow data in 204. But if I want fast data in the 204, it's just $50/30 days. I do like keeping my regular phone number active.

ALSO, there goes a few hours a week of my time, I'm looking forward to some Gabe presentations. Thanks everyone!

The AT&T International Day Pass is now $12 per day, capped at 10 days per billing period. Still a decent deal if you really need it. Some folks (like me) that haven’t paid off their phone device may not be able to get their phone unlocked in order to use an eSIM. Thanks for your post, I plan to watch the show.