Traveling to Rio or anywhere else internationally? Here are ten tips to make sure your phone is a blessing and not a curse while you travel…shared from the folks at AT&T, makers of my favorite device, the ZTE Mobley.
While traveling:
- Disable email auto-check
o Switch your phone’s email settings from “Push” to “Fetch.” This allows you to manually download your email when connected to Wi-Fi.
- Deactivate iMessage
o When you’re traveling abroad, iMessage (and other calling and messaging apps) are treated as data rather than as text messages and billed as cellular data usage. To disable iMessage, go to “Messages” in the “Settings” menu.
- Track your usage
o Track your cellular data usage with your device’s auto-check feature and Reset the tracker once you’re abroad.
- Avoid streaming
o Streaming content is extremely data intensive, so download content before leaving the U.S.
- Avoid games with heavy graphics
o They use more data than others.
- Avoid navigation apps
o Apps that use location like navigation, news and weather, use more data
- Use Wi-Fi when available
o Wi-Fi usage does not count toward your data allowance.
- Turn off data roaming
o When you don’t want to use cellular data, turn it off entirely. Go to “Settings” on your device and look
Before you go:
- Make sure you’re covered. Estimate how much data you’ll need
o Verify coverage in the country your visiting) and estimate how much data you’ll need. Check your average monthly data usage on past bills, then estimate your international data usage based on the number of days you’ll be traveling. For example: If you normally use 900MB over 30 days and you’ll be away for 10 days, then choose a 300MB package
- Choose the right plan to manage costs.
o Pick the plan best for your travel needs. Headed out to support Team USA, choose the AT&T Passport Brazil Summer package. The package lets you share your U.S. Olympic Team pride with 1GB of roaming data. And you get access to more than 1,000 Wi-Fi Hot Spots in Brazil. (full details here)