International Data Cell Phone Plan

plainjane0415

Is this worth it?  I'm trying to decide if I should purchase an additional data plan for when we are in Aruba.  Just wanted to see if any of you have any pros/cons, or advice you would give.

hellosweetie1015

I wouldn't. If FI and I went out of the country for a honeymoon, there's no way I'd have my phone on. I adore my mother, and I gleefully talk to her a lot, but I have no desire to have her calling three times a day on my honeymoon. I'd check in via Facebook to a sibling or my dad when we got up and then once we came back in, and that would be it.

That's just me though.

amelisha

I really like to be able to use my data, even if just for stuff like weather, Google maps, etc., so for me it's definitely worth it. I'm not always in free wifi range when I want to look stuff up, and I value the convenience of being able to do a quick Google search whenever. 

My cell phone company used to sell packages of x amount of data for x country that you could just add on to your plan, but instead they now have a flat fee you pay per day to use your plan like you would at home, which is way better. It's pretty inexpensive, too - $5/day for the US and $10/day for international, which is worth it for me. You'd probably be able to do it even cheaper though because we pay a lot for wireless everything up here.

littlemushroom

I wouldn't. Plans can be expensive, it can be hard to monitor data usage (especially if things start updating/downloading in the background), and overage fees are outrageous. After working customer service for a major wireless carrier, I saw way too many people get burned on international data. I would never use it personally.

plainjane0415

I called and talked to Verizon and the lowest package they have is $40 for 100 texts (incoming texts are free) 100 minutes, and 100 MB of data.  Most of our time will be spent in or around the hotel, so I would be able to limit my internet data usage, and the family that I talk to on a regular basis is going to be with me on our trip. 

I don't know, part of me thinks that it would be good to have, but then another part of me says, are you going to use $40 worth?

NowIamMrsKlein

We're taking one phone with us on our honeymoon and putting an international data plan on it. We are going to be doing a lot of exploring and such and wanted to be able to do a quick map search if necessary. Figured it was easiest to pay the 35$ for X amount of data and simply only turn our phone on when we needed to.

lyndausvi

I wouldn't.    We go to Anguilla and just use the resort's free Wifi along with apps like Skype, What's app or Viper to make calls if we need.     

As soon as I get on the plane I turn it on airplane mode and do not turn it off airplane mode until I return to the states.  The minute you are transmitting it can cost you a ton of money from the local carriers.  That is over and above your own carrier.

amelisha

That is WAY more expensive than it would be for me so I might change my answer - especially as 100MB of data is easy to burn through and definitely not worth $40 IMO.

$10/day to use my 6GB monthly amount, yes, but $40 for so little is not good value.

hellosweetie1015

Yep - what Verizon told you is EXACTLY why I didn't get it. NOT worth it.

When we were abroad my phone stayed on airplane mode the whole time. Was it annoying? Yep. Was it better than paying $40 for essentially NO data? YEP. Especially if FI is with me; he and my BFF were really the only people I cared to communicate with back home, and if I'm on my honeymoon... yeah, unless somebody dies I don't wanna talk to NOBODY.

natswild

@plainjane0415, have you considered getting a sim card in Aruba?  Just use the sim card there, and then change back to your original card when you get back home.

plainjane0415

natswild said:

@plainjane0415, have you considered getting a sim card in Aruba?  Just use the sim card there, and then change back to your original card when you get back home.

I have thought about doing that, but I have never done that before, and at the risk of sounding stupid, that would work with an iphone right?

lyndausvi

I'm going to sound old here, but back in the day before iPhones I traveled the world without a smartphone or iPad or WiFi.     Seriously, I actually flew around the world without that stuff.

You are going to Aruba.  It's a small island.  They speak English.  Your hotel has a concierge (if not there are normally concierge booths around).  You can do research prior to going. Everyone islands I have been to gives you a map and or book when getting off the plane.

Put down your iPhone.  Save your $40.  Enjoy being "unplugged" for a lack of a better word.

I've traveled Austria without my iphone.  I went on a 2.5 week HM to Europe and Africa without turning on my IPhone.   

 My parents travel to Australia and New Zealand last year without their Iphones (gone 2+ weeks).  They are heading to South America and Antarctica, again without their phones.   

You can go to Aruba without your phone.  If not,  you need to thinking about rehab.

amelisha

lyndausvi said:

I'm going to sound old here, but back in the day before iPhones I traveled the world without a smartphone or iPad or WiFi.     Seriously, I actually flew around the world without that stuff.

You are going to Aruba.  It's a small island.  They speak English.  Your hotel has a concierge (if not there are normally concierge booths around).  You can do research prior to going. Everyone islands I have been to gives you a map and or book when getting off the plane.

Put down your iPhone.  Save your $40.  Enjoy being "unplugged" for a lack of a better word.

I've traveled Austria without my iphone.  I went on a 2.5 week HM to Europe and Africa without turning on my IPhone.   

 My parents travel to Australia and New Zealand last year without their Iphones (gone 2+ weeks).  They are heading to South America and Antarctica, again without their phones.   

You can go to Aruba without your phone.  If not,  you need to thinking about rehab.

On one hand I get this perspective, but on the other hand I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with wanting to have your phone with you.

I lived in Spain twice without a cell phone and have done a fair bit of "exotic" travel (for lack of a better word) sans Internet thanks to my first career as a travel agent, but I have to say that I still prefer, now, to have one of my devices with me if it's not a huge pain. I don't really get why being "unplugged" is seen as more, like...virtuous. The Internet is awesome! It has allowed me to find so many things I never would have otherwise when I travel, from amazing restaurants to unusual hotels and so much more.

If you just want to wander and discover or whatever, that's great and a fun way to travel, but it doesn't mean it's the only way or the best way.

flutteringinfl

I'm starting to think about options like this. We're going to Australia for our honeymoon, and it's going to involve a lot of city walking and a decent amount of driving. I'd like to not just rely on Google maps for the driving portion, and it would be handy to have access to real time walking directions. If we were going somewhere where we didn't need access to directions to anything, I probably wouldn't be thinking about it. We went on a cruise last year and one of the great things was being able to turn our phones off and not worry about the world for a few days. But I don't want to find myself stranded in the middle of Australia without a phone or GPS.

plainjane0415

lyndausvi said:

I'm going to sound old here, but back in the day before iPhones I traveled the world without a smartphone or iPad or WiFi.     Seriously, I actually flew around the world without that stuff.

You are going to Aruba.  It's a small island.  They speak English.  Your hotel has a concierge (if not there are normally concierge booths around).  You can do research prior to going. Everyone islands I have been to gives you a map and or book when getting off the plane.

Put down your iPhone.  Save your $40.  Enjoy being "unplugged" for a lack of a better word.

I've traveled Austria without my iphone.  I went on a 2.5 week HM to Europe and Africa without turning on my IPhone.   

 My parents travel to Australia and New Zealand last year without their Iphones (gone 2+ weeks).  They are heading to South America and Antarctica, again without their phones.   

You can go to Aruba without your phone.  If not,  you need to thinking about rehab.

 

***box***

 

Rehab?  I'm not sure which part of my post implied that I am obsessed with my phone, but ok.

 

 

plainjane0415

amelisha said:

lyndausvi said:

I'm going to sound old here, but back in the day before iPhones I traveled the world without a smartphone or iPad or WiFi.     Seriously, I actually flew around the world without that stuff.

You are going to Aruba.  It's a small island.  They speak English.  Your hotel has a concierge (if not there are normally concierge booths around).  You can do research prior to going. Everyone islands I have been to gives you a map and or book when getting off the plane.

Put down your iPhone.  Save your $40.  Enjoy being "unplugged" for a lack of a better word.

I've traveled Austria without my iphone.  I went on a 2.5 week HM to Europe and Africa without turning on my IPhone.   

 My parents travel to Australia and New Zealand last year without their Iphones (gone 2+ weeks).  They are heading to South America and Antarctica, again without their phones.   

You can go to Aruba without your phone.  If not,  you need to thinking about rehab.

On one hand I get this perspective, but on the other hand I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with wanting to have your phone with you.

I lived in Spain twice without a cell phone and have done a fair bit of "exotic" travel (for lack of a better word) sans Internet thanks to my first career as a travel agent, but I have to say that I still prefer, now, to have one of my devices with me if it's not a huge pain. I don't really get why being "unplugged" is seen as more, like...virtuous. The Internet is awesome! It has allowed me to find so many things I never would have otherwise when I travel, from amazing restaurants to unusual hotels and so much more.

If you just want to wander and discover or whatever, that's great and a fun way to travel, but it doesn't mean it's the only way or the best way.

My thoughts exactly.

pinkcow13

I actually just called AT&T about this a couple of days ago. Personally, I don't want to do it. Like Lynda said above, I have travelled to different countries before I had an iPhone, and before wifi was a thing and I was perfectly fine. FI is really insistent on one of us adding on the plan to our phones, at least. He wants to be able to look up directions, things to do, Yelp, etc. And I don't even know why he brought up Yelp, I'm the big Yelper. I don't even think he has the app on his phone.

If he wants to add it on to his phone, then whatever. I did point out to him that in the past we have taken plenty of trips and have been "unplugged." I want to enjoy the time being away on our honeymoon. Going on a trip is the only time that I really get to be away and enjoy time away from it all. I think I won't be doing this. I think in Aruba I wouldn't use it either. Chances are I'd spend the entire day laying on the beach lol.

plainjane0415

I think the consensus is that it's not worth it.  The more I think about it, I don't see us using $40 worth of a plan.  The only thing that I worry about is our dogs back home and being able to communicate with our boarder if there so happened to be a problem.   

 

flutteringinfl

plainjane0415 said:

I think the consensus is that it's not worth it.  The more I think about it, I don't see us using $40 worth of a plan.  The only thing that I worry about is our dogs back home and being able to communicate with our boarder if there so happened to be a problem.   

 

Does your hotel have a business center where you could check your email?

plainjane0415

@flutteringinfl I'm sure it does. I'll need to double check though.

novella1186

Another vote for not doing it. 

Last time I went out of the country I checked on international usage and it was too expensive to be worth it. I was gonna be gone for less than a week and FI was coming with me, so there was no one I needed to talk to bad enough in that short span of time to spend the money. 

I can use wifi with my phone instead of using data, so I had a back-up, but I ended up not even touching my phone unless it was to take a photo if FI didn't have his camera out. 

We were so busy and having so much fun that messing with my phone never even occurred to me, and it was far more relaxing NOT having my phone. 

novella1186

plainjane0415 said:

I think the consensus is that it's not worth it.  The more I think about it, I don't see us using $40 worth of a plan.  The only thing that I worry about is our dogs back home and being able to communicate with our boarder if there so happened to be a problem.   

 

You can still get texts if your phone is international capable. I got lots of texts from back home while I was in China and I did not have any kind of international plan. I was charged about 25 cents per text or something like that, so a grand total of maybe $4. 

lyndausvi

Most hotels in the islands have WiFI and/or business centers.

Just put your phone on Airplane mode with the Wifi turned on.  Then at the resort you can use the phone.   Even some restaurants will have free wifi.     Use apps like What's up? and Viper.