The iPhone makes any trip better. You’ve got your camera for capturing memories. You can fire up a game to kill time in airports and train stations. Your music is always handy. And of course Maps, Mail, Safari, and all the subway-mapping, restaurant locating, and airline-check-in apps that chomp data in order to do their stuff.
But if you’re traveling overseas, you’re going to need a plan for where that data will come from--if you rely on your iPhone’s AT&T connection, you’re going to need deep pockets. Because while nationwide network access is included in your monthly data plan, when you go abroad your phone is connecting to another company’s network, who charges AT&T, who passes hefty fees on to you. You’ll pay 2 cents per KB (1.5 cents in Canada), which can add up quickly. For perspective, going over your DataConnect plan’s limit here in the U.S. will only ding you 5 cents per MB (with DataConnect 5GB) or 10 cents per MB (with DataConnect 200MB), so those KB are up to 400 times more expensive overseas. Ouch.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Follow this advice and you can have a great time on vacation and avoid an astronomical data bill later.
