While on holiday or business outside of your own country it is so easy to run up bills on your mobile device. We often forget that we are charged more for the service than if we were in our own country and then when the bills arrive it’s a battle to find the money for the extra charges.
The article on The Telegraph lists a few ways that you can ensure you do not have a horrible surprise in your mobile bill when you return. Although a lot of these tips are common sense, it is good to be reminded of them before you start traveling.
Consult your provider – Let your provider know that you going to be going out of the country and find out if they are offering any special packages for this purpose.
Report Problems Immediately – Should you lose your phone or have it stolen you need to report it to your provider immediately.
Wi-Fi is better – Rather use Wi-Fi connections where ever possible to do what you need to do online, the data providers do not charge for Wi-Fi downloads.
Data Roaming – Turn off your data roaming while you are abroad.
Download at home – Before you leave your home country download the music, movies and other high data usage items you want on your phone.
Check your data options – By law all providers are required to give you an option to opt out of the cap that they have on mobile devices for data usage on a monthly basis, you might have already chosen to opt out of this cap by buying a large bundle, check with your provider if you have opted out or not.
Educate Children – If you allow your child to use your smart phone or they have a smart phone of their own make sure that they are aware of the extra charges for data and educate them on how to be frugal with their data usage.
Having the ability to connect to the internet with friends and family from anywhere in the world is a luxury that was not even thought of ten years ago, and as with all luxuries, they come at a price. Rather be aware and keep your usage to a minimum than be crippled by an extremely high bill.
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