'I bought a local SIM card for my trip to Egypt for £8 for a week': How local SIMs and apps can help you to avoid 'bill shock'.
- In some destinations it would cost £10 to check your Facebook status once
- Networks will limit your data usage but it's not fail-safe
- Apps such as Skype, Whats-App and Facetime are free with wi-fi
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Those holidaying abroad this summer face the prospect of huge mobile phone bills on top of extra costs caused by the weak pound.
Just checking social media and your emails regularly during a two-week period could lead to hundreds of pounds of extra costs – despite an EU deal to bring roaming costs down that came into force earlier this year.
In some popular holiday destinations outside Europe, roaming costs from many providers are so high that it would cost you £10 merely to check your Facebook status once – let alone streaming videos or using your mobile for useful services such as TripAdvisor or for maps to help you navigate your holiday destination.
Good advice: Louise Croft relies on hotel wi-fi and apps such as Skype to ensure she keeps com munication costs down when travelling
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at comparison website uSwitch, says that even caps designed to protect holidaymakers from mobile bill shock are not enough, because it is simple to opt out just by sending a text message, and most of us have become accustomed to internet on demand.
He says: 'Networks will limit your mobile data usage abroad to around £40, but it's not fail-safe, because you can easily opt out of data roaming caps, and charges for calls and texts are not capped.
'In some countries, roaming costs are so high, you'd eat through that £40 cap so fast it might be tempting to opt out without realising the consequences.'
There are ways to stay connected while abroad without suffering huge bills if you are willing to put in a little bit of time and effort.
These include making the most of special packages from your current provider, downloading apps that allow you to make the most of wi-fi calling and offline services, and finding a local SIM that will allow you to surf the web at a fraction of the price offered by your UK provider.
Doku says: 'Roaming costs vary dramatically across the world and between providers, so check with your network what you'll pay and what add-ons are available before you jet off. There are still alternatives to bill shock if your network is not offering any appealing roaming deals.'
Cheaper costs in Europe
If you are holidaying on the Continent, you will benefit from the recent fall in mobile phone roaming tariffs imposed by the European Commission.
This is unlikely to change in the short term, despite the Brexit vote, and means the maximum that your provider can charge you to check your email is around 4.3p a megabyte, while phone calls are capped at around 4.4p a minute. These caps are subject to currency fluctuation.
Roaming charges within the EU are forecast to disappear altogether by the middle of next year, but Brexit means this is now far from certain for Britons. BT has already said that 'the outcome of negotiations between the UK and the EU may affect costs in the long term', suggesting customers could end up paying more.
...And further afield
Outside the EU, roaming charges can be far higher. For example, Virgin Mobile charges £5 a megabyte to use the internet in popular holiday destinations such as Thailand and Australia, while O2 charges £6 a megabyte in Thailand. Given that it takes around two megabyte s of data just to check your Facebook updates, these charges soon mount up.
Some providers have introduced attractive bundles to make roaming abroad more cost-effective, but you may need to buy them in advance. Vodafone recently introduced free roaming for customers in 40 countries, but current customers will have to upgrade to get this benefit.
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Three offers a 'Feel at Home' deal to all of its customers, allowing them to take their current entitlement of minutes and data abroad for free to many destinations, as does Tesco Mobile with its Home From Home deal, in place until early September.
Holiday bolt-ons
Providers such as Virgin and EE offer passes that can give you cheaper data while abroad.
EE's pass for Europe offers unlimited texts and calls and 500 megabytes of data for £4 a day, while for £1.99 a day O2 customers travelling to Europe can receive unlimited data, plus 120 minutes of calls and 120 texts.
These packages can offer better value than simply using your phone as usual, but the costs can still spiral if you use your phone in the same way as you do at home.
Free wi-fi and apps
Gary Luther, at telecoms company CCS, recommends that most holidaymakers switch off their mobile internet altogether. He says: 'Switch data roaming off before leaving the UK and only switch it on as and when required while abroad.
'Utilise free wi-fi while data roaming is switched off, and try to download any information or content you may need before leaving.'
Using apps such as Skype, Whats-App and Facetime allows you to use your phone for free over a wi-fi connection. Skype permits you to call another Skype user for free, or call landlines or mobiles abroad cheaply, while WhatsApp lets you send free text messages to other users. Facetime is a free service for Apple users and works over wi-fi.
When you venture out of your hotel, consider using apps such as CopilotGPS, which allows you to download maps before you go and then use the app without using data. You can also use the wi-fi in your hotel to download guides to various cities on TripAdvisor, and again use them, and the maps associated with them, offline.
In some popular holiday destinations costs are so high that it would cost £10 to check your Facebook status
Buy a local SIM
If you do want to use your mobile phone to check your email or the internet while travelling away from wi-fi, a third option is to buy a local SIM card and fit it into your phone. As long as your phone is unlocked from its network, you can insert any SIM card into it and it will work.
Dave Dean, who runs travel technology information website Too Many Adapters, says that a local SIM is nearly always a cheaper option, unless you are able to use the minutes on your existing contract while abroad.
He says: 'Local SIMs are your best bet in most of the world. You'll typically get a useful amount of calls, texts and data for between £10 and £20, depending on where you're going.'
There is more information on his website on how to get a SIM in different destinations, as well as the cost of internet, calls and texts from these local SIMs.
Dean says that airports and local stores are some of the best places to find local SIMs, and once you have one you can usually top it up at convenience stores.
In some cases, if you have a nano or microSIM in your phone, you may need to cut it to size yourself, or have a phone shop do it for you. If you do this, make sure you keep your existing SIM safe. If it is stolen and a thief racks up a large bill, you may be liable unless you report the theft quickly.
Source: www.bing.com
Images credited to www.bing.com and www.centercityteam.com
