You want to share your international exploits with friends and family back home. The easiest and fastest way to do that is by using your cell phone to upload pictures, send text messages, and by calling home. However, uploading your pictures to social media and calling home can cost you a small fortune if you are not smart about using your cell phone abroad. Use these tips to make calls, texting, and uploading free or nearly free while traveling.
Choose Your Carrier Wisely
Unless you are absolutely attached to your current cell phone provider, it is wise to do some research regarding charges for international data and calling. This is especially true if you are going to be traveling frequently or staying overseas for an extended period.
Currently, your best option for cell phone coverage, without incurring additional plan fees and charges, is T-mobile. T-mobile extends their unlimited text messaging and data to international travel. This means you can text or upload all you want without racking up expensive fees or having to change your cell phone plan. In fact, T-mobile extends this coverage to about 140 countries.
Calling with T-mobile is a little pricey, coming in at $.20 per minute. However, when compared to Verizon and Sprint, both of which will require you to upgrade to pricey international data and calling plans, this is a small expense. However, you can easily avoid the $.20 per minute charge by taking advantage of free calling apps.
Use Free Calling Apps
Regardless of whether you make the switch to T-mobile, you can still use free calling apps to prevent expensive cell phone bills. If your current cell phone plan does not include unlimited data, be sure to connect a free wifi service, such as that offered by your hotel before using the following free calling apps.
- Skype
- Google Hangouts
- Facebook Messenger
- Tango
- Yahoo Messenger
These fee free calling apps will help you stay connected to friends and family, provided they also use these apps.
Use Wifi Only
If you do not want to change cell phone providers or upgrade to a more expensive international cell phone plan, you can still use your phone to upload, text, and call for free. However, because you will need to rely on wifi only and not your cell network, your capacity for doing so will be limited to the times in which you can connect to a free wifi service.
Many of the above free call apps also provide free texting. Some other free text apps are Kik and Viber. Remember that just like the calling apps, the people you text will also need to have these apps installed.