Ensuring dont use data when abroad

You can even take out the SIM card and phone should still be able to use wifi.

 

Granted I'm speaking from the other side of the pond but when I went to Europe I left data off and wasn't charged a thing, but it is very difficult to have my iphone with me and not be able to do many of the things I do in a given day.

I did have to turn data on once to pull up Google maps and find a hotel. I forgot to turn off the auto retrieve on 2 email accounts and as soon as I flipped the switch the phone grabed almost 30 emails.

Needless to say that was an expensive 4 minutes of data, the bill was $64.

In hindsight ATT offered a Data roaming package for $50 for 50mb. Next time I go I will be sure to add that for the month.

 

*Airplane mode.

And yes it does save battery as the phone is not looking for a cell signal. It is basically an iPod Touch when it is in Airplane mode.

 

There's an option under settings, network... It's called "Data Roaming". Turn this off (I think that's the default setting) and your iPhone won't attempt to connect to the cellular data APN whenever you're on a roaming network.

There's no need to disable cellular data, although if you also do so it will have the same affect since you're just forcing the iPhone to indiscriminately disable cellular APN access regardless of the network you're connected to.

 

That's the answer right there ^^^. First thing I did (I travel frequently within Europe) when I got my 3G back in the day. You can make calls, send SMSs etc but it won't push email or any other cellular data your way. Goes without saying that it doesn't affect wifi connections, which is of course free wherever you are.