I live in the U.S. and am going to Canada on vacation. I don't want a huge charge on my bill while there, so I won't be using my iPhone to make calls or download data through AT&T. But if I use free Wifi with my iPhone, will I get some huge international charge? Or is it just like here in the states? If I can use a free WiFi connection then I could still make calls on my iPhone via Skype and get my email for free....yes?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Out of Country Charges
- Thread starter Resist
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You should have no problems doing that.Obviously make sure data roaming is off (that's the default).
Just got back from Toronto and had problems with AT&T service....I have two iphones and wanted to make calls between them. Had to purchase international phone plans for each, about $6.95. Second, I wanted one phone to have a data plan, $24.95. AT&T activated the wrong phone, so when I got back, my bill was in the $600-800 range for only 3 days in Canada! We tend to use the internet a lot, and also the applications. I have a sneaking suspicion that the WeatherChannel app (mapping mode) uses TONS of data. One connection on my bill was in the neighborhood of $120. Aside from Mail and Safari, we really only used Maps, The WeatherChannel, and PricelessPicks.
Thankfully, I got everything sorted out with AT&T and they knocked my bill down to about $180 (normally $110).
Thankfully, I got everything sorted out with AT&T and they knocked my bill down to about $180 (normally $110).
Just put your phone in "Airplane mode" then turn wi-fi back on.
download skype. and make calls to landlines and cellphone via your wifi for 2.95 a month or .01/min.
This is what my wife and I do when she travels over seas, calls are as good as when she is the the 3g network stateside.
if you need to make a call with out wifi access just turn off the airplane mode and make sure roaming data is also off. make you call but remember you are roaming so the call will cost you $$$$$.
download skype. and make calls to landlines and cellphone via your wifi for 2.95 a month or .01/min.
This is what my wife and I do when she travels over seas, calls are as good as when she is the the 3g network stateside.
if you need to make a call with out wifi access just turn off the airplane mode and make sure roaming data is also off. make you call but remember you are roaming so the call will cost you $$$$$.
Also remember that if your phone has registered with a cell tower internationally, if someone calls you, you will get billed even if you don't answer, if they stay on the line long enough for your voicemail to pick up.
You can call AT&T and have voicemail turned off while you're traveling (to avoid that).
You can call AT&T and have voicemail turned off while you're traveling (to avoid that).
I second this. Just got back from the Vancouver area yesterday. Put the phone in Airplane mode and turned wi-fi on, and it worked great.
As others have noted, make sure to turn off PUSH notifications and roaming.
As for Skype, well, there appear to be some problems with the latest update in the App store. I had problems trying to use it while away so just went phoneless. When I did turn off Airplane mode for a minute, I rcv'd a text right away from AT&T saying that roaming charges were $15+ per MB.
If you use wifi you won't get charge data roaming. I think this is a real problem for the iphone compared to blackberry. With the blackberry you can still receive emails and use BBM without getting charged anything extra.
Until data roaming charges come down to something affordable, you just have to stick to wifi and make sure data roaming is off.
What I do when travelling and don't want to receive calls, is divert all calls to voice mail before leaving home. This avoids the problem of a double whammy if someone calls, you don't answer and then it reverts to voice mail as - in Europe at least - you'll end up paying for the call to country you're in and then for the call from there back to voice mail! That can be expensive.
I used Skype in Canada via Wifi and it was super cheap. I also received several voicemails while I was there, but was unable to listen to them (apparently you can't listen to voice mail with wifi - so stupid). On the other hand, I wasn't charged for the voice-mails either. I'm not sure why I wasn't charged, when other people say that they were. Maybe it's because I never actually listened to them until I got back to the US?
Since voice mail is with your phone service provider, how would you expect to listen to them using wifi when abroad? And of course you weren't charged for listening to your voice mails if you didn't pick them up until you got home!