Travel and Phones

[Jenny]

Anyone do anything special when they travel overseas with their phones? I'm considering a burner of some sort for Rome - something that's not tied to my Apple account. My daily phone has financial apps for home and work (as much as I tried to not do that, I caved, and they proliferated) and I just don't think I need the worry when I'm over there. Would just need something to be able to communicate with the others on the trip, on the off chance we get separated. And to be able to respond to messages from the states.

 

[Bookworm]

T-Mobile has free texting in Europe.
The other thing to do is to get a burner phone and buy a e-sim card. They are pretty cheap. That's what my friends who travel intl all the time do. The phone just needs to be unlocked.

 

[wernerslab]

I have done a variety of things when travelling internationally with phones. Last year was the simplest when I upgraded our Google Fi plan to allow access in France and England before we left the states and then just used my phone for text and internet access while there. It was helpful to have email access bc of the airline boarding passes and accessing any electronic tickets to tourist venues and to be familiar with the phone. We converted back to the cheaper plan when we got back.

On earlier trips, I bought a cheap flip phone and SIM card upon arrival in Europe(also did this in Singapore) and just used that for texting (so inconvenient on the old flips) or calling the friends I was visiting or back home. The use of my Pixel phone in France was the easiest by far. I also investigated getting a 2nd electronic SIM for my pixel phone which would have a different number but opted not to do that bc it seemed tedious and I wasn't concerned about bringing my normal mobile phone. I am not sure how cheap it is to buy a burner now nor how convenient. When I did it the first time, phone shops in UK/France were easy to find and they sold SIM cards from a vending machine in arrivals. I don't recall if it was similarly convenient last summer.

 

[marzNC]

No advice about hardware. I don't do anything important on my iPhone, unless you count pictures.

Been using WhatsApp for messaging what I have access to WiFi this week. In Switzerland and France. Today my daughter and I were traveling by train using Eurail passes and the routing was a bit complicated. opted to turn on cell and WiFi for our carrier for a day. Costs $12 for a 24-hr period (midnight to midnight).

For a longer stay, I'd probably go with an eSIM, but would need to make sure my iPhone is unlocked. Used to use a physical SIM card in China with a cheap flip phone my cousin gave me. But that was quite a while back.

 

[skinnyfootskis]

Anyone do anything special when they travel overseas with their phones? I'm considering a burner of some sort for Rome - something that's not tied to my Apple account. My daily phone has financial apps for home and work (as much as I tried to not do that, I caved, and they proliferated) and I just don't think I need the worry when I'm over there. Would just need something to be able to communicate with the others on the trip, on the off chance we get separated. And to be able to respond to messages from the states.

I usually buy a SIM card for $10 and it’s great.

 

[Christy]

Can you just delete those apps for your trip, then reinstall? And even if you lose your phone, is it actually very likely someone would be able to get into your accounts via those apps? Won't you want to use your own phone for photos?

I've had free international service with T Mobile for so long that the idea of getting another phone or a sim for international travel sounds really annoying. The last time I had to buy a sim was in Spain in 2011.

 

[elemmac]

No advice about hardware. I don't do anything important on my iPhone, unless you count pictures.

Been using WhatsApp for messaging what I have access to WiFi this week. In Switzerland and France. Today my daughter and I were traveling by train using Eurail passes and the routing was a bit complicated. opted to turn on cell and WiFi for our carrier for a day. Costs $12 for a 24-hr period (midnight to midnight).

For a longer stay, I'd probably go with an eSIM, but would need to make sure my iPhone is unlocked. Used to use a physical SIM card in China with a cheap flip phone my cousin gave me. But that was quite a while back.

This is what I do…I’ve never worried about the hardware and apps. And I use my phone for a camera a lot so wouldn’t want a cheap burner.

When traveling internationally, I keep it on airplane mode, and connect to WiFi to text or use data. I download Google Maps for locations I’m going so I don’t need cellular most of the time. If I do need data, I’ll turn it on for the day (I think my carrier charges $12 as well).

I’ve traveled with people that have used eSIMs, I don’t know a lot about them…Definitely cheapest way to get cellular service though.

 

[marzNC]

I download Google Maps for locations I’m going so I don’t need cellular most of the time.

Discovered that downloading Apple Maps can be more useful than Google Maps. For instance, downloaded Apple Maps don't expire. Google Maps makes you updated every 24 hours as far as I can tell.

Plus with Apple Maps I can change the area of interest to make it smaller or larger. If two downloaded maps intersect then get a combined area automatically. Can change the layers for downloaded maps.

 

[elemmac]

Discovered that downloading Apple Maps can be more useful than Google Maps. For instance, downloaded Apple Maps don't expire. Google Maps makes you updated every 24 hours as far as I can tell.

Plus with Apple Maps I can change the area of interest to make it smaller or larger. If two downloaded maps intersect then get a combined area automatically. Can change the layers for downloaded maps.

Interesting…I’ll have to explore that option. It would have to be WORLDS better to have me switch though...I have so many pins saved on my Google maps, that I wouldn't want to lose.

I've never had to update downloaded maps....it gives me the option but never have needed to (there's also an option to "auto-update"). They do have an expiration (which I actually like, because I don't have to think about deleting it when it's taking up space on my phone and I don't need the map anymore).

With Google you can change the area of interest too, and if there's overlap between two maps, it just allows you to search that area...it sounds like Apple and Google are pretty comparable in that sense.

 

[marzNC]

Interesting…I’ll have to explore that option. It would have to be WORLDS better to have me switch though...I have so many pins saved on my Google maps, that I wouldn't want to lose.

I haven't switched. For this week in Europe, I'm experimenting with both Apple Maps and Google Maps.

I've never had to update downloaded maps....it gives me the option but never have needed to (there's also an option to "auto-update"). They do have an expiration (which I actually like, because I don't have to think about deleting it when it's taking up space on my phone and I don't need the map anymore).

With Google you can change the area of interest too, and if there's overlap between two maps, it just allows you to search that area...it sounds like Apple and Google are pretty comparable in that sense.

Interesting.

Since I rarely use Google Maps on my phone, I have no idea what the default settings are being used. What I saw was something like "map expires on" with the date that I downloaded it. Given that I'm going home in a few days, don't really feel like spending too much time fiddling.

I use Google Maps on my laptop for planning purposes, but the interface it quite different.

 

[elemmac]

Since I rarely use Google Maps on my phone, I have no idea what the default settings are being used. What I saw was something like "map expires on" with the date that I downloaded it. Given that I'm going home in a few days, don't really feel like spending too much time fiddling.

I think the default keeps it for a year. So, it has the date it's downloaded but should be one year out for expiration.

 

[BlueSkies]

We keep the financial app for our credit card on the phone when traveling as we then get notifications of its use. Had a card compromised from a data hack and it was used to buy airplane tickets (to Malaysia) while we were traveling. We were able to contact the company and cancel the card and the transaction. Also we always carry more than one card.
Otherwise airplane mode, wifi and $12/day if needed.

 

[Christy]

That's a good point. I have gotten text notifications from my bank wanting to know if it was me actually making these charges in a foreign country while traveling--I've even had my card shut off temporarily. Supposedly you can just tell them in advance, but with one card in particular they always shut the card down anyway.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

This is so interesting because my mind immediately went to the current concerns with phones being looked at by immigration officials coming back into the US rather than concerns while actually traveling outside of the country. I am coming back to the States in a little over a week and will almost certainly be deleting my social media accounts from my phone even though I don't post anything controversial on those platforms.

 

[edelweissmaedl]

I have an e-sim that I reload when in Europe. Cheap and easy. I‘ve had it for years and haven‘t worried about my phone or financial apps. I also use Waze when driving in Europe like I do here, so I just can’t imagine giving up my iphone.

 

[mustski]

When traveling, I keep mine on a lanyard and firmly attached to my body at all times. My DIL had hers snatched out of her hand while she was taking a video while riding a scooter! The other guy was on a scooter also and disappeared before she could even get a look at him.

 

[marzNC]

When traveling, I keep mine on a lanyard and firmly attached to my body at all times. My DIL had hers snatched out of her hand while she was taking a video while riding a scooter! The other guy was on a scooter also and disappeared before she could even get a look at him.

Wow! Reminds me of how things were in Jakarta back in the 1970s when it came to fancy watches or even jewelry in a woman's hair.

Which continent was she traveling in at the time?

 

[Magnatude]

This is so interesting because my mind immediately went to the current concerns with phones being looked at by immigration officials coming back into the US rather than concerns while actually traveling outside of the country. I am coming back to the States in a little over a week and will almost certainly be deleting my social media accounts from my phone even though I don't post anything controversial on those platforms.

Mine too, though I live well outside your borders. We have been to the US several times to ski, up to about 2015, I think, with no issues, as you'd expect, but I have no idea what we'd encounter now, despite our lack of presence on social media etc. Sadly it doesn't seem worth the risk now, given what we've been reading lately, for us. We were recently in China on a short stopover, which was fine. The world (or at least some parts of it) is a strange place now.

 

[elemmac]

This is so interesting because my mind immediately went to the current concerns with phones being looked at by immigration officials coming back into the US rather than concerns while actually traveling outside of the country. I am coming back to the States in a little over a week and will almost certainly be deleting my social media accounts from my phone even though I don't post anything controversial on those platforms.

I certainly don't want this to turn political...and I suppose I've known this is a possibility (immigration officials can search your phone/laptop/ipad/etc), but is this actually happening often enough for this to be a concern where you would be deleting apps prior to arrival?

 

[mustski]

Wow! Reminds me of how things were in Jakarta back in the 1970s when it came to fancy watches or even jewelry in a woman's hair.

Which continent was she traveling in at the time?

She was in Bali.