International Cell Phone Travel Tips | Save MEGA $$$ on Roaming!

these days it's unimaginable to travel without  your cell phone I mean why would you they are  

so handy from maps to messages to Ubers and  more it's a downright necessity to have your  

phone when you travel but if you've ever tried  using your home cell phone plan while abroad  

and paid the price for it literally then you  will know the importance of properly setting  

up your phone for international travel in this  video I'm going to show you exactly how to do  

that and for way less money than you might  expect I'll share a bonus tip that could just  

save you hundreds of dollars at the end so stick  around and Let's Travel Smart in style [Applause]

before we get into the best International cell  phone plans and travel e-sims and all of that  

jazz we need to figure out if your phone is  locked or unlocked because the options you  

have available to you will differ depending on  that crucial point if you got your phone from  

your cellular provider then it's probably  locked in most cases you're in a contract  

usually a couple of years long and the cost of the  phone is incorporated into your monthly payments  

unfortunately this means you don't have the best  phone for international travel the good news is  

that once you've had a phone for a certain amount  of time your carrier is obligated to unlock the  

phone for you contact your carrier to find out the  terms for your phone plan they'll also help you  

unlock it but they won't volunteer to do this  and they can do it remotely so just call them  

and find out if instead you bought your phone  outright it's probably factory unlocked which  

unlocks pun intended a whole bunch of options  for you we'll get it to those in a bit [Music]  

foreign the best International cell phone plan  for you depends first and foremost on the length  

of your trip if you're taking a trip that is two  weeks or less here are your options the easiest  

option for you is also the most expensive but for  short trips it's probably worthwhile and it works  

regardless of whether your phone is locked or  unlocked what is it it's getting your carrier to  

give you an international roaming plan many cell  phone companies have special temporary options or  

daily add-ons that make your cell phone functional  while you're abroad for an extra fee per day  

usually between five and ten dollars depending on  the company it will allow you to make and receive  

calls and texts to your home cell phone number  while you're abroad and you'll also get a certain  

amount of international data usage per day this  makes your phone fully functional while you're  

traveling so you can use it just as you would  at home including four Maps Ubers social media  

phone calls texts and more it's also the most  expensive option at 10 bucks a day in addition  

to your regular monthly charges this will add up  really quickly which is why I only suggest it for  

shorter trips if the international roaming add-on  gives you sticker shock the cheapest option for  

your locked or unlocked phone on a short trip is  just to put it on airplane mode and then enable  

the Wi-Fi so you can connect to Wi-Fi networks as  and when you find them putting it on airplane mode  

disables the cellular function so you can't make  or receive calls to your home number disable the  

cellular function also disables data connections  so you won't be able to use any apps that require  

internet unless you're on a Wi-Fi network and if  you're on a public Wi-Fi network make sure you're  

also using a VPN or on that in the description  this also means you won't be able to use apps like  

uber while you're out and about so think about  whether that kind of functionality is important to  

you you can however use certain apps offline like  Google translate and Maps as long as you download  

the relevant Maps or dictionaries before you  go or while you have a Wi-Fi connection [Music]  

if you're going away for more than two weeks but  less than well forever you'll probably want to  

still keep your home phone plan intact but it  won't make sense to pay the daily roaming fee  

to use it abroad here are your options one get  an international phone plan this works if your  

phone is locked or unlocked depending on where  you're from you might have the ability to get  

an international cell phone plan this is a regular  monthly cell phone plan that will work seamlessly  

no matter where in the world you are as soon as  you land in a new place your phone will connect  

to the local network and you can use your phone as  normal easy peasy examples of these kinds of phone  

plans for U.S residents include T-Mobile's magenta  plan and Verizon's international plan now there's  

a cost for all this convenience these kinds of  phone plans aren't cheap but past a certain point  

it'll be cheaper than the daily roaming add-ons  if you're traveling for more than a couple of  

weeks or if you travel frequently and you need  your home phone number to work wherever you are  

it may be worth it to have one of these monthly  international plans I'll also note that Google  

Phi is another international phone plan option but  if you are traveling long term or if you travel  

internationally frequently beware their plans are  designed to be used nationally and internationally  

on occasion and they have been unceremoniously  cutting off plans for people who have been abroad  

too long whatever that means two if you can't  unlock your phone and you don't want to pay for  

an international plan here's your other choice a  mobile Wi-Fi hotspot with this option you'll put  

your phone on airplane mode while you're out of  the country so you don't get dinged for roaming  

then you can connect to your mobile Wi-Fi  hotspot a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot is a small  

device that gives you a Wi-Fi connection for  your phone laptop and other devices because you  

can connect multiple devices to one hotspot it's  ideal for couples or families traveling together  

two of the main providers of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots  are keep go and travel Wi-Fi with keep go you buy  

your mobile hotspot for about 100 bucks and then  you pay for data on a pay-as-you-go basis the more  

data you buy in one go the less it costs and if  you top up before the data expires any unused  

data carries over or you can sign up for a prepaid  monthly plan that costs less on a per gig basis  

but it's only good in the USA and Europe you can  also switch between plans whenever you like with  

travel Wi-Fi you can rent the hotspot starting at  about eight dollars a day including data or you  

can buy a hotspot outright for 149 dollars and get  various data packages depending on where you're  

going and for how long the best International  Wi-Fi hotspot depends on your needs to meet the  

keep Go website is a bit easier to understand  with global data but if you're only going on  

a short trip renting a hot spot with travel  Wi-Fi might make more sense in the description  

you will find more information about mobile Wi-Fi  hotspots and even a discount just for you [Music]

if your phone is unlocked you automatically have  the best cell phone for international travel with  

the most options available to you let's get into  it first of all it's important to decide what to  

do with your home cell phone plan you aren't  beholden to your carrier anymore in the same  

way since your phone is paid off and unlocked  this gives you the ability to switch carriers  

if you like or even to cancel your plan entirely  now before you go all like Nora I can't let go  

of my cell phone number don't worry I know these  days you need a cell phone number in your country  

of residence if for nothing else then to get  text messages for two-factor authentication  

when logging into bank accounts and such but  this doesn't mean that you need to be tied  

to an expensive full-service phone plan that  you're not going to use because if you travel  

long term or even full-time as a digital Nomad  a regular phone plan might be a waste of money  

here are your options one downgrade to a basic No  Frills phone plan the more basic the better just  

a phone number with the ability to receive texts  internationally or over Wi-Fi will do don't even  

worry about international data we will go over  other ways to get that two you could move your  

phone number to an app or online service for a  one-time fee you can Port your existing number to  

an online service like Skype or an app like hushed  or tossable digits and then you'll pay a very low  

monthly fee and in some cases no fee at all that  allows you to make and receive calls to and from  

this number over Wi-Fi or data regardless of where  you are in the world and if you're Canadian check  

out Fungo it's a free app that allows you to make  and receive calls to and from Canada from anywhere  

in the world over Wi-Fi or data for free I've  been using it as my sole Canadian number since  

2017. it's the best I can be in Timbuktu and  my dad can call me on my Canadian number it's a  

local call for him in Canada and it's 100 free for  me to take that call in the case of online phone  

numbers a common objection that I get is about  short code authentication texts many online phone  

numbers don't accept them although this seems to  be changing pretty quickly like I said I've been  

using an online phone number as my primary  Canadian number since 2017. and yes in some  

cases I don't always get verification texts but  in every single case there's always a workaround  

for example I can receive a phone call with the  verification code or an email for the cost of free  

it's an incredibly minor inconvenience that I've  always found to work around for with the No Frills  

phone plan or the online app you are now sorted in  terms of a phone number in your home country which  

really is just for posterity and authentication  texts and maybe for your grandma to call you if  

she doesn't know how to use WhatsApp or messenger  or Skype or any of the free online messaging and  

calling services so now there are two things you  need data and maybe a local phone number at your  

destination here's how to do both because your  phone is unlocked you can insert any SIM card  

from anywhere this means when you arrived in a new  place you can get a SIM card that will give you a  

local phone number which makes it easy to stay in  touch with people at your destination and often  

you'll get inexpensive local data as well I always  suggest getting a local SIM card at the airport  

you'll find kiosks in the arrivals Hall and the  people there will get you set up in minutes no  

plans no contracts no hassles these SIM cards  are generally cheap and in some cases they're  

effectively free with an equivalent amount of  phone credit that comes with the card and Airport  

kiosks offer special plans specific to Travelers  who are staying for shorter periods of time  

well I originally thought that they would cost  more at the airport because of the convenience  

and they're usually pretty competitively priced  also once you leave the airport buying a SIM  

card can be considerably more complicated and  in some cases downright impossible since local  

shops aren't always equipped to set up new plans  for non-residents the other advantage to getting  

a local SIM card at the airport is that you  can immediately start using it which you may  

need to do if you want to catch an Uber to your  accommodation for example it's just so much easier  

while a local SIM card gives you a local phone  number and sometimes great rates for local data  

if you're just passing through it might not  be worth it to get one and you may not need  

the phone number anyway especially with apps  like WhatsApp which in some parts of the world  

is actually what even local residents exclusively  use so if you're on a trip where you're changing  

destinations a lot or you just don't need a local  phone number then an international data SIM card  

or international data esim is for you this is  actually what I use 100 of the time at home in  

Canada and while traveling it's amazing as soon  as I arrive at a destination I have a connection  

I don't have to do anything data SIM cards can  be offered in a few different formats including  

regular Sims and e-sims a data SIM card offers you  you got it data there's no phone number associated  

with the SIM card and in most cases you purchase  data as you go through an app on your phone data  

packages vary depending on the provider many  offer packages based on geography so you can  

buy data for a specific country or a region for  example like Europe or you can purchase global  

data plans that tend to be more expensive  but they cover you anywhere and everywhere  

prices for data also vary depending on the amount  of data you buy and the expiry date the longer  

it is to the expiry date the more the data will  cost but the longer you can amortize that expense  

my advice look for deals my global data SIM card  provider of choice is flexoroam and they regularly  

offer up to 80 off global data like they do this  every month I wait until they're featuring one of  

these deals and then I purchase five gigs of data  with 180 day expiry date for about five bucks a  

gig okay this video is already way longer than  I wanted it to be and believe it or not I have  

just barely skimmed over the top options for  you to stay connected while you travel I wrote  

an article on my website that goes into even more  depth on various cell phone strategies and it even  

covers some additional options I didn't mention  in this video like international phone SIM cards  

which by the way just but before I wrap up this  video I promised you a bonus tip that will save  

you from getting nailed by bromian charges beware  of borders if you are anywhere near a land border  

turn your phone off and don't turn it back  on until you were well clear of the Border  

let me explain an American friend of mine was  driving across the Kennedy U.S border while he  

was still on the U.S side he sent a few messages  using his U.S phone number before crossing over  

unfortunately he was close enough to the  border that unbeknownst to him he was picking  

up Canadian cell signals which meant he was  roaming and his messages resulted in an extra  

forty dollars charged to his monthly bill now  he got off lucky if he had made a phone call it  

could have been hundreds of dollars you can avoid  this challenge by putting your phone into airplane  

mode or turning off international roaming in your  phone's settings while you are close to a border  

do you have any hot International cell phone tips  do you use an app or service that I didn't mention  

do you still have unanswered questions drop a  comment and let me know I'm all ears or eyes  

I'm Nora Dunn aka the professional hobo  and I will catch you next time [Music]