Overseas phone question

[sms316]

Hola Amigos,

The bride and I are travelling to Canada and NYC next month. Being less than worldly travelers I need a little assistance when it comes to phones.

The idea of roaming doesn't feel particularly palpable and I'd prefer that we both had phone access. We both have iPhones on Telstra plans less than a year old. Are the attached a simple thing? Are we going to be network locked regardless? Is there a better option?

https://simcorner.com/collections/us...-canada-mexico

https://simcorner.com/collections/us...-canada-mexico

I guess the feeling if something is too good to be true is sitting in the back of my mind.

Gracias

[jimandr]

This is a subject close to my heart, and I research it every time I go away. I always think there must be a better way than last time, and there usually is.

The big issue for you, SMS, is whether your phones are locked to Telstra or not. I don't know how to determine this, but our other tech experts will know. If they are, you are bound by Telstra's roaming plan and rules, and you are better off switching the phone off, taking an old one and getting a stand alone sim.

The Sim Corner type products do work, and they are quite good. The other option is to simply buy a Sim when you arrive.

The downside is that you have a different phone number, of course. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, and it might not be for you. But it could be a problem due to two factor authentication of your credit or debit card. If the bank want to send you a code, they'll do so on the number on their records. If that phone is turned off, you don't get the code.

I hope this helps.

[goughy]

https://www.whistleout.com.au/Mobile...ore-travelling

My mate and his wife go overseas a lot, and just get a sim locally when they do. No way in hell do you want to pay roaming charges. Get your provider to unlock your phones, it's mentioned in the article. Some will do it for free, I bet Telstra won't.
As it says too, you have to make sure your phone will work on the network you get a sim for. Might be easier to post here which model phones you have and maybe someone could suggest the best carrier option for you, based on where you are going?

[PeteyD]

Should be able to buy an eSim when you get there. Assuming the latest iPhones support them and have dual sim capabilities.

[markTHEblake]

SMS. I go overseas a lot, best advice i can give is to get your stuff organised before you leave,irrespective of provider, they are all good. Nothing worse than faffing around in airports on arrive getting it to work while trying to organise transport. For sure most of the time its easy but one time its not is a lesson learned, due to stress elevation at this point for lots of reasons.

I now rely on getting an ESIM from Flexiroam, install and activate several days before leaving, prompt online support if you cant get it running.

On top of that, set up Unconditional Diversion to Voice2Text or something like that *before* you depart australia ( if you do it after you will pay roaming call charges to overseas and back to Au again). I divert mine to a VOIP phone number which diverts ti voice2email.

This way you can still recieve TXT messages, which can be important for some 2FA logins, which can arise especially if you make ony online card purchases, or bank tries to contact you about overseas transactions.

Of course easiest is to just use your own phone provider, but the likes of Telstra is quite expensive relative to the international ones.

[sms316]

https://www.whistleout.com.au/Mobile...ore-travelling

My mate and his wife go overseas a lot, and just get a sim locally when they do. No way in hell do you want to pay roaming charges. Get your provider to unlock your phones, it's mentioned in the article. Some will do it for free, I bet Telstra won't.
As it says too, you have to make sure your phone will work on the network you get a sim for. Might be easier to post here which model phones you have and maybe someone could suggest the best carrier option for you, based on where you are going?

Roaming is ok if the club wants to pay for it. They pay my phone bill each month but this might be taking the piss.

If it's $80 to get unlocked I guess I can live with that (I'd still rather not but if that's the path of least resistance so be it).

Mine is an iPhone14 Pro Max. The bride's iPhone 13 - not sure of the exact model but it's not maxxed up.

Vancouver, Calgary/Jasper/Banff, Toronto and Manhattan.

[markTHEblake]

BTW. phones are never locked anymore, and USA coverage can be a bit scatty when on the road because of different networks. I recall almost getting next to none in Pinehurst, and some US friends had same experience

Suggest you and the missus get from different providers to increase chances of improving coverage reliability

[sms316]

SMS. I go overseas a lot, best advice i can give is to get your stuff organised before you leave,irrespective of provider, they are all good. Nothing worse than faffing around in airports on arrive getting it to work while trying to organise transport. For sure most of the time its easy but one time its not is a lesson learned, due to stress elevation at this point for lots of reasons.

I now rely on getting an ESIM from Flexiroam, install and activate several days before leaving, prompt online support if you cant get it running.

On top of that, set up Unconditional Diversion to Voice2Text or something like that *before* you depart australia ( if you do it after you will pay roaming call charges to overseas and back to Au again). I divert mine to a VOIP phone number which diverts ti voice2email.

This way you can still recieve TXT messages, which can be important for some 2FA logins, which can arise especially if you make ony online card purchases, or bank tries to contact you about overseas transactions.

Of course easiest is to just use your own phone provider, but the likes of Telstra is quite expensive relative to the international ones.

I definitely want the whole thing sorted before arrival. We have a 23 hour stopover in Vancouver and have a tour booked 2 hours after our scheduled arrival to keep us awake and have a look around. If we are held up getting out of the airport we can just ring the tour and ask where to meet up?

[markTHEblake]

Yeah. some plans will include calls. I have not used calls myself, where i go everyone inc business has whatsapp.

If you have a VOIP system at work, you can set up your office phone extension on your iphone. Though if you outsource that stuff they will probably charge you for the work, and cheaper/easier to get the Boss to pay your roaming package. Depends on how badly they need to keep in touch with you and how much you want to get bothered

[sms316]

At $10 a day for roaming over 17 days that might just be simpler and, as others have pointed out, keep the security of any bank calls over card transactions. I was expecting roaming to cost far worse.

[PeteyD]

Is that just calls? Data can be stupid expensive on roaming

[sms316]

Is that just calls? Data can be stupid expensive on roaming

And 1GB data per day.

https://www.telstra.com.au/international-roaming

[markTHEblake]

1gb is plenty, just opt out of the video sharing chat group for the duration

[sms316]

Good idea. The filth that Jack sends might break some international laws.

[Webster]

Correct. I have the Lidia Thorpe and Pauline Hansen lezzie vid I was going to send thru, but I think I'll hold it back until you go.

[Courty]

I'll second the eSim option. I signed up to airalo before my Japan trip in 2020. Heaps cheaper than Telstra roaming and didn't have to dick about switching SIM cards on arrival etc.

[jimandr]

One thing I would add is that data isn't very important for most travellers. Almost everywhere in the civilised world has free wi-fi in hotels and on trains and other places, so you can get by without using data except in emergencies.

So $10 a day is a rip. If necessary, just turn off global roaming on your phone and do without.

[sms316]

$10 a day isn’t a rip when work pays for it. TBH I was expecting at least double since it’s Telstra and if it was too high I wouldn’t do it. It just feels like the safer solution given the potential bank confirmations.

[spanner039]

One thing I would add is that data isn't very important for most travellers. Almost everywhere in the civilised world has free wi-fi in hotels and on trains and other places, so you can get by without using data except in emergencies.

So $10 a day is a rip. If necessary, just turn off global roaming on your phone and do without.

interested in this as well - what about needing data for gps road tripping with Spotify blaring and trying to find the nearest diner, I found I use more data than anything else. The unlimited data esims look pretty good.

[Courty]

interested in this as well - what about needing data for gps road tripping with Spotify blaring and trying to find the nearest diner, I found I use more data than anything else. The unlimited data esims look pretty good.

There are some navigation apps that have all the map data embedded in them so you don't require data. The downloads are big (obviously) but they do the job just fine. I've used NavMii a few times with great success.

[spanner039]

There are some navigation apps that have all the map data embedded in them so you don't require data. The downloads are big (obviously) but they do the job just fine. I've used NavMii a few times with great success.

cheers will look up the NavMii thing