Suppose you have been enjoying an international trip with a postpaid eSIM roaming plan where you had the best time. You have finally landed back home in a happy mood, and suddenly, you see a big mobile bill. Wouldn’t that be annoying?
Managing mobile bills during international trips can be a challenge. This is why this article will list some hacks to reduce your mobile bills on an international trip.
How to avoid surprise mobile bills during an international trip:
- Use the airplane mode while flying
In-flight connectivity can be highly fluctuating. The constantly changing network can elevate the charges involved. But, if you keep your phone in flight mode during the flight, you can avoid these extra charges. Switch to normal mode once you land. Adding to that you can also use an eSIM through an eSIM travel app, which we will discuss in the upcoming sections.
- Use location services only during emergencies.
No matter who your eSIM provider is, the data exhaustion will remain the same for certain activities. Sometimes, being abroad, it is usual to forget to turn off the location services on your phone. While traveling abroad, location apps will eat up a lot of data, which will contribute to generating a big bill later. Therefore, before leaving for the trip, make sure to turn off the location services and use them only when you need navigation to get to a place in the new city.
- Choice of the carrier: Pick a Global eSIM
It is important to pick the right carrier that offers the right package for your international trip. Companies might put attractive offers on paper, but hidden charges might be involved. Hence, you must do proper research before jumping in with a plan.
The best option is to go with an online eSIM, which will allow you to enjoy the benefits of a good international plan without physically changing the SIM, which can be quite frustrating.
- Disable apps that use data in the background
Like location services, many mobile apps constantly use mobile data in the background. Now, disabling all the apps that use data in the background is not a wise thing. Instead of that, you can manually restrict apps that you rarely use from consuming data in the background. This can help you save a lot of money, especially when traveling abroad.
- Take advantage of free WiFi.
Despite having an eSIM plan you should utilize free Wi-Fi to the fullest. Free WiFi is the key to savings on your mobile bills when you are traveling abroad. Unless you are traveling to remote locations with low connectivity, you will always find cafés, hotels, airports, and other places that provide free WiFi. While sipping a cup of coffee in a restaurant, you use the free WiFi to check up on your Instagram notifications.
However, before connecting to the free network, make sure it is safe and password-protected to avoid identity theft. If you can’t find a secure network, stick to your cellular data plan. It’s better to be safe than sorry when you are abroad.
Out of all the hacks mentioned above, getting an eSIM travel app is the most reliable option when you’re on an adventure abroad, since you may gain real time insights on your data usage. This viability allows you to control your data usage.
Conclusion: The Bottom Line
Making a few smart decisions about how you use your phone during an international trip can save a lot of money. Remember to pick the right eSIM with a good global eSIM plan, and always put your phone on flight mode while flying, use free WiFi, disable location services, and disable unused apps from using mobile data. Now that you know all the right tricks, it’s time to make some savings.