Phone Use When Travelling

When travelling within Australia or overseas, how can you effectively use your mobile phone to enhance your holiday?
[Note: tablets/iPads can provide many of the same features as a mobile phone excepting phone calls and texting]

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Travel SIM or Roaming?

While it would be normal to use your own mobile phone connection within Australia, if travelling overseas you generally have the option to use 'Global Roaming' or a dedicated travel SIM. Global Roaming is an option that you can arrange with your current phone company but not on all mobile phone plans. (some prepaid plans may restrict these options)

So how to tell if it is better to use Global Roaming or a travel SIM? Travel SIMs are sometimes provided with organised tour companies, but also available for direct purchase in Australia or overseas so there are a lot of options!

In fact there is no 'right' answer as everyone uses their phone differently so we need to decide how much will we use the phone for:

  • Local calls at a travel destination - calling your partner or friends, hotels, cabs etc
  • International calls - calling home and chatting (a lot or a little?)
  • Text - using text instead of calls or in addition to calls?
  • Social Media - on it all the time or just catch up in the evening? See also Social Media topics.
  • Other data uses - use of GPS for navigation, travel apps…
  • Will all the countries you will visit be covered by Global Roaming or Travel SIM

We can then decide if global roaming is a reasonable option based on:

If you make few calls, mostly texts, and use free wifi in your accommodation for social media and so on, global roaming may cost about the same as a special travel SIM.

If you make lots of calls, use lots of data during the day and want a lot of freedom for use, a travel SIM may be preferable as it works with top-up so that you can control your expenses.

If you are somewhere between these you might have to estimate your expenses and compare the costs of each as call costs are not much different between global roaming and travel SIMs but roaming data is often much more expensive.

Note that, within Australia, call costs have the same cost structure no matter what the location but it might be well to check the mobile coverage of your provider in the areas you intend to travel!

Big NOTE: You cannot use a travel SIM in a mobile phone that is locked to an Australian carrier. Either buy a cheap handset or use an old unlocked handset.

Cost Saving

You can use cost saving strategies no matter which SIM option you use

  • Only call home if you know that you have the correct time of day back home to make the most of your call.
  • Keep the call short and prefer to use social media on WiFi if possible.
  • Use text rather than voice calls as short texts have fixed costs and can be sent anytime.
  • Turn-off mobile data except when really needed. Use it, then turn it off again.
  • Make most use of free WiFi where available but be careful with security (always use a VPN)

Setting up Contacts

If you have contacts with landline numbers, these should be entered into your Contacts list with the correct area code so that the number will dial properly, no matter where you are in Australia.

When travelling overseas, all of your numbers, mobile included, must include the correct country code.

So if my friend has an Australian land line, say 0298XXXXXX it must be edited to be +612 98XXXXXX.

Likewise, a mobile number, say 041XXXXXXX becomes +6141XXXXXXX.

A UK mobile, say 040XXXXXXX becomes +4440XXXXXXX

See also Country Code for a list of all countries.

Free WiFi

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Most quality hotel and Bed and Breakfast accommodation will provide free WiFi. There may be some locations where it may not be available or restricted. It is always wise to check availability when booking. Free WiFi gives access for email, social media, internet searching and cloud connections. It is generally not able to sustain watching movies and these may be explicitly restricted.

It is always important to use free WiFi securely, particularly if banking or other sensitive information is being accessed. See also Security Overview

Managing Calls

Who to call? Do you need to call home to explain how much fun you are having? Can this be done in texts and social media so that many relatives and friends get the benefit of your experience from one source and at their convenience?

If you must make calls, consider using free WiFi and social media apps such as WhatsApp, Skype or Facebook Messenger. These allow a voice call or video call through phone data OR WiFi. Keeping it to WiFi keeps costs low and often is a quiet and comfortable environment if it is to be more than a minute or so.

Managing Data

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Whenever the Mobile Data setting is set ON a mobile phone will have apps using data even if they are not actively in use.
This is because the apps periodically 'check home' if updates are available, sending user data and other requirements.
Keeping Mobile Data switched off saves 'background' use to a minimum.

When data is required for a travel app, search or map it can be used briefly and then again switched off.

Apps should be set to be updated on WiFi only as updates require considerable data.

Mobile Data can be managed typically in:

Settings » Mobile » Mobile Data (Apple)
Settings » More Networks » Mobile Networks » Mobile Data (Android)

(Menus vary in different models of each phone manufacturer. There will be a Mobile Data control in Settings in each phone)

Travel Apps

There are a number of types of apps that may be loaded to your phone when travelling.
Almost all of these need to have the mobile data enabled to operate so the longer they are used the more data is used.

  • Timetable and ticketing - rail, bus, tram. May help with travel selection, location of departures, on-time advice
  • City tourist information - general tourist information for a particular city. Many provide these apps.
  • Venue information - Some venues such as museums and galleries have interactive guides to use during a visit
  • Language assistance - some apps provide words and phrases, some will speak the phrase, some will speak and translate what is said.

Examples:
SBB Mobile - Swiss National Railways app gives ticketing, timetables, delays, platform for departure.
Louvre Visitor Guide - free and paid version. Phone based audio-guide for this gallery
Berlin Travel Guide - free; for city highlights
Learn Greek Phrases | Greek Translator - Greek language learning, phrases. Plays spoken Greek to hear how to speak

Travel Documents

Is is a good idea to keep copies of your travel documents in your phone?
This makes them readily available for reference anytime however there is the issue of managing phone security to keep them safe. (see also Security Overview )

It is also possible to save documents to a Cloud account but access to the documents requires data use or waiting until WiFi is available. Cloud accounts can be protected by an access password. A cloud account that is synchronised to the mobile phone, is available off line (ie without internet connection)

While there may be concern for safety of documents on a mobile phone it may be no more serious a risk than keeping paper copies which could be lost or stolen.

Photography and Videos

You may use your phone as your main or back up camera or video recorder.
Please refer to this page for more information.

Charging

If you are relying heavily on your phone on holiday it will not be helpful if the battery is flat at a critical time.
Many Android smartphones can remove and replace the battery if required. This situation is only helpful if you have a spare charged battery and a charger that can charge the exhausted battery.

iPhones do not allow battery removal so must always rely on charging.

To keep either Android or Apple phones operating it is possible to use a portable battery unit to recharge and then recharge this battery each night.
Battery back ups are available from about $40 which will give about two phone recharges before needing a recharge itself.

NOTE 1:
All batteries, including spares, must be taken as carry-on luggage on all flights.
Spare batteries must be carried in an insulated container.
This is a safety issue to ensure there are no fires in checked luggage.
There is a limit to the maximum size of batteries that can be carried.
More details are available here.

NOTE 2:
Rather than take a lot of chargers on a trip it may be preferable to investigate alternatives that can charge 4 devices at the same time.
Alternatively take a lightweight powerboard so that only one overseas adapter is needed for the powerboard rather than one for each charger.

NOTE 3:
Most modern chargers for phones and cameras are designed to be multi-voltage (100V-250V), multi frequency (50 - 60Hz) AC so can operate in many countries. It is still important to check both the power point adapter and voltage/frequency for where you travel to ensure compatibility.
Check here world standards for electrical connections.

Banking?

Banking is possible using a banking app within Australia and is generally available overseas if global roaming is in use.
It will not be possible overseas with a Travel SIM as the international mobile number is not registered with the bank. It may be possible to add an extra number to an account but this adds to the security risk and needs to be confirmed with your bank.

Banking can be done via the internet but this must always use a secure connection, see Security

In general it is safer not to do any banking, if at all possible, while on holidays.
See also more details of managing holiday finance here.

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