Yes I know I've left it late, he's off to New York for 5 days so I thought I'd better see what the options are for using his phone (o2). Just been into the o2 shop and it's £6 for every 1mb 😯 and calls are £1.50/minute and texts 60p I think. The short answer is "don't you dare use anything other than wifi and only call/text when absolutely necessary", but are there any other smart options available? On the basis that he *may* be tempted to use data... Don't really want to impound the phone in case of emergencies.
You are on the right tracks to suggest switching off all mobile data and stick to use free wifi use, making calls using apps like Viber or Facetime. I've had some pretty serious cell phone bills for work in the US.
Buy a temporary phone out there pre-loaded with minutes/data?
Buy a pay as you go sim out there? If not, then turn data off and also make sure his voicemail is switched off as that can rack up charges as well, as I found to my cost.
Three!
Go buy a PAYG sim right now - it's all included
[url= http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_roaming?content_aid=1214306357859 ]Here you go[/url].
USA? Just get a SIM from [url= http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_Roaming?content_aid=1214306357859 ]Three[/url]. Their in-contract roaming includes USA. I used a LOT of data in Europe this Summer, all for no cost.
Rachel
edit - damn my slow pudgy fingers!!
Make him leave it at home so he looks at new york through his own eyes rather than through a screen?
if you are with bt at home there is an app for making calls over wifi .if he has an iphone with ios 9 make sure wifi assist is turned off, as the phone will turn 3g on if no or poor wifi
Make him leave it at home so he looks at new york through his own eyes rather than through a screen?
*Slow clap*
bigjim - Member
Make him leave it at home so he looks at new york through his own eyes rather than through a screen?
+1 they have payphones over there you know.
Most US airports, hotels, cafes etc have free wifi, so you don't need to use roaming data much out there.
FYI...New York's Museum of Natural History has free wifi throughout.
If he can afford a trip to New York he can afford £1.50/min and 60p texts. He can likely afford the data too, but there's so much free wifi around it's not worth the annoyance of paying over the odds. You just adapt and if you need a longer call tell folk you'll skype once you get onto wifi.
USA? Just get a SIM from Three. Their in-contract roaming includes USA. I used a LOT of data in Europe this Summer, all for no cost.
Even for their PAYG sims, you can get a £20 add-on and get unlimited data for 1 month, which is valid in the USA. It's what I do when I go to France.
Yup stick with the free Wifi.
It's what I did when I went to New York as the Pay Phones they have don't have an email facility.
Thanks all, the Three sim looks good but his phone will have to be unlocked I think?
Old enough to go to New York without his parents, but young enough that you still (think) you have the power to confiscate his phone 😆
P.S most phones can be unlocked within 24hrs cheap on eBay. Some can be a bit more pricey, ended up paying about £18 for mine and it took a week, but I saved hundreds buying it locked to a PAYG sim by another operator. If you do unlock it you may need to google the APN settings to enable mobile data on the new network (and check the phone is compatible with the US frequencies)
I used the three sim with £20 add-on recently in the USA with no real problems. Except that they detected and disabled the wifi hotspot that I'd been using off and on in the UK. So I could only surf and get email on the phone itself which is crap, but it did work. The data speed was very slow anyway (everywhere - it must be a feature of the roaming).