So you’ve decided to travel and everything seems ready apart from the fact that you can’t figure out whether your carrier is even available where you are going. If this is you, then you are lucky because you can make provision right before you travel. However, a majority of international travelers sometimes figure this out once they have already landed, and end up having to settle on a local SIM card with a burner phone. Not that this choice is any bad, but you don’t get the comfort of taking photos with your preferred device and in some countries the customer service can be very terrible. Well, to avoid all these, you need to plan effectively on which mobile service provider to opt for before travelling. This article will guide you through this important maze and get you facts that will be instrumental for your travel.
Selecting the Right Plan
If your mobile carrier is major and powerful, then chances are it will have certain agreements and deals with other major carriers globally. However, this depends on the country you are travelling to since not all countries have AT&T or Verizon. However in most cases you can easily choose a separate contract that caters to your travel. First however, you need to know whether the country you are travelling to has these provisions and whether your carrier reaches there. Then you should find whether the contracts and plans on offer have a good roaming charge and you’ll be good to go.
Locked Versus Unlocked Devices
If you selected a mobile plan that includes a mobile phone, then chances are the phone will be locked to your carrier. This is normal since your carrier willnot want you using another carrier using their device. This assures your carrier of round the clock business and if you need a travel phone then they can simply lock another mobile phone for you for wherever you are travelling too. Sounds smart right? Well, this might not convenience you as a traveler and that’s why you should opt for an unlocked phone when travelling. Unlocked phones can be used with any carrier’s SIM card thereby freeing you to select any prepaid SIM card and communicate on the go.
Post Pay Versus Pre Paid Plan
Post paid plans are best for when you have a rather consistent call and data use volume and can therefore plan how to pay them monthly as a package. While travelling however, having a postpaid contract will not be manageable since you don’t know how much resources you will use and any data or call minutes you purchase after exhausting yours will be terribly expensive. The best option is the pre paid option which lets you pay for every time you want to make use of your phone. You can do this through prepaid cards containing set bundles of resources for data, SMS or minutes. Remember WiFi also matters since any country with free WiFi will likely make you spend considerably less for data and internet messaging.
