What do PM users do when they travel internationally?

[d4civan]

I know that international roaming (non US) is not available.

So just curious, what other folks out here do about it? What's the best acceptable solution that works? 

TIA

[SirTechington]

+1 for KnowRoaming. You can get unlimited data a single day for $8 for many countries, and $0.15-$0.35/MB otherwise. The /MB charge does not sound great, but if you are just using messenger apps to send messages, a $25 charge goes a long way. If you need to browse, then the $8/day is more attractive, but it can add up quickly if you are on a longer trip. You should restrict background data on your other apps. WhatsApp is free - even for video calling, and it even works with a $0 balance. I found the UK SMS number unreliable so I gave up on it. UK and US voice calls work great, and are permanent. I use them as alternate two-factor authentification numbers (voice only). Better is the Google Authenticator app, so I use the numbers as a backup.

You can also use the sim sticker for long distance calling to other countries from your home country and the rates look competitive, but I haven't tried it yet.

[hardywang]

Throughout my many years' backpack travelling, I never feel I need phone call feature with me while I am away. What is more important is WiFi connection, nowadays instance messaging apps and services are very good already.

[Quest]

If anybody plans to go to Poland and use local service please be advice there are significant changes happend in terms of using phones. Basically your phone number has to be registered. In practice if you're buying local Sim Card they can ask you for your ID.

[srlawren]

@d4civan some more thoughts on using Fongo + Hangouts Dialer for calling, plus migrating your texting contacts to a data-based service prior to travelling:

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Call-forwarding-my-number-with-a-differe...

[hslmdjim]

I use knowroaming for short trips and local sim for anything longer than like 2 weeks. Most of the time when traveling I just need something to communicate with people traveling with me or people back home. Knowroaming has free whatsapp ($5 for sim card, don't need to load any money on it), it's not fast enough for video call but audio and text should be fine. Obviously, they could stop the free Whatsapp anytime but so far so good. It's a Canadian company too based in Toronto and pretty good with support.

Edit: You also get a UK number that can receive text for free and I use it in Canada to get verification codes for websites I don't want to give my real number to.

[Luddite]

If you can stand their pricing iroam.com offers roaming service in many countries, and their SIM can be purchased at Staples before you leave.

If you are going to the UK, giffgaff.com is a service just like Public Mobile but with international roaming (again pretty expensive outside the UK).

Data in particular seems to be very expensive while roaming; I use it only for maps when I'm lost.

[mimmo]

I also forgot texting/communicating  etc can be done by whatsapp, vibre, skype line etc....  you just need a wifi signal.  

[mimmo]

What i did last time i traveled,  was

1) Before leaving Canda activated call forwarding to my fongo number,

2) put my sim card in an old phone and istalled a sms forwarding app

3) depending on how long i was going and where... I either depended on free wifi, or bought a local sim.  this option depends on where you are going and how long. 

This way I could recieve calls and and SMS while away and people could call me or leave me a voicemail.

The sms part didnt work 100 % if i didn't have an active sim card...as  the free wifi required to send an sms to activate the free wifi....

[will13am]

As a rule, I always get a local service.  This approach is always cheaper than roaming; there's a cost to convenience of using a single SIM.  Another strategy is to use communication apps that don't rely on a phone number.  The old telephone system is actually not consistent with the internet which has little geographic barriers.  There's no such thing as long distance in the internet dictionary.

[pchan]

I always get a prepaid SIM, but the choices in each country are abundant.

A great source of info is:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Prepaid_SIM_with_data

There are two things two things of importance when choosing (other than price). Coverage and whether tethering is allowed. I ran into the issue where I got great coverage and rate but tethering wasn't allowed. Always ask. 

[CaNuCk07]

Especially if you're travelling in Europe local sim is the way to go! So cheap and great networks cause everything is so close geographically!

[zhadj030]

This is were unlocked phones will do you great favor ; like everyone said just pop up a local SIM and your good to go. You can make your phone transfer calls to fongo so that you keep receiving important calls/voice mails

[MoreYummy]

There arent many options when travel out side of USA.  Now its back to the old days. 😄

Use the local sim card is the only way to get decent cell usage.

[cricketfan]

Local Sim is the way to go. If you can hook voip services to your number that's a way too but you need WiFi for that all the time.

[SD08]

For receiving free calls, there's Fongo data/wifi-based service.  Fongo users can also call each other from anywhere for free. Otherwise, probably best to buy a local SIM.