Keeping your global roaming down

INTERNATIONAL roaming charges are still the biggest cause of bill shock so be organised before you jet off by following these simple tips.

Happy woman texting on her smartphone. Picture: iStock.

JETTING overseas for Christmas or New Year is an exciting adventure but returning to a massive mobile phone bill can take the fun out of those travel memories.

International roaming charges are one of the leading causes of bill shock so it pays to be organised before you jet off this holiday season.

These fees can escalate quickly if you stick with your own telco provider and don’t hunt around for cheaper options while you’re in a foreign country.

Telstra last week dumped its controversial plan to increase international roaming charges on Travel Passes from 3 cents to 10 cents per megabyte and also increased the number of countries where the passes will work.

The Telstra product charges you a one-off fee and gives you unlimited voice calls and text messages from standard numbers.

Overseas travel is exciting but a massive mobile phone bill is not.

But telco comparison website WhistleOut’s spokesman Joseph Hanlon says there are other ways to get around a lot of the excessive mobile phone charges while abroad.

“Wi-fi is a good way to get around these charges, some places are very good at providing free public wi-fi,’’ he says.

“But one of the best things you can do is just grab a SIM-card while you are there.”

Hanlon says buying a SIM-card once you arrive at your destination can be as little as a few dollars for the month and it removes the stress of receiving an exorbitant bill once you return home.

The costs vary depending on where you are using your device.

Flexiroam’s chief executive officer Jef Ong says while turning your mobile off is the simple solution when travelling overseas he also recommends keeping track of how data much you are using.

Go into your smartphone’s settings and select the dates you are away so you can monitor your daily usage.

There are also apps available that allow you to do this but some come at a cost.

And turn off the “fetch new data” setting on your phone and only do manual checks when you’re hunting through your email inbox, for example, to reduce the amount of data you consume.