Traveling soon? Here’s how to manage phone costs while abroad

WASHINGTON (7News) — Fall is a great time to travel. If you’re headed overseas any time soon, along with your packing, hotel reservations and flights, make sure to set up your phone plan in advance.

Your cell phone will work when you step off the plane, however roaming fees add up, and you could be stuck with a huge cell phone bill when you return.

You can buy a travel plan from your carrier in advance to avoid that.

“For Verizon, for example, if you opt into its travel pass program, you’re going to pay $10 a day per phone line when you’re abroad,” saidKevin Brasler with checkbook.org. “AT&T also has a foreign travel program. Its costs aren’t so steep. It’s $10 for the first phone line, and then $5 for each additional line. The big winner though, is T-Mobile. With most of its plans, you’re not going to pay extra. It’s just that that that’s baked into its plans.”

There are other ways to avoid steep charges. Put your phone in airplane mode for your entire trip and only use your phone only when WIFI is available.

SEE ALSO | Is it worth it? Rising college costs, value of degrees questioned as students head back

You could also buy a local SIM card and replace the one on your phone. This is often the cheapest option. It will allow you to make calls but only in the country where you purchased the card.

You can also get an e-SIM, which is a digital SIM card.

About 10 days in Europe using an e-SIM costs $34 according to the Holafly app, compared to Verizon’s travel pass which will run you $100 for 10 days.

If you’re going to be away for a month or more try “Google FI.” it gives unlimited calls, texts and data in 200 countries for about $65 a month.

A little pre-planning can save you a bundle.

“We’ve heard from people who they were they went abroad they didn’t know that they should opt into this you know, lower rate program, this flat rate program, and came back to bills that were thousands of dollars,”Brasler said.

There are a lot of apps that let you keep in touch when you’re traveling internationally including free apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Skype, and Discord.