Taking your phone overseas
One of the most important things you need to remember when travelling overseas is to call your carrier (Tesltra, Optus, Vodafone etc) and ask them to turn on international roaming.
This will allow your phone to connect to US cell towers. If you forget to do this prior to your trip, you phone will be useless.
Charges
When calling, texting or using data overseas that traffic is charged ata different rate to when you use it in Australia. Behind the scenes the US carrier charges your Australian carriers for use of their network. Your carrier passes this cost onto you, hence the higher rates.
Head over to your carrier’s website to check these fees.
Some countries have different methods of charging where the person receiving the call / text pays, rather than the person who initiates it. A strange approach I know. I’ll certainly be letting my friends and family know to use free online methods to contact me.
Wi-Fi
Don’t forget most phones these days have Wi-Fi built in, if you can find a free hotspot, or pay for internet access in your motel, your best to use it where you can. This avoids data travelling over the mobile phone network which is charged at a much higher rate.
