3Doxens

I just activated an AT&T international day pass for use in the Netherlands and Norway. I’m supposed to be able to call, text, and use my already available data plan for $10/ day on the days I use it. No charge if I don’t. I have an iPhone.
Can someone walk me through which settings I need to use in order to use the day pass without incurring additional charges? Airplane mode? WiFi? Data Roaming? A combination?
Part of my trip will be a cruise to Norway. I plan to purchase the ship’s WiFi plan for the time I am on board. Do I need to deactivate the AT&T plan while I am on the ship so that I am not charged the $10/day?

Thanks.

Trophywife007

In my experience you turn on cellular and roaming. Wifi is only for when you have a wifi connection available. You can keep an eye on your usage by logging in to your ATT cellular account and make certain you don't go over the data you have available. When using wifi I tend to turn off cellular to make certain I'm only using wifi. Obviously if you don't want to be billed the $10 for any given day you leave cellular off. This would include the days on the ship even when touring land side.

If you want to limit data use, I believe you can go into settings and turn off any apps you don't think you'll need while on your trip.

I'll know more when I get the next bill!

AP6380

Any more feedback on this? I am thinking of doing this while in Portugal.

3Doxens

I ended up canceling the day pass for Amsterdam when I got to Schipol. I read on another board that it wasn’t only $10, but another $3 or more with tax. I was able to get Wi-Fi in our hotel, on the trains, every restaurant, and many of the tour buses. I also purchased the cruise line wi-if package while we were at sea in Norway, and even then, at every port there was free WiFi at the businesses at the dock.
I thought that I would just pay for an emergency phone call If I needed that, but I didn’t.

Trophywife007

We were charged $10 for each day Mr. 007 used his phone and it used the data we have available on our regular home plan. Looking at the bill, any other charges (taxes, whatever) weren't apparent and seemed to be lumped in with all the other taxes but I don't doubt that the total ultimately charged was a bit more. Mr. 007 has to stay in contact due to his work and checks email frequently throughout the day (as well as using Google maps, etc.) so this plan is the most convenient for us.

The alternative is their "passport" plans which wind up being more expensive: $60 per month for 1GB or $120 for 3GB. We use only his phone but if I want to use mine I use wifi, his hotspot, or I cough up the $10 for the day.

There are cheaper ways to get connectivity (T-Mobile?) but this was most convenient for us and I choose not to concentrate too hard on being charged to use my own data plan overseas.

Reading54

If you just want to use WIFI when available and nothing else, then leave the Airplane Mode ON all the time. This will ensure you do not use cellular nor roaming.

Seamus

Friendly amendment for the uninitiated - after you switch the phone to airplane mode you may need to go back and turn on WiFi.

AP6380

So, if I do the $10 a day plan with AT&T, my phone functions as it normally does at home- that's what it sounds like? So I would not need to switch cellular data off (I have unlimited)? It sounds like it would jump on a local provider's service?

I am considering getting a mifi from My Webspot. Last year in Italy for the time we had a rental car, we had a mifi from the rental car co. We found ourselves wishing we had the mifi the other days too. The mifi seems about the same cost, but at least the boyfriend could also have internet.

Trophywife007

Right. Keep cellular data and roaming on. If wifi is available you can switch to that if you wish.