[pmp4]

I am going to New York next week on holiday. I have an iPhone on Vodafone. Can I take my phone and use it in NY? Will it cost me a lot? Is there a cheaper option?

[Pencil]

Sure you can. Just be sure to turn off anything related to the Internet and make sure that you don't make too many calls.

[irishguy]

turn data roaming off! its very pricey. O2s charges $6/megabyte!

O2 offer you the chance to buy data roaming time at a much reduced price before you leave. vodaphone may offer something similar so if you want to access email, google maps etc.. then you should investigate that. if you turn roaming on it will use that particular cost until it runs out then it goes back to its normal charge. the best way to do this to is turn roaming off under settings, and only switch it on when you need it

its worth doing as you only see the true brilliance of google maps when you're in a major US city. the entire MTA service is integrated into it and it will give you times that you can expect the trains and buses to arrive.

also theres a nice app called city transit which gives you a subway map display and can point you to the nearest station. it doesnt need data access either,

[stud u like]

Who would you be phoning? Phoning the UK is very expensive.

For Vodafone in Denver I got a text message that I have kept which said

Calls cost £1.49 a minute to send and 99 pence to receive.

SMS 49 pence and picture msg £1.83.

Daily cost for data is £14.99 including VAT per 25mb allowance.

[irishguy]

btw, its cheap enough to use if you want to ring people in NYC. its about the same cost as it would be to use it here so there's no worries there.

[call100]

Why would you want to take the phone on 'Holiday'?...Try having a proper break!!

[Inkblot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by call100

Why would you want to take the phone on 'Holiday'?...Try having a proper break!!

To take photos? To book a table at a restaurant or tickets for a show? To listen to music?

[Brett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishguy

btw, its cheap enough to use if you want to ring people in NYC. its about the same cost as it would be to use it here so there's no worries there.

Hi

im going to NYC im May, if I ring my g/f whilst we are both in new york we will be paying standard prices?

[irishguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brett

Hi

im going to NYC im May, if I ring my g/f whilst we are both in new york we will be paying standard prices?

yep. when you arrive your phone will pick up one of the networks there.. usually AT&T or Verizon...the charges will be based on what it costs phoning a phone within that network, presumably, if your gfs phone hooks into the same one as youu

btw, going on holiday without a phone is a crazy suggestion. it would be like leaving a limb behind

[kyussmondo]

You need to pretty much treat it like an iPod Touch on holiday. Turn off data roaming. And make sure it is set to check for mail manually. Turn off 3G and Location Services as well to save battery. Also contact Vodafone and ask them to turn off Voicemail (turn it back on when you get home). If you don't need to phone or text then just put it in Airport Mode where you can still use iPod and play games and stuff.

Basically don't use the internet unless you are at a Wi-Fi hotspot. I used my iPhone once with the data connection to figure out where I was on Google Maps. Got back and O2 charged me £6 for just a few minutes use (it will be even worse in the US as it isn't in the EU). If you really need the internet then you should get one of these traveller data bundles that Vodafone probably offers.

Whatever you do be careful, otherwise you could find yourself coming back to a bill runnings into hundreds of pounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishguy

yep. when you arrive your phone will pick up one of the networks there.. usually AT&T or Verizon...the charges will be based on what it costs phoning a phone within that network, presumably, if your gfs phone hooks into the same one as youu

I am not sure whether this is correct. I think you will pay international rates i.e. calling a UK mobile from abroad, your g/f will also have to pay to receive the call. The cheapest way is getting two American pre-paid phones if you want to phone each other in America. When you top-up your phone, bare in mind that they charge for receiving as well as sending in America, although calls and texts are normally cheaper in America.

[croyde]

There was a time when you could use your phone abroad to call locally at local rates but then the phone companies "simplified" it ie made it very pricey.

I'm sure the rest are similar but Orange have a flat charge of around a £1 a minute to use your phone in the States, whether calling locally or abroad.

And DO TURN OFF all your data roaming as the costs are crippling. I used mine in Greece to check a few simple emails, all text and no pics, and it cost me £13.00.

[bingledee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishguy

yep. when you arrive your phone will pick up one of the networks there.. usually AT&T or Verizon...the charges will be based on what it costs phoning a phone within that network, presumably, if your gfs phone hooks into the same one as youu

btw, going on holiday without a phone is a crazy suggestion. it would be like leaving a limb behind

noticed the OP was on Vodafone, am quite suprised the USA isnt included in Vodafones Passport, thought they had an affiliation with Verizon

[call100]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkblot

To take photos? To book a table at a restaurant or tickets for a show? To listen to music?

Holiday in New York recorded on a phone camera??? Hotel concierge is there to sort your restaurant. It's New York...More live music than you can shake a stick at..As it's a Holiday I'm sure they will enjoy the street sounds as much as the sites...I did!!

[billiesmith]

Sorry for bumping a 5 year old thread but I am a little concerned. I was in NY for a week last week and just to be on the safe side before I went I got one of the Vodafone World Data Traveller packages for £5 per day where you can take your UK plan with you - I thought it was worth it. However, on my return I was staggered to find out I had way overused my data limit. I have contacted Vodafone and they say that I will be charged £6.50 for every additional 250mb used which is fine - but my SIM has been blocked! I contacted Vodafone a second time about this and they said it was an issue with my SIM and are sending me a new one. I am just a bit concerned that the info about the £6.50 is not correct and that I will be charged an enormous bill and that is why my phone is not working. Can anyone advise. Please don't say contact Vodafone again as I get the feeling all departments don't actually talk to each other. Thanks in advance.

[Deanparkr]

Billie, can you check your online account and see what the current balance is?

[billiesmith]

No - I never use it as I know I am always way under my limits, so I have forgotten my log in details. Tried to access it last night but got a message to say they would text me a security code - which is obviously of no use as my phone won't accept text messages.

[Aye Up]

If as you say you have enabled WW Data Traveller, then you will be charged at domestic rates. I have used it when I have went away for a few days to Ireland earlier this year and as they said everything came out of my allowance. I don't know how much Vodafone does charge for more data when you go over, try their twitter team @vodafoneukhelp. They will usually reply asking you to message details of your query, it takes them a day or so to get back, but any issues they should be able to fix for you. They aren't a team off in a far away land, they are Vodafone employees who deal with the social media side of things in addition to being a customer service portal.

Or better yet use their facebook page and make it a little more public

https://www.facebook.com/vodafoneUK

[billiesmith]

Thank you - I'll maybe try that, although if it takes a couple of days to respond I may know before then. The page on World Traveller says that if you go over your data allowance you will be charged at UK standard rates (which is £6.50 for every 250mb used) and it is what I have been told by 2 different Vodafone advisers (one checked my account to ensure I did have World Traveller, the other was just a generic e-chat conversation).

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/co...qz/lznty/qrnuo

To be honest, I would not be worried except for the fact that my SIM is not working. I only posted here to see if anyone had personal experience of using World Traveller and / or had issues with their SIM not working when returning to the UK.

[Mark in Essex]

Can always just buy a pay as you go Three SIM and bung that in your phone whilst you are away as I believe they have free roaming in America?

Or even a 30 day contract with Three as it's £20 for all you can eat data or £14 for 1gb of data (also some calls and texts included).

Also you could even try it out in the UK as the best thing I ever did was leave Vodafone for Three with their crappy 3G.

[nigelbb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark in Essex

Can always just buy a pay as you go Three SIM and bung that in your phone whilst you are away as I believe they have free roaming in America?

Or even a 30 day contract with Three as it's £20 for all you can eat data or £14 for 1gb of data (also some calls and texts included).

Also you could even try it out in the UK as the best thing I ever did was leave Vodafone for Three with their crappy 3G.

Be aware that receiving calls are free & to the UK are out of your allowance but local calls in America will be charged at 15.6p per minute.

[jaffboy151]

Having three at home and being able to use Google maps last year was a life saver when we were in driving in LA last year avoiding Road closures and traffic long after the sat nav we were supplied with let us down and gave up, people who say don't take your phones on holiday as it's a holiday forget that there not just for yakking on and wasting time on twatbook, we would never have got to see half of the things we wanted to in the time we were there without it.

[Mark in Essex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaffboy151

Having three at home and being able to use Google maps last year was a life saver when we were in driving in LA last year avoiding Road closures and traffic long after the sat nav we were supplied with let us down and gave up, people who say don't take your phones on holiday as it's a holiday forget that there not just for yakking on and wasting time on twatbook, we would never have got to see half of the things we wanted to in the time we were there without it.

I know.

Besides using Google maps to find places we were using my phone to stream music, find out bus routes and times, finding restaurant reviews etc and also weather reports.

I would have srltreamed iPlayer as well for the kids in the evening before going to bed, but it would not let me.

[billiesmith]

Ok - the good news is that my phone is now working - I did a manual re-scan and it connected - so nothing to do with Vodafone blocking my SIM (although they could have told me to try that when I called rather than saying there was a problem with my SIM). I can now go online and check my account to ensure everything is as it should be and if not, find out why?

I feel a bit silly now as it was something very simple

Thanks for your help everyone and I will let you know the outcome of my billing enquiry to reassure/advice anyone who may want to consider using WT in the future

[PhilipS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark in Essex

I know.

Besides using Google maps to find places we were using my phone to stream music, find out bus routes and times, finding restaurant reviews etc and also weather reports.

I would have srltreamed iPlayer as well for the kids in the evening before going to bed, but it would not let me.

It's a very good deal, miles ahead of anything offered by the other companies, and I use it a lot when working in the US, but in my experience the download speed is capped at around 500kbps. Perfectly OK for browsing, and you can usually stream radio, but it's not up to video.

Plus you'd probably have been geo-locked if trying to access UK content on iPlayer.

[anyonefortennis]

Just buy a SIM card over there from AT&T or T Mobile for $10 which gives you unlimited calls, texts and data for 5 days.