International Travel with the iPhone

At the beginning of September, I finally got a break from work and visited  Germany for a couple of weeks. As I don’t speak German and it had been over a decade since I was there last, I was excited about the prospect of taking my iPhone. I figured that quick access to  maps and tools like  Google Translate would smooth over any inevitable bumps along the road. I wasn’t, however, excited about paying exorbitant data usage fees — AT&T calling and unlimited data plans don’t cover usage outside of the US.

Here's what I did and what I should have done when traveling overseas with my iPhone.

Step 1 Set up your Calling Plan

The first thing I did was sign up for the AT&T World Traveler plan ($5.99 per month) to reduce any fees I might incur from calls. The World Traveler plan basically saves you 30¢ a minute for calls that would normally be charged at international roaming charges (so in Germany I paid 99¢/minute instead of the normal $1.29/minute).

Comments

[Arano]

i hope the experience was a good one and you enjoyed the trip... the reason why you had problems to find a 'free' wifi network is because our law says, if  someone uses a network that is not save and does illegal stuff the owner of the network is responsible... and we are more likely to make something save from the beginning...

also i think that you don't need some translating device in germany as many people here are friendly and able to understand english enough to help you when you ask

[seamusiv]

We had a great time, Arano, and you are right, everyone in Germany was extremely friendly and helpful.

Thanks for the information about the WIFI networks in Germany, that is good to know.