It’s a warm summer day. You’ve just returned from a long overdue and superbly fun trip in another country with your family. Bermuda? Réunion Island? Jamaica? Wherever your idea of tropical paradise may be.
A few weeks later, you’ve finally become re-accustomed to your old routine and decide to check the mail, expecting only the usual bills and junk mail that you always get. Sure enough, there’s your mobile phone bill waiting for you, only it’s not so usual. It’s about $2,000 USD more than you were expecting.
Your mobile phone bill is about $2,000 USD more than you were expecting; “bill shock” ensues
Frantically thinking there must be some kind of mistake, you get on the phone with your national carrier and discover to your horror that there is no mistake. The charges you’re seeing are a result of using your service in another country while you were on your relaxing vacation. It doesn’t seem so relaxing now.
We’ve all been there. It’s called “bill shock” and The TruTh is, it’s quite common in today’s world. Fortunately, there are a few ways to avoid this problem, and we cover quite a few of them every single day here on TruTower.
The easiest and cheapest way by far is to go global with a global SIM card, and that’s the first step you’ll want to take to avoid bill shock. DOODAD, a data roaming SIM service, comes to mind. Because it’s restricted to data only, you really have less to worry about. You don’t have to worry about the number of minutes you need, nor the number of text you’re limited to. Just data.
DOODAD’s data-only approach is simple to understand
The reason why we’re looking at DOODAD in this scenario is clearly due to its data-only simplicity, but it’s true you can always look into other global roaming services as well. For the sake of this article, we’ll stick to DOODAD.
Once you have your data SIM activated, you’ll want to connect to WiFi for the next step. The reason being because you’ll want to download your favorite calling, messaging, or push to talk app without using your data allotment. Choose your favorite app to download. We’ll use Viber for the duration of our trip as an example.
You’ll want to have as many of your friends and family members with you on the app as you can so you’ll be able to take advantage of free calls. For instance, all our friends on Viber are now free to call over WiFi and cellular networks. The more you add, the better. Once you’ve done so, you’re ready to go.
Doodad’s data only plans make it a perfect companion for mobile VoIP and messaging
Now while on your trip, you’ll be able to call using your global SIM’s wireless data as opposed to expensive international voice minutes offered by your national carrier. Depending on the data plan you’ve chosen, you’ll be able to save thousands of dollars on calling costs. Not to mention messaging; remember, messages passing through your data plan to your friends and family within the app are free as well. Basically, you’ll only be using your data for everything you do. Best of all, global SIM cards such as DOODAD are prepaid, so you won’t have to pay a dime more than you need.
Now when you return from your trip, not only will you avoid getting that super high bill from your carrier a bit farther down the road, but you’ll also have a bit more money to spend on your next vacation. Unless of course you spent it all on bobbles and souvenirs, in which case we can’t really help you there. Happy roaming!