What to do with phone when in USA when not paying for roaming

[Obvnotthegolden]

My dd is going to USA with her bf next week for a month to stay with his extended family.

She says she doesn't want to pay for roaming, she won't need it. Fine but I still pay her phone bill so apart from a spending cap, is there anything else settings wise she needs to do? What if she gets a voicemail left, will she be charged for it?

She's on O2 SIM only. I've tried looking on their website but it goes round in circles.

I would suggest getting an eSIM for America - then she can switch her phone to that SIM and use WhatsApp for messaging and calls. Her regular number (as far as I know) won’t be able to make or receive calls but she’d still have plenty of data. 10GB of data on airalo is £21 and you have 30 days to use it 😊

Turn off roaming?

I wouldn’t pay for o2 roaming either, but if her phone is unlocked she could use an eSIM, or possibly pick up a payg SIM card there if she wants a number?

Turn it onto aircraft mode

How much is a burner on a cheap SIM over there? Her own phone she could use for WiFi and WiFi calls (not sure about charges). She texts you the number for the burner and call her? Has his family not got free minutes?

Turn off roaming and cell service, so all she has on is wifi

She should by a sim when she gets there and set that up. A month is too long to not have proper WiFi. We are here for a few days and it’s a pain!

She can’t spend a month in the U.S. without a phone. The country isn’t set up to even exist without a phone at this point. She needs to get an eSIM.

I've got the O2 SIM as well and I'd agree the info goes round in circles!

Given that there will be WiFi in all hotels/restaurants/shops etc. she can easily manage without roaming.

I tried telling her that but she reckons she'll be fine using WiFi and her boyfriend's phone?

I'm going to suggest an esim/physical sim again.

Thanks everyone!

What plan is she on with O2? If she's on a Plus Plan she'll get unlimited roaming in the US and can use her phone as if she was at home. I used it when we were out there in December and it worked very well.

We have always got an eSIM from Airalo when travelling in the past and it has worked out well!

I’d definitely get an E-SIM so she has a way of staying connected. A month is a very long time without a stable phone connection. I hope she has a lovely time!

She's just got the plan where she has free roaming in Europe.

Last time I went to the states for 3 weeks, I got a sim from Three. It included roaming, calls and texts for £10 and lated a month. Might be worth checking to see if they still do that sim deal. Just be aware you need to activate it before you leave the Uk.

If she’s on a SIM-only I’m assuming her phone is unlocked?

I live in the US and my parents fly in today, their phones are unlocked so I’ve just got them pay as you go SIMS to stick in their phones while they are here. They’ll use my WiFi for WiFi calls and WhatsApp while they are at the house, but when they are out and about and don’t have WiFi the local SIM has them covered.

Airalo eSIM is straightforward to set up - install in the UK and switch on when you arrive. So much easier than trying to exist off free Wi-Fi. 3GB of data to get started is only £9 and it’s easy to top up.

When I was in Chicago last year with no roaming, getting buses or trains was tricky because the presumption was you would buy a ticket on the transport app and have a live connection to show it to any conductor (to prevent screenshotting someone else’s ticket, I guess). Not every station had a ticket booth for a paper ticket.

So, yeah, suggest the esim again! It’s low cost if she doesn’t use it and a back up if needed.

Several cities now use phone apps for transit, DC and NYC do this now. She really ought to get an eSIM. Keep in mind that Americans use SMS much more than WhatsApp too.