talk to me about using my phone abroad...

[GiraffesEatStingingNettles]

I am travelling to Turkey next month, and wanted to sort something out before I go so that I am sure everything is in place and I don't get any nasty surprises.

I am with T-Mobile on a contract, with a smartphone. I have had a look at their website but am utterly befuddled. I was hoping to pay for a booster that would allow a set amount of calls and allow me to use the internet while I am away (not loads, but handy for the odd thing and to keep tabs on emails).

So far it seems that calls are charged at a standard £1.50/min both to send and receive, and there is no other option. For the internet, I can pay £10 for 24hrs - but only once I am there - or £100 for the duration of my stay (but again, only once I am there).

Has anyone done this? I am really concerned that I will arrive and my phone will either refuse to connect, or I will rack up a huge bill!!!

I use the internet on my phone fairly frequently, but in short bursts. Having to cram everythg into 24hr slots is a tad inconvenient... help

For data you would probably be best looking for the local wi-fi hotspots, it doesn't sound like it'd be worth getting a booster pack.

It looks as if you do have to be abroad to buy it, as otherwise data is disabled to prevent the nightmare £300 bill from your phone doing updates and stuff whilst you're roaming. I don't think there's any reason to suppose you won't be able to do it - but as I say, have a look for wi-fi.

Roaming calls are expensive and from memory only Vodafone offer a better deal (as long as you roam with another Vodafone company) - use Skype (on wi-fi) if you need to stay in touch.

Thanks - WiFi hotspots I had forgotten about. I think the place we are staying has it, so that will definitely come in handy.

I was just a bit surprised that there wasn't a nice easy solution. You hear of so many people being caught out, I guess I just assumed there would be a nice simple package to purchase in advance. (About £50 for x calls, x texts and x data, no additional charges if you run out - just cut off- type of thing).

The wonders of modern technology

Off to investigate the practical side of enabling Skype on my phone...

I'm just back from turkey, think mobile usage in general is expensive there but nearly all the hotels, bars and restaurants have it as they seem to quite blatantly advertise it. I never needed to use my data once, and just sent a few texts

Remember to turn off data roaming/package data when you arrive and then you will solely have to use WIFI and therefore no surprises.

Have you gone through this bit?

explore.ee.co.uk/roaming

I know Orange do roaming data plans because I've used them. They're supposed to be the same company!

But yeah, somewhere in the settings of your phone, there will be something called "Allow data roaming". Usually it's disallowed by default. You'll have to enable it if you want to use data abroad.

Call the customer helpline - they were really helpful to me, but v expensive to call them from abroad, call them here.

You need to contact your service provider before you go to enable your phone for use abroad, even for texting and phone calls. The details will be on the website.

Using data abroad is ridiculously expensive, so I would switch off your data before you go (I never leave mine on unless I need to use it), and just use free Wi-Fi wherever you can.

The other option is to buy a local PAYG SIM card and use that in your phone. OH travels a lot and often does that as it works out so much cheaper.