# Backup phone for travel--suggestions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** vacation-travel\ **Created:** [May 6, 2025, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backup-phone-for-travel-suggestions/1017940 "2025-05-06T02:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backup-phone-for-travel-suggestions/1017940/61 "2025-05-24T18:02:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > is “Oh well, sometimes you gotta waste a few bux. Take it out of airplane mode and dial.” Other folks get locked into “OMG that’ll cost _at least_ $10 just to call the uber driver, that’s insane.” So they piss away half an afternoon of an all-to-rare vacation in a place they’ll never visit again chasing a damned wifi signal. My advice: don’t be that person. Your’s was my exact attitude when we went to London last year. Just pay the $24/day to have 3 phones work without having to do anything else, and don’t worry about it. If we were frequent international travelers we’d already have a domestic phone plan that was cheaper to use overseas. As it is, the rare added expense is worth it for saving my time and other’s aggravation. It is the same logic that is causing one group at work to spend nearly a month of effort and delays to save $500 by special ordering a computer instead of just buying the one on the purchase list and adding some accessories. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backup-phone-for-travel-suggestions/1017940/62 "2025-05-24T21:43:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I was wondering if disabling the cellular connection and relying entirely on Wi-Fi connections would work as an alternative to paying for an overseas data plan. I could use texting as much as possible. And if I placed calls on my AT&T service using the Wi-Fi calling feature while overseas could I avoid roaming charges? > > Lotta people do that and it works as you say; a wifi-based call is not billed. I’ve done that. It was a pain when the airline lost my luggage and kept trying to call me when i was out and about. (They had actually gotten my luggage to me 12 hours later, but had failed to mark the issue resolved, so the phone tag was the only issue on the trip.) But yes, it works. And also, having phone service and data service that just works is better. And while my service was spotty in rural Italy, it was super in rural Denmark. And it’s been good enough everywhere I’ve traveled. If you go overseas for a week every few years, get service that’s good at home, and figure out how to handle the odd trip. I sometimes leave the country 3 times in a year, and travel through multiple countries on each trip. Google Fi (or T Mobile) is the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backup-phone-for-travel-suggestions/1017940/63 "2025-05-28T12:31:32Z")
And, I’m now in rural Germany, and Google Fi is working well enough. I did lose my signal briefly on the train, but my DB app continued to work, and standing in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a ride, my service is good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backup-phone-for-travel-suggestions/1017940.md?page=3)