Questions about travelling with an iphone 5

[Cassia]

Hello all,

I'm not sure if this is the proper board to post for my questions, but here goes anyway.

My husband and I have iphone 5's. We live in Canada, and our provider is Telus. We're going to Hawaii in May, and we'd like to bring the phones with us, but want to avoid ridiculous roaming charges. We probably won't need to use the phones for much (if it costs us an arm and a leg, we won't use them at all) but we'd really like to be able to let the kids play their games on them while we're away (Angry Birds, etc.), and maybe shoot a text back home to let family know we arrived safely. Will it cost us a lot? Will the kids playing games cost us anything? I plan to put in a call to Telus before we go, but I thought I would ask here first.

Thanks!

 

[KevinJS]

Turn off data roaming in Settings. You should do this anyway, because it won't affect you while you are in Canada, and if saves you having to remember if you go into the US.

Put the phone into Airplane mode, and effectively it becomes an iPod. Safe to give it to the kids.

 

[Cassia]

Great, thanks very much! So now I have a follow up question: Does Angry Birds use any data at all? We have the free version so there are ads, I've been reading online that these will use data.

 

[KevinJS]

Great, thanks very much! So now I have a follow up question: Does Angry Birds use any data at all? We have the free version so there are ads, I've been reading online that these will use data.

It might try, but if you are in airplane mode and have no wifi signal, the ad simply won't show up.

 

[Cassia]

Cool, thanks Kevin! So, if we're in the US and are in Airplane mode, and we happen to be somewhere that has free WiFi, we can use it and not be charged (by our provider or any others)?

 

[KevinJS]

Yes. Leave it in airplane mode and turn on wifi in Settings. Starbucks, McDonalds and a heap of other places have free wifi, so the more coffee you can drink, the quieter your kids will be.

Have a good trip.