As you probably know by now, international roaming fees can unleash a minor hurricane upon your finances. And like with any storm, you need protection.
Some people begin hunting for WiFi hotspots, like some invaluable pre-historic artifacts (wasting precious vacation time in the process). Others might completely turn off their phone’s radio communications (crippling their own phones. Intentionally). But others go the smart way – they buy a local SIM card from a local carrier. Because as any experienced traveler will attest, using the local carriers is the best solution for your overseas internet needs.
So what are prepaid SIM cards, anyway? Prepaid SIM cards are regular SIMs loaded with a certain amount of usage; they can have X amount of minutes and/or Y amount of text messages and/or Z amount of internet data. You use these services until they run out, once they’ve run out you will need to contact the carrier and ask to top-up, or will need to buy a new SIM card.
This is in contrast with postpaid SIM cards which charge you after you’ve used the carrier’s network. So the difference lies in the following logic – with prepaid SIM cards you know exactly how much you will be charged and thus control your expenses, while with postpaid SIM cards you have to control your usage to know exactly how much you’ll pay. When you’re traveling overseas and expenses pile up with a staggering rate (hotels, taxis, restaurants, attractions etc.) it’s nice to know that you can control your communication expenses and avoid cellular roaming charges.
Though prepaid SIM cards are the most logical and economical solution, they can be difficult to attain – to use local prepaid SIM cards you have to work quite a bit.
You need to make sure your phone is unlocked. You need to locate a local prepaid SIM card that meets your criteria (for example, 2 Israeli carriers sell prepaid SIM cards, they both offer the same package, but one costs 2X than the other – how/where will you be able to compare before buying?). You will need to change your phone’s APN settings to make sure you can use use the internet (some SIM cards will do it automatically, other won’t). Most SIM cards do not offer an extension period for your balance, so you might have to go out again and look for a place that sells SIM cards. If you encounter a service problem, you’ll usually have to deal with people who might not speak English very well (or at all), this can be problematic if you need to call the company’s customer support.
Luckily for the globetrotting community, iPhoneTrip is able to provide international prepaid SIM cards with either a 1Gb, or an unlimited plan. iPhoneTrip save you the hassle of going out and searching for a prepaid SIM card, by delivering it to your doorstep a few days before your travel date. So you don’t have to waste precious vacation time by walking a foreign city and searching for that one SIM card that will connect you to the Internet. iPhoneTrip also provides 24/7 English speaking support and the ability to extend your rental period and data allowance with a single call to our trained support team.
iPhoneTrip provides you with all the benefits of a local prepaid SIM card, with out the hassle that comes with it.
With your time abroad being limited by so many factors (costs, limited vacation days etc.), iPhoneTrip saves you time and money by providing with the best technological and logistical solution to your roaming data needs.
Google Maps – Probably the most intuitive of them all, has excellent maps, supports usage by public transport, has the best POI database around, and on top of everything- it’s actually free. Besides the biggest advantage of being free, Google Maps is a leader due to it’s support of almost any mobile platform today: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and even the most basic version of all – Java. But the biggest help it offers travelers is the support of public transport and by-foot routing. If you are away from home and traveling through a major foreign city, chances are you won’t be doing it by car- you’ll be walking, taking a cab and using the cheapest method which is public transport. Google Maps doesn’t support the public transport feature in every single city around the globe, but most modern cities are represented. Another significant advantage Google Maps offers travelers is the ability to navigate by foot. Unlike a lot of other GPS apps who are geared only towards cars, Google Maps allows you to choose navigation by foot – enabling you to walk through public squares and walkways, thus making the distances much shorter and making you feel a lot more “local” than you really are. The biggest drawback for this app comes from the fact that it currently doesn’t support turn-by-turn navigation for iOS. The 2nd biggest drawback for this app, is that it uses the web to download maps and information. Though If you took our 
Waze - Though Waze is the youngest contender between these 2 juggernauts, it offers some unique features that the other two lack. It provides voice turn-by-turn navigation, just like Navigon. But it differs from all other apps by relying on its users to provide real-time crowdsourcing traffic data like speed camera, accidents, traffic jams etc. Waze analyzes this anonymous incoming data to route users through the best possible path to save time. The most interesting facet about Waze (and its biggest disadvantage) is the way it uses maps – unlike most Navigation apps who buy maps from Navteq or Telemap (and roll these enormous expenses on to it’s clients), Waze actually lets users “record” their own maps to benefit others. But this is also its downside as entire areas might not be covered by Waze’s maps – currently, Waze offers its maps in Israel, US, Canada and a few European countries.
When you travel you will want to feel at home even while if you are far away from home. There are many useful applications to help you accomplish this.
considering this time as wasted you can download applications that will help you spend this time more pleasurably.
