Avoid Unexpected Costs When Travelling – Switch to Flight Mode.
If you are planning to travel on a cruise or a flight, it is essential to make sure that your mobile phone is correctly prepared for the journey. You should always switch your handset to flight mode before you set off to ensure that you do not incur any high charges by using the aircraft or ship’s mobile network.
Many people are unaware that mobile phone applications can continue to update and run in the background, even when their device is stored away and not being used. There have been many instances when people have unknowingly run up bills of thousands of pounds just by failing to switch to flight mode. For an unfortunate example of this, read about Gay Haine’s story in The Guardian.
When you switch to flight mode, there is no risk of this happening as all signal reception is disabled. It essentially turns off all of its wireless capabilities and also prevents any data from being sent out or received by the device. This includes disabling any access to WiFi networks or mobile services, as well as preventing any calls, text messages, emails, or other information from being transmitted. While in flight mode, your phone will still be able to play music and videos stored on its internal memory, making it ideal for entertaining yourself during long journeys.
It is also important to remember that satellite roaming services are considered different to standard roaming services, which are normally included within bundles or packages. As such, out of bundle costs for using a satellite network service can far exceed what would be charged when using a standard roaming service.
To avoid unnecessarily high bills, here are three key points to bear in mind:
1. Switch to flight mode: To avoid unwanted charges, remember to switch off your device or place it into flight mode while travelling. This will stop your device from connecting to any networks and prevent any further data usage.
2. Be aware of automatic connections: Many mobile devices will automatically connect to some satellite network services when travelling by air or sea. This can mean that mobile phone applications continue to update and run in the background without you noticing, resulting in unexpected data roaming costs.
3. Do not rely on bundles: Satellite roaming is not considered the same as mobile network roaming and may therefore not be included within standard roaming bundles or services offered by your provider.
Switching to flight mode prevents you from incurring expensive international data roaming charges. In addition, it can help improve the battery life of devices. As they will not be connecting to WiFi networks or searching for mobile connections in the background, they will not use as much battery.
If you want to avoid any unnecessary charges while travelling, rather be safe than sorry. Switch your device into flight mode!
For further advice when travelling abroad contact Comms Connect on 0345 370 5000 or visit www.commsconnect.co.uk
Happy Travels!
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