As Brits face rising bills and taxes, many UK holidaymakers are doing everything they can to keep costs down and avoid unnecessary bills.
However, a few travellers have been left shocked at their phone bills when returning home from their travels as they made one big mistake.
A recent video went viral on social media, revealing a traveller on a cruise received a £1,050 phone bill for data roaming despite purchasing the cruise line’s WIFI package.
Users left comments expressing how costly this mistake is, saying: “Expensive lesson”. Another said: “$1,300 would pay for another cruise”.
Experts at an eSIM travel company, Airalo, have revealed how this simple mistake is made and how travellers can avoid it on future holidays.
UK travellers have been reported to rack up staggering phone bills when abroad simply for forgetting to turn on “airplane mode” on their device when connecting to WIFI.
The unlucky cruiser furiously called the cruise company he travelled with, demanding they pay the bill, but the cruise line refused as the passenger admitted they never put the phone on airplane mode and their child used the phone all week to watch videos online.
If this one-click button is not pressed, your mobile device will still use data roaming in the background despite connecting to a free WIFI network.
When you arrive at a new port, your signal will switch to a network carrier from the country you are visiting. Even if you are not actively using your phone, it will still use data.
“Travellers should be wary of background data usage on their devices, even when connected to WIFI networks when travelling as costs can significantly stack up and create an extravagant bill,” said the experts at Airalo.
“While turning your phone on ‘airplane mode’ when using WiFi networks can stop you from incurring charges, downloading an eSIM for travelling, and turning off your primary SIM can significantly reduce fees when travelling making for efficient roaming when abroad.
“Customers have been left shocked at data roaming charges when travelling, so it’s recommended to avoid staggering bills and extra charges abroad to download an eSIM for cheaper and effective roaming.”