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Cell Service in Japan?
We are going on the Essence of Japan trip in September and looking forward to meeting everyone. What have previous travelers done to ensure cell service in Japan? I have been reading such conflicting points in the travel guides. I have Verizon and have called them but still want to hear what Tauck travelers did to prepare in this regard. Thank you.
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I have ATT and took their "International Plan" which is $10/day. No problems in Japan - my phone works as if it was in the United States.
I think Verizon offers something similar.
I have T Mobile which allows you free data and text overseas. Never had need to make phone calls, no trouble at all in Japan.
I also used the $10 a day plan with Xfinity, which utilizes Verizon. I did not use it each day, as I could Imessage and email.
Gladysorlando984 brings up a good point. You're only charged for the day if you use the network during that day. So if you keep your phone in "Airplane mode" during the day, you won't get charged. You can use your phone in the hotel by connecting to the hotel WiFi and that won't trigger the $10/day.
This is a bit off subject, but if you're on a ship, you should keep your phone in "airplane mode" and use the ship's WiFi. Some ships have a system that will connect to your phone as a "network" but they charge big money if you actually use it, especially for data. You don't realize it until you get your bill and there's a lot of itemized usage with a price on each line.
I have Verizon - last October we used Verizon's Monthly International Plan, which cost $100. You can use the daily plan, which recently was raised to $12/day from the previous $10, though the monthly stayed the same. So the crossover is use for more than eight separate 24 hour periods, with both offering unlimited (though capped at a certain point) data and text. Monthly is only 250 minutes of talk time rather than unlimited, but most don't need that, or you can use WhatsApp to get around that. Japan is very tech forward and service was very good. I used the data every day of my trip since I feel cellular is more secure than Wifi (yes I use a VPN too) and also my office and family has access anytime. For the cost difference, it is worth it.
We recently had an update from our Xfinity phone plan to say we don’t have to pay the $10 a day anymore to use international!
Thank you everyone for your thoughts on cell service! Gretchen
I always use the wi fi when on the river boats or in the hotel.
We very rarely make phone calls when traveling. If we do we use WhatsApp which is free. Remember when there was no such thing as cell phones? We just told family we were traveling, downloaded hotels for them and gave them Tauck’s number incase of emergency. Another thing is the time differences which depending on where you are can be tricky as either side is likely to be asleep. There is also a strict no phone calls while on the tour bus. Only a few have ignored this in our experience and once it was while the TD was talking…so rude and inconsiderate. But people talking in loud voices while the TD is talking seems to happen quite a lot. I feel like standing and saying’Shut up’.
I have Xfinity Mobile, too. That email from them was very deceptive. You can use voice and text for free, but you still have to pay $10/day for data. I don't know how you can use voice or text on a roaming international network without getting charged for data use, with all the data stuff that goes on in the background.
I’m a bit ignorant with this, but will it work if you keep the phone on airplane mode which I usually do?
Only if you are connected to wifi, which is the way it's been all along. they are implying you can now make free calls/texts over a cellular network for free, but to do that you have to turn data on, for which they charge $10 per 24h
BKMD - I agree. I read that email multiple times, and did not see much of a difference. But, I have been satisfied with it.
Ok. Like I said, I rarely make calls when on vacation.
I might text but always on wifi