Whether for Whatsapp, phone calls, navigation or entertainment devices: we no longer leave the house without our smartphones – not even on vacation. But while we have long since gotten used to flat rates in this country, they are often not valid abroad – and smartphone use quickly becomes a cost trap. Finanztest has taken on the topic in the current issue and has some useful tips ready, which you can find in the photo gallery above.
Fortunately for customers, the situation is no longer as bad as it was a few years ago. Since there are no roaming charges in Europe, German holidaymakers can simply continue surfing and phoning on their EU vacation as usual. But as soon as you leave the EU, whether for Switzerland, Montenegro or Turkey, it quickly becomes expensive.
The price differences are sometimes enormous. According to “Finanztest”, Vodafone wants up to 6.70 from its customers in some tariffs when they make calls in Sri Lanka or Indonesia. The mobile Internet in particular is quickly becoming a cost trap. At Klarmobil, a single megabyte in Egypt or Australia costs more than 34 euros. That’s not even enough to load an average website. However, customers no longer have to worry about the tens of thousands of euros in costs that used to be associated with this. Since 2012, there has been a statutory cost ban. Since then, after 59.50 euros mobile internet costs abroad, it’s automatically over, users have to actively request more data volume.
You can read which providers are how expensive and in which countries you have to be particularly careful in the full article under “Finanztest”. You can find it for a fee at test.de.
This article first appeared on May 16, 2019.
In the video: No money for vacation? These tricks will save you money