Staying connected while travelling can sometimes be tricky to manage. You don’t want to experience a frustratingly slow connection, be anxiously monitoring your data usage throughout your holiday or, worst of all, return home to a bill shock. Understanding how to manage your data roaming costs is key to a stress-free vacation!
Roaming charges can vary across telcos due to many factors, including:
International Agreements:
Different telcos negotiate different deals with foreign networks, allowing some of them to offer more affordable roaming packages.
Network Operator:
Each operator has their own fixed pricing for roaming services determined by their operational costs, and other business expenses.
Destination country/region:
Your roaming data fees can vary significantly depending on the specific country or region you're visiting. Some popular tourist destinations may have higher roaming charges.
Technology:
The type of network technology available (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G) can affect roaming charges.
Let’s take a look at some tips to help you find affordable and reliable roaming data options.
Understand How You Will Be Billed Beforehand:
Most mobile plan providers in Singapore offer data roaming options that can be added to a regular plan for an additional fee. They may bill you based on different criteria, such as the duration of your roaming session or the amount of data you use during your travels. At giga, we keep things simple. All our plans come with FREE monthly data roaming that can be used across 5 popular destinations: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, and India. Furthermore, all 5G plans now comes with free International roaming across 34 destinations worldwide. Once the free roaming data that comes with your giga! plan has been fully utilised, you can stack on gigaRoam APAC or ROTW packs for all your data needs starting from $5 per GB.
Ensure You Aren't Paying for Features You Won’t Be Using:
Nowadays, people primarily use messaging apps like WhatsApp when overseas, as international calls can be expensive and locals may hesitate to respond to foreign numbers. Platforms like WhatsApp, which operate on Wi-Fi or data, make the most sense for staying connected. By choosing a plan that focuses solely on data, you can avoid unnecessary costs like paying for SMS and voice calls.
Choose a Plan That Allows You to Top-Up Your Data as You Go:
Consider whether your data roaming plan allows for stacking additional data packs. This is particularly useful if you anticipate needing more data than what your initial plan offers. With our gigaRoam APAC packs, you can stack them up and the next pack will auto-activate once your previous pack has been used up. So there will be no accidental extra charges and you will always have service wherever you go!
Look Out for Deceiving Deals:
While some roaming plans may seem like a great deal at first glance, it’s important to read the fine print. Deals with very low starting prices can be deceiving if they charge sky-high rates once you inevitably go over the data limit. That’s why we have designed our gigaRoam packs to be automatically activated when you arrive at your destination and also automatically deactivated once the data is used up, so you will never have to worry about coming home to a bill shock after your trip!
Make Sure You Read Reviews Online:
Before making any purchase, always read reviews by previous users so you can make an informed decision and choose a plan that meets your travel needs. giga has garnered over 24,000 reviews on Google, boasting an impressive 4.8-star rating that proves our customer satisfaction with our products and offerings.
Ready to Explore Without Roaming Worries?
Explore our top-picked $18 5G plan whcih comes with 10GB of Asia Roaming + 1GB of free International Roaming, making it an excellent choice for frequent travellers. Additionally, all our plans are eSIM-enabled. Switching to the eSIM card on giga is free of charge from now until 31 October 2024, with only $1 fee per line thereafter.
Still Not Enough Data Roaming?
Keep a lookout for our #gigaSurprise! You can purchase gigaRoam APAC at up to 50% during our happy hour Friday deals or catch the latest promotions when you follow @gigaexperience on Instagram and Facebook.
Explore affordable data roaming options starting at $5/GB across 48 destinations. These plans are auto-activated upon arrival and will auto-deactivate once they are used up so you will never experience any bill shocks after your trip1
Sign up for giga today to enjoy stress-free travelling: https://www.giga.com.sg/mobile/esim
Other reads you may be interested in:
Travel Without Worries: gigaRoam Makes Roaming a Breeze