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| Its not just the on-board casino that may make a hole in your pocket, you mobile phone bill on return might just empty your family bank account as well |
Courtesy www.walletpop.com
Why checking Facebook on holiday could land you with an unexpected £750 bill...
Fans of social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook are being warned to think twice before checking their profiles and updating their statuses by mobile phone while overseas this summer.
If they don't, they could be hit with massive data roaming bills of £750 or more on their return.
If they don't, they could be hit with massive data roaming bills of £750 or more on their return.
New research from Carphone Warehouse indicates that most holidaymakers fail to check mobile phone network data roaming charges before they go abroad – and two out of three have been stung with big bills as a result.
The survey of 2,000 people also reveals that a third of mobile phone users update social networking sites using their smartphones, and that this is one of the main reasons so many travellers get a nasty shock when they open their post-holiday phone bills.
Britons who have fallen into this trap include Carly Woodgate, a 30-year-old mental health support worker from south west London, who regularly checked Facebook and Twitter while she holidayed in New York and was hit by a £750 bill when she returned. Carphone Warehouse's Paul Lappage said: "Often people are keen to post their holiday snaps on Facebook but if your smartphone includes a high megapixel camera it could mean a couple of megabytes per photo – which could soon rack up a big bill."
Visiting social networking sites is not the only mobile activity that could cost you dear while you are away, though. Checking your e-mails, particularly if you download attachments using your phone, can also lead to large bills.
And anyone taking their laptop away with them should also be aware that going online while abroad can also prove hugely expensive if done via a mobile network.
One business traveller I wrote a story about a few years ago, for example, was unaware that his wife had started downloading two episodes of Friends from a website before he left for a two-day trip to Germany and was hit with a bill for £11,000 when he got back to the UK as a result.
Fortunately, the European Union has curbed data roaming charges since then. But it is still expensive to go online abroad - especially if you are travelling outside Europe.
Carphone Warehouse is therefore urging Britons jetting off on holiday this summer to check the data roaming charges that will apply where they are going before leaving home.
To avoid high charges, it also suggests tourists ensure a data cap is in place, use applications to check data usage, turn off 'data roaming', avoid data-intensive applications such as Google Maps and YouTube and use wi-fi spots to update Facebook and Twitter without using the local 3G network.
Fans of texting while abroad should also use MMS, which can contain photos and up to 1,024 characters instead of SMS, which has a maximum of 160 characters.
Related links
The survey of 2,000 people also reveals that a third of mobile phone users update social networking sites using their smartphones, and that this is one of the main reasons so many travellers get a nasty shock when they open their post-holiday phone bills.
Britons who have fallen into this trap include Carly Woodgate, a 30-year-old mental health support worker from south west London, who regularly checked Facebook and Twitter while she holidayed in New York and was hit by a £750 bill when she returned. Carphone Warehouse's Paul Lappage said: "Often people are keen to post their holiday snaps on Facebook but if your smartphone includes a high megapixel camera it could mean a couple of megabytes per photo – which could soon rack up a big bill."
Visiting social networking sites is not the only mobile activity that could cost you dear while you are away, though. Checking your e-mails, particularly if you download attachments using your phone, can also lead to large bills.
And anyone taking their laptop away with them should also be aware that going online while abroad can also prove hugely expensive if done via a mobile network.
One business traveller I wrote a story about a few years ago, for example, was unaware that his wife had started downloading two episodes of Friends from a website before he left for a two-day trip to Germany and was hit with a bill for £11,000 when he got back to the UK as a result.
Fortunately, the European Union has curbed data roaming charges since then. But it is still expensive to go online abroad - especially if you are travelling outside Europe.
Carphone Warehouse is therefore urging Britons jetting off on holiday this summer to check the data roaming charges that will apply where they are going before leaving home.
To avoid high charges, it also suggests tourists ensure a data cap is in place, use applications to check data usage, turn off 'data roaming', avoid data-intensive applications such as Google Maps and YouTube and use wi-fi spots to update Facebook and Twitter without using the local 3G network.
Fans of texting while abroad should also use MMS, which can contain photos and up to 1,024 characters instead of SMS, which has a maximum of 160 characters.
Related links
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