Smartphone data case study

Smartphones make travel more efficient, but one concern looms when you travel internationally. How much is your smartphone data going to cost?

First, check out my overview of data choices. Armed with that info, here's what our traveling family of four (and sometimes "just" a traveling couple) has done. As in that overview article, our factors include:

• our mobile carrier and the travel options offered

• where we travel

• whether we are one, two or four people

• how long we will be gone

• how "techy" we are

Our mobile carrier and the travel options offered

We use Verizon, whose international plans are less generous than T-Mobile or Sprint. But Verizon has terrific coverage and I like the customer service.

Verizon offers a $5 daily international pass for Canada and Mexico, and a $10 daily international pass for most of the rest of the world. Once registered, it kicks in automatically, meaning that we don't need to remember to authorize it before every trip.

In my experience, Verizon's travel pass is fine for one person who's traveling for a couple days, but any more than that and it becomes cost-prohibitive if you use it every day. You can save some money if you use the travel pass every other day; Verizon's, for example, runs on a 24-hour clock, so it's possible to skip a day here and there.

Where we travel

We travel mostly to Canada and to Europe. Canada is easy - $5 per day - but when we travel to Europe, things get tricky. One of our daughters spent a couple months doing education abroad, traveling to four countries during her time there. Helping her figure out the smartest data decisions was always a trade-off between cost and convenience.

Some countries are also easier than others. Austria, for example, is not a problem; you can buy SIM cards in the airport. Germany is harder; you need to have a German address. You might get away with using your hotel address, or you might not.

When we travel to Germany, we use Verizon's international travel pass, and we rely on free WiFi. It's an unsecured line, but we've had no problems. We are just "cautious and conservative" about the information we share and the details that are on our phones.

How long we will be gone

When my husband and I travel, we typically spend several days in one place, often all in one country. This simplifies our access to data.

Things change when our daughters travel, because their pace is faster. Much faster. In one day they might ping-pong from France to Germany to France. Geographically that's simple, like going from one U.S. state to another, but smartphone data is another story.

We counsel the kids on the common sense of tackling one country at a time, but we've also come to respect their brisk pace that spans hundreds of miles in the time it takes us to cover 10.

Customizing our data plans to the number of people traveling makes our travel more enjoyable. One thing that's not enjoyable: forcing teens to stick with their parents 24/7 for the sake of "togetherness" or "cheaper data." It robs the parents and the teens of meaningful experiences...plus everyone of a whole lot of happiness.

Understanding how techy we are

I'm a little techy; I do OK with the basics but need help with more advanced stuff. I assumed that our daughters, as digital natives, were tech experts, but as we stood in a Virgin store in Manchester, trying to get our U.K. SIM cards, I realized this was not true.

We've gotten better the hard way, but we are all still learning, and we'll still be learning as long as we're alive, because technology is ever-changing.

The blended approach

After trying several data options, none of which was ideal, we've settled on a blended approach when we travel. It reflects every one of the factors above, as well as realizing that every trip is different.

If just a couple of us are traveling to one country for 12-14 days, we buy one international SIM card beforehand like the one that Orange Holiday Europe offers through Amazon. Then we let the other person tether to the phone that has the SIM, using it like a WiFi hotspot. This enables him/her to access enough cellular data for the duration of the trip. At $30-50 for an international SIM card, it is a little pricey but less than the cost of international travel passes or MiFis, which are mobile WiFi hotspots or jetpacks.

If all four of us are traveling and we don't get the international SIM card beforehand, initially one person gets the international travel pass, while everyone else keeps their phones in airplane mode and limits themselves to WiFi only. If we get separated and we need to connect, we use WhatsApp as a backup. If WhatsApp fails us, everyone has permission to use the daily international travel pass for emergencies.

On the first full day in the new location, if we're going to be in that country for more than two or three days, and there are three or four of us, and we've had at least a few hours' sleep, we buy SIM local cards on site which tend to be cheaper than online. We still use free WiFi when we find it, to make sure the data lasts for the whole trip.

If we're traveling to more than one country, we look for multi-country SIMs. If we can't find them, and if we're going to be in the next country longer than two or three days, we buy new SIMs specific to that country. Otherwise, we aim for the single international travel pass or SIM, with everyone else staying in WiFi-only mode.

Because our daughters sprint off on their own while my husband and I enjoy a slower pace, we encourage them to be independent and to solve their own problems. However, in a crisis, everyone in the family is always free to use whatever data is needed to reach us. If there's a big problem, data will be the tiniest part of it.

Notably, neither daughter has ever needed to reach me or my husband. The worst thing that's happened is that I've gotten some middle-of-the-night texts at home while one daughter was traveling and she forgot the time difference. Even then, she wasn't facing a crisis; she was just double-checking information.

Using data efficiently is still a challenge, and our solutions are imperfect. Your situation has its own pros, cons and "what ifs." Just do your homework and make the best decision you can. If it doesn't work well, take notes and do better the next time.