When travelling abroad, a smartphone is your best friend. Whether you’re lost on your way to a destination, need to look for a hotel or find a place to eat, you can rely on your smartphone to guide you. That is if you have mobile data.
Here you are left with two choices essentially, you can either stand in a line to get a local sim card or you can turn international roaming on with your original service provider.
If you decide to get a local SIM card, not only do you have to go through the trouble of replacing SIM cards at the airport but it also cuts you off from anyone trying to reach you on your original phone number. This could include your family, insurance company or even your bank that could actually block your credit cards in case they are unable to reach you over a suspicious transaction leaving you without access to cash in a foreign country.
The second option, however, is less risky in some ways and riskier in others such as what it can do to your monthly phone bill. There are several instances when consumers have had to pay thousands of dollars after a short trip abroad. Foreign trips are expensive just the way they are but once you factor in the risk of running up an eye-watering phone bill, this could dissuade foreign travel altogether.
But luckily, foreign travellers have an option now that doesn’t require you to give up your original number or run the risk of being stuck with an expensive phone bill. LotusFlare, a Santa Clara-based company creates cloud-natives software and works with communication service providers to make it easier for consumers to get internet access. Through their app Nomad, consumers can select their foreign destination, select a destination-specific data plan that suits their needs, pay for it and use it whenever they are ready.
Nomad currently covers over 100 countries and offers packages from as little as $1.70/GB across Europe, North America and more. The app offers high-speed mobile data without any monthly contracts for unbeatable prices.
All users have to do is download the app, purchase the plan and install their eSIM through a QR code and you’re all set. On top of that, you have full control over your data usage so you can switch it on when you need it and turn it off when you are not using it to save data.
Connecting to the internet is not just important to access maps when travelling but also comes in handy for business travellers who need internet connectivity to perform their duties. Of all the options available, LotusFlare’s app Nomad offers the most convenient solutions for all-purpose travellers.