Does it cost to receive texts while you are outside of the country

[Meredith23]

I am going on vacation and do not want to be charged any roaming. I do not plan to use text messaging, data, or voice; however I do not want to leave my airplane mode on because I would still like to connect to the wifi if possible. If I turn off my data roaming and my data, will I still be charged any types of data rates? Also will I be charged anything if I receive a text message will oversees but do not respond?

[NFtoBC · Accepted solution]

See http://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/travel/?zone=us&country=USA#combo

It appears you would pay $0.60 per received text unless you have a plan.

If you turn off international data roaming, you will have no data charges.

On some phones you can choose which carrier you connect to. If you set it to Telus, instead of automatic, you will not recieve any calls or text messages.

[xl]

Some thoughts...

• To clarify.... what is the make and model of your phone?  Some phones allow you to turn data, otherwise disabled the cellular/mobile connection.
• SIM card removal will guarantee you will NOT have roaming.
• where are you going? have you considered a using a destination countries SIM?  I found wifi to be unsecure, slow and unreliable.  I prefer getting a local SIM card to quickly look up and build a day itinery on what to do
• consider having friends send you email or use a messenging service like BBM to avoid SMS/texting charges.

[wally_west]

Hello Meredith23, NFtoBC is right and the link will tell you everything you need to know in terms of cost. Don't forget that you can also unlock your device to use a different carrier (worth it if you plan to travel a lot) and you can also use chat application. Since these apps needs a web service, you can use them on wi-fi (if available) but it's a great way to avoid using regular messages.

[SuperFred]

Hi, the answer from our friend NFtoBC here is accurate :

See http://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/travel/?zone=us&country=USA#combo

It appears you would pay $0.60 per received text unless you have a plan.

If you turn off international data roaming, you will have no data charges.

On some phones you can choose which carrier you connect to. If you set it to Telus, instead of automatic, you will not recieve any calls or text messages.

You can also read the suggestions from wally_west, you may find it useful.