o2 Travel notification

[paulbacon]

Is it possible o2 could actually notify you when you activate o2 travel abroad?

For example i was in Albania recently and although i have the Bolt On, ive never used it or knew how it worked. I assumed you had to activate it manually, i didnt know sending an SMS automatically activates o2 Travel for that day. So a 50p text cost me £4.99!

But that isnt my main concern, i think it would be handy if o2 told you when you activated it, because it isnt always obvious. When in Albania i got the welcome text from o2 to say i was in Albania, but because i was near the border with Kosovo i would sometimes connect to their network too, and they arent on o2 Travel. I know you can manually connect to a network, but that assumes you know which is which. A simple SMS or push notification to say "hey, you have activated o2 travel for the day" wouldnt be hard would it?

[Cleoriff]

@paulbacon 

I would imagine O2 expect you have read the information on offer about O2 Travel. I'm not being facetious at all but when travelling abroad I have made myself aware of what is available in each country I have visited.

I always have mobile data/data roaming turned off and make use of WiFi. If it's not available then I will turn data roaming on and get my money's worth for the day I use it.

Additionally, when you travel abroad you always get a welcome text from O2 which tells you the cost of travel in that country.

[pgn]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

Additionally, when you travel abroad you always get a welcome text from O2 which tells you the cost of travel in that country.

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Umm... "always eventually" - that welcome to (country) SMS invariably lands a few days into your stay, very rarely as you switch your phone out of airplane mode as you depart the aircraft...

For instance, I never received one this year as we holidayed on the Costa del Sol from 01 to 15 Aug, and my wife's SMS landed as we wandered through Torre del Mar on the evening prior to our last full day there.

Even at home, close to the Irish border, one of us might get the SMS as we hit a blind spot in our travels and latch onto an Irish network for a short time. 

Very hit-and-miss. 

[Cleoriff]

All I can go on is my own experience @pgn I always got one as soon as I landed.

Though it made no difference to me, as mobile data was OFF before I even boarded the plane in the UK (and this was at the time it cost you £4.99 a day in the EU)

 Now with it being free to roam in EU, it shouldn't matter.

However, Albania is one of the countries where O2 Travel is applicable and my point is, it's your responsibility to find out the cost before you go.

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/international/using-phone-abroad

I just can't see the point of expecting O2 to send you a text on the days you use O2 travel. You should know the cost, and also know if you send a text it will activate the £4.99 charge, as at 'some point' you WILL have had a welcome to blah blah text.

[pgn]

I agree, @Cleoriff - Caveat Emptor, buyer beware: know what networks will be available where you're going, know which ones you can use, know the cost of using them and *manually find and select that one when you land*. (This "let your phone decide" malarkey's a recipe for billing disaster, imo.)

So we agree that no sms every time your version of O2 Travel is used, but a timely "Welcome to..." SMS when you first latch onto it, manually, is acceptable? 🤳😁

[Cleoriff]

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@pgn wrote:
I agree, @Cleoriff - Caveat Emptor, buyer beware: know what networks will be available where you're going, know which ones you can use, know the cost of using them and *manually find and select that one when you land*. (This "let your phone decide" malarkey's a recipe for billing disaster, imo.)

So we agree that no sms every time your version of O2 Travel is used, but a timely "Welcome to..." SMS when you first latch onto it, manually, is acceptable? 🤳😁

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Yes I agree with that @pgn . Obviously you have experienced a delay and I haven't...so any delay is unacceptable

In fact the one thing that we can't always avoid is the mobile picking up a network which will charge them. Like Turkey and Cyprus for example. https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/How-to-Guides/Roaming-in-Turkey-and-Cyprus/bc-p/1105917

[pgn]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

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@pgn wrote:
... them and *manually find and select that one (network) when you land*.

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we can't always avoid is the mobile picking up a network which will charge them. Like Turkey and Cyprus 

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True - but if you have your phone set to manual, when it loses the network you chose, it should not reconnect to a different one. Then you have zero chance of funny charges, assuming your roaming data is disabled. 

In the US, it can cost to receive messages (or it was that way some years back) so you recommendation to use WiFi in those cases makes absolute sense. 

While the networks charge so much and in so many different ways, having logic in the phone that switches from cell carrier to cell carrier automatically based on signal strength is all a bit of a con.

The warning/welcome SMS *has* to be timely, and, similar to the browser being needed to start using many Wi-Fi offerings, should really be set similarly (currently, it isn't - the cell network and your phone pair, and the first time you hit send on a new message, or your phone contacts something via data (if roaming data is enabled and your APN is correct), blam! £4.99 or more.) 

And don't get me started on MMS - Even O2 sent me one yesterday, which reminds me, I had better go see what it was about. 

Yeh, too late, I missed it, whatever it was. 

[Cleoriff]

And if we think O2 Roaming rules are 'difficult' now....I can't wait for Brexit!!

[pgn]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

And if we think O2 Roaming rules are 'difficult' now....I can't wait for Brexit!!

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[Cleoriff]

Yes ^^^^^ that!!