STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Americans who travel abroad are all often stunned by the size of their mobile phone bills. Even if they aren't actively using the phone, they can rack up hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in charges. NPR's Wendy Kaufman explains why that happens and what you can do about it if you travel.
WENDY KAUFMAN, BYLINE: Los Angeles resident Lisa French thought she was being very careful when she took her smartphone on a trip to Japan.
LISA FRENCH: I was advised not to make any phone calls, as phone calls oversees are very, very expensive.
KAUFMAN: So is text messaging, so she wasn't planning to do that either. She took note of an alert that popped up on her phone shortly after arriving in Japan warning about possible data charges. But she wasn't planning to spend a lot of time online, and she says...
FRENCH: Since I had traveled to Germany and Barcelona in the past and I really only got maybe $30 or $40 more on my phone bill, I thought, oh, OK, it's only going to be about that much.
KAUFMAN: French was in for a big surprise. A few days into her trip she checked her account online.
FRENCH: I found at the very bottom, very hard to read, that I had $462 in roaming charges. It was like a slap in the face.
KAUFMAN: Smartphones try to connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi; it's often free so you don't incur connection charges. But if the device doesn't pick up Wi-Fi, it will use a cellular network. And what runs up the bill is usually data.
Mike Gikas, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, explains that even when you don't think you're using the phone, the device is running in the background, doing things like retrieving email, updating apps and tracking your location.
MIKE GIKAS: And all of these things that happen nonchalantly on your phone, suddenly you'll be paying five, 10, 15 dollars a megabyte, which you can burn through in no time.
KAUFMAN: For example, location-based restaurant reviews - even ones you don't specifically ask for, could cost $2 or $3 each - and you might get half a dozen or more of them in a single day.
WILLIAM FREEDMAN: The trick for consumers is to be informed.
KAUFMAN: That's William Freedman, an official at the Federal Communications Commission. In 2010, the FCC proposed rules to get wireless carriers to provide timely and effective notice to consumers about these charges. The cell phone companies countered with a voluntary standard, and the federal government said OK.
FREEDMAN: Significantly, they agreed that these alerts would be provided free of charge and there was no opt in.
KAUFMAN: While some wireless carriers are already providing consumers with some notifications, carriers don't have to fully comply with the industry standard until next spring.
But travelers don't have to wait. There are a number of steps you can take right now. One solution is to simply buy a prepaid local phone once you reach your destination. But if you can't part with your smartphone, John Walls of CTIA, the industry trade group, says you can turn off your phone's roaming function.
JOHN WALLS: So that the only time that phone will work in a data capacity is in a Wi-Fi area that won't cost you.
KAUFMAN: You can also turn the device off completely and turn it on only if you know you are inside a Wi-Fi hotspot. You can also purchase a prepaid data plan. In short, says Walls, consumers have choices.
WALLS: But you do have to be proactive and in this case go get it.
KAUFMAN: He urges travelers to call their wireless carrier's customer service line and check the provider's website before they leave home.
Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.