Getting your phone ready for a trip abroad

Your phone holds your tickets, maps, bookings and bank, so a little preparation before you leave saves real trouble on the road. Here's a checklist for the week before you travel.

Mobile data

• Check your roaming plan. Some plans include roaming in certain countries; others charge by the megabyte. Find out before you land, not after the bill.
• Consider an eSIM or local SIM. Many phones support eSIMs that you can buy online and install before you go, giving you a local or regional data plan. Check that your phone is unlocked and eSIM-compatible first.
• Keep your home number reachable if you need it for bank security codes, but turn off data roaming on that line if you're using a different one for data.

Offline copies

Assume you'll be without signal at the worst moment: on landing, underground, or in the countryside.

• Download offline maps for each city you'll visit.
• Save tickets and boarding passes to your phone's wallet or as screenshots.
• Keep booking confirmations available offline, with addresses written out for taxi drivers.
• Download a translation app's offline language pack if you don't speak the language.
• Download entertainment for long journeys over home Wi-Fi.

Power

• Carry a power bank, charged, in your hand luggage. Lithium batteries must go in the cabin, not in checked bags, and airlines may limit their capacity.
• Pack the right plug adapter for each country, and check that your charger works on the local voltage (most phone chargers do).
• Bring a longer cable — sockets are often in awkward places in hotels and trains.

Security

• Update your phone before leaving, over home Wi-Fi.
• Turn on a screen lock and find-my-phone features.
• Be careful on public Wi-Fi. Avoid banking on open networks, or use mobile data.
• Know how to lock or erase your phone remotely, and write down the steps somewhere other than the phone.
• Write down key numbers — your bank's card cancellation line, travel insurance, accommodation — on paper too.

Money apps

• Tell your bank you're travelling, if it asks for that.
• Make sure you can receive security codes abroad — some banks send them by text to your home number.
• Add your cards to your phone's wallet for contactless payments, and carry a physical backup card separately.

Useful apps to set up

• The airline's app, logged in, for boarding passes and delay alerts.
• Local transport apps for the cities you'll visit.
• A ride-hailing app that works locally.
• Your accommodation booking apps, logged in.

Before the flight

• Charge everything.
• Turn on airplane mode for take-off and when roaming isn't wanted.
• Set your clock to update automatically, so it switches time zone on arrival.

Elio Travels works offline too: you can save a copy of a trip's itinerary, bookings and ordinary tickets to your device, and edits you make without a connection are sent when you're back online.