Roaming data charges have come down – especially when going to Australia. However iPhones and BlackBerries can be data hungry devices, so the bill can add up.
In a lot of cases wireless access will be available, sometimes free, but most often requiring a fee and another username and password that you will soon forget. These are also costly, and then you get to the hotel to find out they want to charge you more than breakfast, lunch, and valet parking combined to use the internet. From my recent travel to Australia it seemed that, unless you were in an Air NZ Koru lounge, you were going to have to pay someone to access the Internet.
Some of our most frequent business travellers have just come back and reported great news about an alternative – Boingo Wireless. Essentially, you load the app on your mobile phone or laptop, pay one monthly fee (for mobile users USD$7.95 per month) and with one username and password you can use wireless without the hassles. In Auckland there are 142 compatible locations. In the Waikato, there are 22, Australia 2018. In the USA, there are over 25,000 – you get the idea, and can see locations here.