@Aidansamso and @DBH2 : Whenever you travel internationally, there are things that you need to have in order, like Passports, Visas, Immunizations and how you plan to use your cell phone.
There are ways to completely avoid Roaming charges:
1. Put your phone in airplane mode and leave it that way. You can still enable/use WiFi in this mode.
2. Turn your phone off.
3. Remove the SIM from your phone.
4. Contact Rogers and ask them to remove Roam Like Home from your plan.
There are ways to minimize roaming charges.
5. Purchase a SIM for the area(s) you are visiting.
6. Use Roaming only on occasional days, not every day.
You would have received a text from Rogers saying you are roaming and to check the charges when roaming.
Here's a link on Roaming:
https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/roaming-support
Remember, it is your responsibility to check on this since each person may have a different set of preferences. Also, roaming is similar with other service providers, but each has their own set of rules and charges.
If you don't do one of the above, you will likely encounter charges, regardless of other phone settings because some apps override cell preference and some apps do automatic downloads or use location services or some other function that causes them to be in touch with a cell tower in the international location. As soon as the phone "sees" an international cell tower, there will be charges. One way to tell is if you don't see "Rogers" at the top of the phone but rather a service provider from the country you are visiting.
One other thing - I believe roaming days are measured based on Eastern Time Zone, so if you're in a different time zone and go past "midnight" Eastern Time, you will be charged for 2 days.
@_Pyo and @ServiceMatters : Please check out the following two threads on this topic. All service providers have similar "rules" and this is not limited to Rogers, rather customers need to familiarize themselves with roaming before leaving on their travels:
https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Network-Coverage/Understanding-How-Roaming-Works/m-p/531963
@DM20241 : As discussed in the links in the post above yours, it is possible to avoid Roam Like Home charges.
Turning on Airplane mode should do the trick since your phone cannot connect to a tower. Did you leave airplane mode on for several days, or the entire trip for example? As soon as you turn off airplane mode, even briefly, the phone may connect to a foreign cell tower and you may be charged for RLH. Taking out the Rogers SIM also works, as well as turning the phone off.
@DM20241 wrote:
...we activated the roaming service on just one device. I am seriously considering leaving Rogers.
I don't know what you mean by this. RLH is active on post-paid phones/plans, unless you call Rogers before you leave to turn RLH off. Most providers have similar charges and Bell even charges more in some instances.
@markahummel This is not really new, although you may have been able to get away with only turning roaming off due to the apps on your particular phone. There are many ways to trigger roaming charges - Read the links in my post above (link again below) for additional information:
https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Network-Coverage/Understanding-How-Roaming-Works/m-p/531963
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