Tags: abroad, at&t, customerservice, iphone, travel, travel abroad

A new client asked us to set up her iPhone to go abroad, with less than a week before departing to Europe.

Problem is,  she transfered to at&t less than a month ago, and citing identity theft issues, at&t told her she could not use her iPhone abroad until she had been a client for at least three months.

Not fun! Enter Solvate.

We faxed documentation to at&t (fax: 866.464.7188) so that they could fast-track our client and get her approved for using her iPhone abroad. This included a copy of her driver’s license and a recent bill confirming her billing address.

We learned a few helpful tips in the process.

1. Go straight to the International Provisions Department at 800.331.0500.
2. The expiration date of your driver’s license MUST be visible in the fax. If your fax isn’t picking it up, try scanning the ID for a higher quality version, then use a service like eFax or Fax.com to send the documentation digitally.
3. The International Provisions Center is who you talk to to enable international data plans and such, but the faxes go to at&t HQ for security reasons.
4. at&t quotes 24-48 hours between receipt of paperwork and processing of it.
5. BUT while the International Provisions Center is open 24/7, at&t is closed on the weekends.  That means it’s 1-2 business days later.
6. Once you’re approved for international calling, you can likely get an international data plan, but not a World Traveler plan, which offers slightly discounted call-per-minute rates on voice only.

If you’re going abroad for a long period of time, and the idea of  for example $0.99/min calls makes you queasy, you can explore buying an unlocked GSM phone and pre-paid SIM card, easy peasy in Europe, but you won’t have all the fun using your iPhone, including Maps, and you won’t have your same number. Solvate can help you figure out what makes most sense for you, and we can even buy and ship a phone to you.

Going abroad on short notice, with your new iPhone, and want to use it abroad?

We can set it up for you. Send us request details, call 646.720.7110, or email us at delegate@solvate.com and we’ll follow up with you.  Setting up your iPhone to go abroad is one of our Customer Service Haggling specialties.

Also read our conclusive, exhaustive and painfully detailed how-to-set-up-your-iPhone-to-go-abroad-so-as-to-not-add-several-decimal-places-to-your-at&t-bill.