Use iPhone for Date but Turn off Phone functions

I am going out of country for a week and I want to get an international date plan for my iPhone 4s so that I can use it for e-mail, maps and other touring needs. The one things I don't need (or want) is for people to be able to call me, because from what I hear, if someone calls your phone and it goes through to cause the phone to ring, then you get charged a minute at al-a-carte prices even if you don't answer the call. Is there a way to turn the phone functionality off on an iPhone while leaving the date roaming open so that I can use my international date plan???

Nope, sorry.

And you mean data, not date.

Excuse me? AT&T charges just to route the call abroad even though you don't answer? Verizon certainly does not do this. Wow.

AT&T has some seriously consumer unfriendly practices (like now telling you what apps are permitted on some data plans but not others - FaceTime is the first). I'm married to Verizon but they're only marginally better and will probably follow suit.

If Sprint had an LTE network going already I'd switch in a heartbeat - only ones left with unlimited, unthrottled data.

Sounds like another good reason to use a Google Voice number as your primary phone number.

OP, could you instead get a SIM card for a local data plan for your destination?

I am also surprised -- and not in a good way -- that the ringing of the phone without ever establishing the connection would cause a charge. Do they also charge if you forward your number to some US number?

Hmmmmm, I would check with AT&T on that-- I don't think you are charged if your phone rings but you (and possibly your voicemail) doesn't answer.

You may want to look into dropping a foreign SIM into the phone so you can get a local number and/or dirt-cheap data. Normally that requires unlocking the iPhone but I just found this little device that does the trick, and as far as I can tell, it's 100% "reversable," meaning when you get back to the USA you can just pop it out and put your own AT&T SIM back in place and everything returns to how it is now. (Watch the video here to better understand what's going on.)

I'm doing exactly what I've described above (buying that gadget and then foreign SIMs) for a trip I'm taking to Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam next month. The prices are SO cheap-- in Singapore, for example, an unlimited-data SIM with a small amount of incoming and outgoing phone minutes works out to under US$20 (and cheaper if you don't care about the voice part, you just want unlimited data service).

I think you only get charged if it gets forwarded to AT&T voicemail. I have AT&T and my voicemails go to Google Voice, and I've only seen charges for phone calls that I actually made/answered.

You have an iPhone 4S, so it's unlikely, but if your contract is over, you can unlock your iPhone. My contract for my iPhone 4 ended today, so my phone is being unlocked as I type this.

Must be using an iPhone that "corrects" your spelling

I would check with AT&T to see if you can add a voice and data plan for the time you'll be there. It won't be cheap but better than a big surprise bill. I would wonder about coverage in general. Not sure who they partner with overseas. Maybe someone with experience on that can help with opinion?

At least thats what I thought. I could be mistaken. Should check w AT&T.

I added a small data plan...but have no need for a voice plan (except in emergency when I wouldn't mind if the charge was higher.)

Probably should have just called AT&T to begin with (just got off the phone with them.) but as long as I don't pick up the call or listen to my voice mail I will not be charged internationally. Thanks for all the help

At which point, you might could also use Skype to make calls for cheap.

That's what I do overseas when I have wifi. Much cheaper.

When I'm overseas and have free wifi, I use the free MagicJack app for iPhone, instead of having to buy minutes from Skype.

Until at least the end of 2012, using the app is completely free [I'm not for certain if they'll extend that date; their app isn't clear] to make phone calls to anyone in the U.S.

However, you can't receive calls using the MagicJack app, and if you choose the free version [you can pay to have your own outgoing phone number] when you call someone in the U.S., the number will usually show up on Caller ID devices as unknown phone number.