Experts' Expert: How to avoid roaming charges — offline travel apps

Wrote Rachel Lee Harris in an April 21 New York Times Travel section story, "For travelers who want to use digital applications abroad but would like to avoid the outrageous post-vacation data charges, Lonely Planet has a solution. The company recently introduced a series of travel-guide apps for several countries that can be used offline."

"'We found out early on that for leisure travelers, roaming is a really scary thing,' said Jeremy Kreitler, Lonely Planet's vice president for Wireless Services. 'Everybody has a friend with a bad phone bill from traveling abroad.'  Apps for Italy, Ireland, Australia, France, Spain and Costa Rica can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, from either the App Store or through the Lonely Planet Travel Guides app. Each guide is $9.99 and provides suggested itineraries, as well as practical and historical information about the country. Detailed maps allow you to find points anywhere in the country, using your device's GPS."

"'The content is the same as what’s in our books; we're just adapting it to a mobile format,' Mr. Kreitler said. 'And you don’t have to rack up a huge phone bill in order to use it.'"