How Google's Project Fi Saved the Day in Bali
TPG Editor-in-Chief Zach Honig recently returned from a fantastic family trip to Southeast Asia, but he arrived to a nasty surprise in Bali.
Earlier this summer I signed up for Google's Project Fi. I'm perfectly happy with my iPhone and Verizon service at home, but Google's offer of very cheap international data was too good to pass up. To use Project Fi, you need to have a Nexus 6 Android smartphone. Basic Fi service costs $20 per month, then you pay $10 per 1GB of data you use (you'll receive a refund for any data you don't use in any given month, down to the megabyte).
All that sounds fine, but it's the international capabilities that had me sold. You'll pay the same $10 per 1GB of data when you're roaming overseas as you will back home. Speeds are capped at 256kbps, which isn't terribly fast, but it sure as heck beats T-Mobile's performance. Like with T-Mobile, phone calls (20 cents per minute in the same 120+ countries) and data just work. You turn your phone on when you land, and a few minutes later you're loading maps and catching up on email.
Which brings me to my trip to Bali...
I planned a few days off the grid in Bali, but "off the grid" for me means just 30 minutes of email and a few Instagram posts a day. I wasn't prepared to completely unplug, and I'm not sure I ever will be. Not to mention that I had a family trip to run and no plans at all after our arrival at DPS airport. Not to worry — we rented a wonderful villa on Airbnb that listed free Wi-Fi among its many amenities. Except the internet was out when we arrived, and for a couple days after that.
My Project Fi phone went from convenient gadget to family lifeline. My mom, sister and I each spent several minutes calling loved ones back home, and I stayed on top of email and planned the rest of our trip, including finding places to eat near the villa, booking a car and driver for a day, locating a phenomenal cooking class and tracking our Garuda Indonesia flight to Tokyo.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip to Bali, made much less stressful by my handy (and shockingly inexpensive) global smartphone.
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| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
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Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month