The Kindle is an amazing device, especially with the given ability to go on to the Internet without additional fees with it’s built-in Experimental Browser. There is no hidden fees from Amazon when it comes to checking your email, surf the internet, check your Facebook and Twitter account. There are however, charges to other things that might apply to you.
This applies if you have Kindle 3, travels with your laptop, or if you don’t travel with your laptop, make sure you are in a good city with good WiFi coverage. Otherwise Amazon will charge you fees for sending documents, and news subscriptions. Avoid shopping on the Kindle Store and downloading Books from your Kindle, that will definitely incur charges. If you have subscription to a news section such as New York Times, be sure to turn that off, otherwise, Amazon will charge you $4.99 a week, depends if you select the weekly option ahead of time, meaning, before you go on vacation.
In your Account Settings under Kindle, be sure to go to your Subscription and disable wireless sending. This will avoid any unnecessary charges while in 3G. Even if you are in WiFi connected area, Amazon will still charge you for using their Whispernet Delivery Service. It’s best to just avoid it and turn off the subscription. If you really need to have your news fix, then an alternative would be to download the subscription via your PC or Mac, then off load it with the USB.
What Amazon will charge using Whispernet for $4.99 weekly fee:
- Newspaper
- Magazines
- Blogs
For personal documents while traveling, let’s avoid that unless if it’s necessary. For instance, you really need your itinerary to be sent to you and you are not in the WiFi zone and you can’t print. Send the attachment to your kindle email address, the one with @kindle.com, and Amazon will charge your $.99 per megabyte, rounded up to the next whole megabyte. If you are connected via WiFi, Personal Documents sent to @free.kindle.com will be free.
What’s free to you, meaning, no additional charge from Amazon to use their Whispernet 3G wireless outside the U.S are:
- Receive eBooks
- Receive Single Periodicals Issues
- Access Archived Items
- Browse the Kindle Store
- Surf the Internet with the Experimental Web Browser
Those are pretty basic steps to avoid fees and additional charges from Amazon. Have fun traveling with your Kindle.