International Travel - Passport - Use settings - completely confused

In order to use cellular data, you must have both cellular data and data roaming on. The rule I always follow is always leave cellular data on but leave data roaming off and only turn it on when I want to use cellular data and then turn it off when done. If left on your iPhone will use up your allotment of data very quickly. Your ability to receive email when on wifi is totally independent of any cellular data setting so there must be some other issue. 

Your cellular data settings also have nothing to do with the ability to send SMS texts. iMessage is Apple's message system, not ATT. That is why iMessages use data if not sent over wifi. By turning iMessage off, you are forcing your phone to send SMS texts (green box on iPhone instead of blue). Your passport plan covers SMS texts, not iMessages. 

WiFi uses none of your plans data allotment.

@Rhaun1980 If you're on WiFi your email should be working fine.  

Are you on the hotel's WiFi? or an AT&T hotspot somewhere?

The problem with texting has gotten complicated by companies like Apple (iMessage / Messages), FaceBook (Messenger), Skype and so on because they make chat/messaging programs that all work like texting and many people don't notice the difference.

Apple has made it even more complicated (but better) in that you can use their messaging apps to talk to iPad, iPod touch and Macintosh owners that don't even have a cell phone and the messages come up on all the devices BUT if you have an iPhone you can also transparently do text messaging (not using up your texting limit if you have an older plan that charges by the text).

So most of the time when Apple people "text" other Apple people, they really aren't "texting" them they're just chatting, but they can send texts longer than usual (and in the fall will have all sorts of other fancy options that won't work unless people have a newer iDevice).

The problem is that people don't understand this so that when they travel internationally it's confusing.

@Rhaun1980 Messages app does texting and iMessaging. In the settings you can turn off the iMessage part, but if you communicate with some people who have iPad or iPod touch devices (and no iPhone) you won't be able to communicate with them.

Hotel's wifi, but I had her turn off cellular data.  So sounds like she needs to turn on cellular data, turn off data roaming.  

I still have no clue on the SMS vs iMessage.  We only have one icon and while color blind it definitely isn't blue, but just says Messages - icon with the bubble for speaking.  I have never seen a blue icon.

Okay, I get it now on the messaging.   Thanks - I will have her turn on cellular data, but turn off the iMessages.  I see that now further down in the settings.

@Rhaun1980 Data roaming has nothing to do with WiFi.

The icon doesn't change color, it's the bubbles in the texting are different colors.  

see http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how-to-tell-imessages-from-text-messages

And to confuse it even more if you use Messages to send an message to an iPhone and the internet isn't available it'll turn around and send it as a text (and change the color).

Who is your e-mail provider?

e-mail - Hotmail. 

@Rhaun1980 I've seen some posts about Hotmail not working overseas before...

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail-ocompose/blocked-account-overseas/7a16a739-2c76-4a3e-ad11-b42d9d18ccb0

https://askleo.com/how-do-i-prevent-hotmail-from-locking-me-out-when-i-travel-overseas/

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail-osend/unable-to-access-hotmail-account-while-traveling/08b67aba-c340-4e5b-9e08-44eb37e954eb?auth=1

Gary, thank you so much.  I'll check them out.  greatly appreciated,

Rodney