How do I set up a BlackBerry email "vacation hold"?

I saw your entry about how to filter incoming Blackberry email so you don't drown in the trivial, but I have a different question: how I can set up a vacation hold, a way to completely disable all email notification without actually shutting down my account? I'm going on a long-weekend to Mexico and don't want to pay data roaming charges for email I don't care about anyway!

Dave's Answer:

The process of setting up an email vacation hold (great name for it, btw!) is more straightforward than you may realize, especially if you've already read through my instructions on how to set up an email filter for your Blackberry Internet service. I have a Blackberry Pearl 8100, personally, but these instructions should work for any Blackberry device.

First step is to figure out how to log on to the BlackBerry Internet Service web site, something that's far more complex than it should be. After recently thrashing around for fifteen minutes on different sites, I have figured out that the best strategy appears to be to go to this page, find your provider, and click on that link to log in to the BIS system.

Once you've done that, you should see your account listed:

Blackberry Pearl, Internet Email Account Settings

Click on the little antennae icon under "filters" and you'll see the filter or filters you've set up -- if any -- like this:

Blackberry Pearl, Internet Email Account Settings: Filters

Now to set up a vacation hold, click on Add Filter and set it up thusly:

Blackberry Pearl, Internet Email Account Settings: Add Vacation Hold Filter Stop

Click on Add Filter and you're done. Now, you just need to remove it when you get back from your trip to Mexico (or not, perhaps you might enjoy not having the little BlackBerry device rule your life. :-)

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Categorized: iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 7218, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: blackberry, blackberry email, blackberry pearl, email stop, email vacation hold
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Reader Comments To Date: 5

John said, on March 22, 2007 4:52 PM:

I've tried this but I'm still getting emails to my pearl. Any idea whats going on?

Alexandre A. Povolotski said, on May 5, 2007 4:09 PM:

Dear Dave:

I'm looking forward to purchase one of the unlocked blackberries and use it in my home country that doesn't actually support blackberry service.

Question -- will I be able to set-up an e-mail address on an unlocked blackberry under such circumstances?

Best regards,

Alex

Joseph Baird said, on November 15, 2008 7:06 PM:

Hi guys, I just went into 'Manage Connections' (which is also an antenna icon on the main menu of my BB curve) and turned off data services which disabled, temporarily, my email and internet (ie all data services). Does that suffice to eliminate the threat of crazy data roaming charges abroad?

Shawna said, on January 23, 2011 12:40 PM:

THANK YOU! Best explaination, and greatly appreciate the details...expecially for those of us that think visually. It works! Thank god I found your site, or I would have been trying to figure this out for hours!! You rock ;o)

Sam Roza said, on May 14, 2011 10:42 AM:

The checkbox on the BIS page is a response to the question "If NO filters apply", so if you don't have any active filters, just check the box labeled "do not deliver messages to handheld". It should stop delivering mail.

My experiments with this appear to work just fine.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How do I set up a BlackBerry email "vacation hold"?

Reader Comments To Date: 5

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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