A lot of the American wireless service providers are essentially copying each other when it comes to international coverage rates. There’s not much that you can do when you have service providers like T-Mobile come in and start offering unlimited 2G coverage in Mexico for their unlimited plan users. As far as the opening question, Can I use my Verizon phone in Mexico the quick answer is yes. That being said, there are plenty of things that you need to be aware of. We have kicked things off with a rant about the speed of the coverage. This is basically something that you’re going to have to deal with virtually with any service provider. As we mentioned T-Mobile was the first to introduce this option, at least from what we were able to gather. The Verizon plan is basically identical now.
With your regular plan without having to add any type of international day pass you’re going to be able to use your Verizon phone in Mexico. The thing is, that doing so essentially means that you’re stepping into, “the roaming zone”. Verizon calls it the Pay as You Go, payment option. What they are charging is roaming. Verizon also has some very nasty overage fees in some of their plans. We may not get to that today. When using your Verizon phone in Mexico know that data could be slow, but at least it’s unlimited. Calling when you’re in Mexico on your regular plan that’s another story. You could end up with a nasty bill at the end of the month if you don’t keep tabs on this. Let’s get going with this article about Can I use my Verizon phone in Mexico because we have a lot to cover!
- Can I Use My Verizon Phone in Mexico – Activate The Roaming Plan
- Speed Is Going To Be An Issue
- Calls Within & From Mexico Can Be A Good Option
- Can I Use My Verizon Phone In Mexico – Is The International Travel Pass A Better Option?
- Local SIM Card Option, Why It May Work For You
- Wifi Spot Hopping Another Low Cost Option
Can I Use My Verizon Phone in Mexico – Activate The Roaming Plan
As we mentioned you are going to be able to use your Verizon phone in Mexico. To make sure though that you’re able to get coverage you need to have the roaming option on your phone set to on. On most phones this is an option that will be on by default. Who knows though, you may have changed it at some point. Just before you get to Mexico or once you arrive make sure that this option is on. Sometimes people will panic about their phone not working abroad. This simple thing that you need to do is what’s holding them back.
Remember though that when you turn data roaming to on, you’re essentially opening the door to roaming rates. The good thing about this, is that on an unlimited plan you’re going to have unlimited data in Mexico as well. If you’re traveling anywhere else, but Mexico and Canada many of these tips that we’re giving may not apply. Be sure to keep that in mind. As the unlimited data coverage while roaming is not the only luxury that Verizon offers to users who are traveling in those two countries. In the rest of the world data usage runs on massive roaming rates.
Speed Is Going To Be An Issue
Speed is going to be the issue if you just take your regular Verizon plan, and use it in Mexico. We talked about the fact that now the company is looking to open up the usage of your regular plan in Mexico and Canada. After you use the first 0.5GB on your plan every single day then your data speed is going to be capped at 2G. When you’re accustomed to 5G speeds cutting that in half is something that you’re going to notice quickly. There’s also a problem with these speeds, and that is that you can start having trouble loading web pages and apps. Verizon is providing the coverage, but you won’t be able to really use that coverage for a whole lot.
The way to essentially bypass that is to go ahead and buy an international pass. You get one free international pass per month on the 5G do more plan. So that can be an interesting 5 dollar discount if you are in Mexico or Canada. At the end of the day though, it’s a bit of a bait. We talked about this in our T-Mobile article. By offering the coverage they feel many people will head over to Mexico without a real plan to get coverage there. You end up having to buy international passes most days that you’re there because the speed of the coverage that you do get is unbearable.
Calls Within & From Mexico Can Be A Good Option
If you’re just sticking to the roaming rates, making direct calls can actually be a better way to communicate than texting through apps. We know that for the most part, we advise people who travel abroad to look into these apps. When it comes to asking “Can I use my Verizon phone in Mexico”, regular texts may be a better option. You’re essentially entitled to unlimited calls and texts. What we would advise though is that you make sure that you’re not using up exuberant amounts of data when you make these calls. To do this you have to make sure that any apps that you have open on your phone are not using up data. Really the easiest thing to do is to ensure that any inactive app on your phone remains closed.
The reason why we recommend this is that you can be very mindful of the amount of data that you’re using up. When you do that you have a better chance of at least extending the amount of time during the day when you will have high speed data without having to buy a travel pass. Meanwhile you can make calls and texts without having to worry about going over the limits and things of that nature. Now, this information is relevant at the time of writing. Beware of capps for minutes and texts on these roaming plans at any minute. We recommend that you give this page a look before you travel. Make sure it still says calls and texts within Mexico and Canada are unlimited.
Can I Use My Verizon Phone In Mexico – Is The International Travel Pass A Better Option?
Saying that this option is outright “better” is kind of hard. The best scenario though for us, is when you can limit the number of days that you use the Verizon travel pass. It’s a numbers game after all. Every day that you have to use the travel pass it means that you are going to be adding 5 dollars to the total of your phone bill for that month. Those 5 dollars are a per line charge. If you’re traveling with your family of 4, and all of you use the travel pass every single day for 3 days, you can end up really racking up those fees for the end of the month. A lot of people may work their numbers out and feel that maybe paying 60 extra dollars for coverage is no big deal, and more power to you.
In general though, we feel that most people are going to understand where we are going with this one. It’s a simple concept, the less days that you have to use a travel pass the better. Some folks would argue it’s best to not use the travel pass at all. We would have to actually agree with that assessment. Although, if you want to go without using the travel pass, but also not having headaches over slow speed coverage, just be very mindful of the amount of data that you’re spending on a daily basis!
Local SIM Card Option, Why It May Work For You
There are specific instances where we would certainly say that it would make sense to go out and get a local SIM card. Even though you can now use your Verizon phone in Mexico without at least as much trouble as you’d had before the speed issue is still something to consider. You can get unlimited calls and texts and 3GB of 4G speed for around what it would cost to get the day of the travel pass with Verizon. The credit validity on those 3GB of data is going to be monthly. Once you get your local SIM card you can recharge it for as low as a dollar if you need more data. What we’re trying to get at here, is that you can get more, and faster data for less with a local SIM card.
Why do we feel that it may not be a great idea for everyone? If you don’t have a dual SIM phone you’d have to remove your existing SIM card to add the local one. That means that the calls, and texts that you get to that phone will never reach you until you put the SIM card back on. If you have a dual SIM phone you can get the best of both worlds. In that sense, getting a local SIM card could be a good idea for everyone. Use your Mexican data when you need to use map apps, or even check your email. Use your Verizon data for texting, outgoing and incoming calls. We could make the argument that it would eliminate the need for a travel pass. Since you can get more, and quicker data for less with a local SIM card.
Wifi Spot Hopping Another Low Cost Option
Can I use my Verizon phone in Mexico without a dime more for my wireless service? If this is the real question that you have, we’re confident to say that the answer is yes. That being said, it all comes down to having well you’re going to be able to manage your data usage. The main reason why people spend more money on coverage in Mexico when they are Verizon users is the speed issue that we talked about. What you can do is download anything that you need to download when you are connected to a wifi network. Be sure to turn your phone data to off when you’re on the wifi network. Essentially if you need to make calls through apps, or download things you do that when you’re on a wifi network. You can look for spots with wifi with a tool that we recommend here.
When you take out the bulk of your data usage from your regular plan there’s a better chance of getting to the end of the day with high speed data still available on your regular plan. In essence you’re just being more cautious with your data usage with this strategy. It is though a real way to be able to not have to add extra speed or data to your regular plan. You don’t have to spend an extra dime on Verizon coverage in Mexico.
Can I Use My Verizon Phone In Mexico?
The short answer is yes. The roaming rates, and maybe more importantly, what is included in your roaming plan certainly seems like a good all around deal. Unlimited calls, and texts for 30 days while you’re abroad. The thing is, when you stay more than 30 days you’re going to have to forcefully look into alternative ways to get coverage. The speed cap on your data usage may be an issue to some, while others are going to be able to breeze through their trip without ever having to worry about the slower speeds. All that you need to do is make sure that you don’t use more than 0.5GB of data per day.
If you go over the data cap and you still need more speed, paying that extra 5 dollars may not be a major issue for most people. The problems start when those 5 dollars per day begin to pile up. Overall, we would say that if you’re cognizant about the amount of data that you’re spending, and you connect to free wifi when available you’re going to be able to use your Verizon phone in Mexico without too many problems. If problems do arise, we’ve offered some suggestions on how to solve them!