International services on Verizon are potentially some of the most expensive in the American wireless service landscape. We’re not going to sugarcoat that. Particularly, since this is something that we’ve talked about on other articles on this site numerous times. That being said, we do have to admit that sending a Verizon international text is going to be as expensive as calling or using data. An important thing to note here though, is the fact that you’ll be paying for or less for your Verizon international text depending on the type of coverage that you’re on. Sending a text when you’re in the pay as you plan aka roaming, will cost way more than it would on the Verizon international plan or the day pass. Even with these two though, you have to be on the lookout for overages.
Sending a Verizon international text when you’re at home is actually not that big a deal. Particularly if you’re on an unlimited plan. Still, could it be a better idea to just download a texting app and use that? We’re going to explore that option in this article as well. As we’ve mentioned in looking at the updated rates we were surprised that texting isn’t a huge deal. Still, there are different things that you need to consider. Included the added costs that you could incur in when sending that text. It’s not enough that you just literally keep track of the number of texts that you’re sending out. There can be a ton of hidden cost when texting abroad with Verizon. We’ll give you plenty of things to think about here.
- Verizon International Text – Sending Them From Home
- Verizon International Text – Texting While Abroad
- Pick Your Favorite International Coverage Option
- The Hidden Costs Of Texting Abroad
- Alternatives To Lower Your Costs
- Why Where You Travel Matters
Verizon International Text – Sending Them From Home
We’ve mentioned that when you’re at home you’re not going to have too much trouble sending a Verizon international text. On an unlimited plan these texts should be included. If there is one thing that we would caution against is how you dial the phone to be able to ensure that the text gets to the person that you’re trying to text. If you’re texting a local US phone and they are abroad, no worries there. The text is going to be charged as if it was local for you. That means included in the plan, and you can send the text just as you would if they were active locally. Whether or not they’ll get the text depends on the type of coverage that they have abroad.
When you’re sending a text to an international number, be sure to “dial” the number or have the number in your phone with the international code. To be safe make sure that you save the number in the way that you dial abroad. This is usually going to be a number that includes the country code of the number that you’re trying to reach. The area code, and the number itself. For example if you’re texting to a number in Mexico save the number as you would dial. So that will mean 011+52 (area code)(actual phone number). With that equation you should be able to get the text to the right recipient.
Verizon International Text – Texting While Abroad
When you’re the one abroad texting can become more complex. The easy part is if you’re traveling to Mexico or Canada. Texting in those countries is going to be included in your unlimited plan. When you’re in any other country where you can get Verizon coverage the cost of texting is going to depend on the way that you’ve decided to get coverage. With Verizon you’re going to have 3 options to get coverage in a foreign country that isn’t Mexico or Canada. You can add a travel pass for 10 dollars a day that is going to make texting unlimited. If you choose the 100 dollar monthly travel plan you get 1000 sent texts and received texts are unlimited.
The most expensive texting option without a doubt for a Verizon international text is the pay as you go rates. Those are going to make you pay 5 cents for every text that you send. Media text can go as high as 25 cents a text. When you’re on the international travel plan and you send more than the 1000 allowed texts you’re going to be charged the pay as you go rate for every other text over the 1000 mark that you send. Again, as we mentioned everything is going to depend on the plan that you choose. Therefore, it’s super important that you choose wisely!
Pick Your Favorite International Coverage Option
Since choosing the right international coverage option is certainly important we want to help you make the decision. We’ve explored the options that Verizon offers multiple times before on this site. A lot of the things that we say here, are certainly going to coincide with what we’ve already mentioned. For example, we feel that the travel pass is a great option for people who are going to be abroad for just a couple of days. When you’re going to be abroad for more than a week though then you really want to make sure that you start looking for other options. Those 10 dollars a day can pile up real quickly. If there’s one option that we don’t like at all it’s the monthly plan. One hundred dollars for marginal coverage, it just doesn’t seem like a great idea.
The last option is going to be the pay as you go rate. Naturally, this can end up being the most expensive option. The way that we see it though, if used wisely it can certainly get you out of a pickle. For example, let’s say that you need to receive a text to access an app on the 2 step verification process. Just keep your data on for that set amount of time. Make sure that you don’t have other active apps taking up data. If you get a local SIM card and just use the roaming rates for very specific things you can end up with a decent bill at the end of the month.
The Hidden Costs Of Texting Abroad
This is something that we talk about quite a bit on the site. We do so because it’s one of the main reasons why people come home after their trips to massive bills. You can get a plan that gives you x number of texts to use. You’re very mindful of the number to make sure that you don’t go overboard. When you get home though you find that your wireless service provider says you owe them a ton of money. What went wrong? The problem is usually data usage. To send a text you need to activate your data roaming. Otherwise, the text is not going to go through. If you keep that data active even after you send that text you’re not only incurring in the cost of the text itself, but all that time for data roaming.
Keep in mind that this is only the case if you’re the one abroad and you’re looking to text people wherever they may be. If you’re at home, and you have unlimited or you’re on a wifi network you should be fine. The main lesson that we would like people to take from this, is that when you’re texting you’re not just using the limited number of texts that you may have on your plan. Regular texting usually requires that you use up phone coverage. You may be using up the limited amount of data that you have abroad when you are texting. It’s not just the number of texts that you have to be mindful of.
Alternatives To Lower Your Costs
If what we just talked about scared you away from regular texting while you’re abroad, know that there are other options out there. The primary options that you’re going to have involve using different apps to text while abroad. We have different articles on the site that cover this topic. We’re going to link to the main article on the topic here. Still, in a brief description of this particular option we want to say that texting through apps allows you to use wifi coverage to send these texts. That means that you can turn off your regular data, and avoid roaming fees altogether. While connected to the “free” hotel wifi you’re going to be able to text through DMs on Instagram or Facebook. There are also different texting apps like WhatsApp or Telegram.
What we always say about using different apps to text instead of your regular SMS texts is that you should pick the app that you have the largest user base on. If most of the people that you want to connect with are on Facebook or Instagram just use those apps. Of course, that’s not super professional if you’re going to be talking about work related issues. For that maybe Skype, or Google Hangouts, which you can connect to your email database may be a better option. Again, this is a super broad description of what can be done. We have more information on this in other articles on the site.
Why Where You Travel Matters
Sending a Verizon international text when you’re the one at home is free for you. Particularly on an unlimited plan. The person that you’re trying to text though may have a tougher time getting that text. That’s because where they are in the world can heavily determine their ability to send and even receive that Verizon international text. If you’re in Mexico or Canada you can pretty much expect regular coverage just at lower speeds. Most plans are going to include unlimited texting in these two countries. When you’re traveling in one of the 180+ countries where Verizon coverage is available, the type of international plan that you chose is going to determine whether you can send and receive international texts. As well as, what you’re going to pay for using this service.
When you’re traveling to countries outside of the coverage list it’s safe to assume that you won’t be able to send or receive a Verizon international text. In fact, if you were to somehow find Verizon coverage in a country that’s off the list you’d do well to assume that the coverage is coming at you on the pay as you rate. That is Verizon’s roaming cost, and it can see you rack up a nasty bill at the end of our trip. That’s why where you travel is going to matter big time!
Verizon International Text – Conclusion
When you are going to travel outside of your home country the best thing that you can do is assume that your regular phone coverage is going to come in with some extra costs. Ideally before you travel you’ll have a plan in place to make sure that you only pay for the coverage that you use, and at a rate that you’re comfortable. If we think about it, that’s essentially why we started this site in the first place. Arriving anywhere in the world, even if it’s Mexico or Canada and just assuming that you’ll be able to send a Verizon international text without a care may have some unwanted consequences when you get home.
Even the “regular” coverage that you can expect to get in Mexico or Canada has its restrictions. For example, most devices are not going to be available after 30 days abroad. That’s the case even if you added travel passes every single day, or you’ve racked up a bill of over 10k on the pay as you go rate. These are not things that we’re bringing up to scare people off. It’s just that we want to make sure that it’s understood that having a plan in place before you travel abroad is typically the way to go!