International Calling plans

mrivc211

Well-Known Member
What plan are you on for guys that do international routes? Ie I want to be able to talk/surf web/email from abroad without paying an arm and a leg. Hotel wifi won't cut it, I need to be able to do this on turns.

Thanks
 
Your phone is most likely locked if you bought it from a carrier in the US. You used to be able to find people that could unlock them for about $25, thus allowing you to use a sim from anywhere in the world. I dont think the newer gen phones can be unlocked outside the factory as easily. Otherwise, the easiest way is to get a GSM-free phone. They should be about $50 or less, and then you can put SIM cards from whatever country you're in.
 
Verizon will unlock the phone for use on other networks assuming it has GSM world capabilities since Verizon is CDMA. Also, it has to be for use on a foreign carrier. Can't use a Verizon phone with another US GSM carrier's SIM card. No need to pay to unlock with Verizon world phones.
 
SIM cards would work if I was overnighting. I'm talking about just doing turns. I guess I could swap the card out during a turn?
 
If you're doing turns in Canada Verizon doesn't charge me for texting and I have no special plan. If you have wifi make calls using magicjack app.
 
mrivc211 said:
SIM cards would work if I was overnighting. I'm talking about just doing turns. I guess I could swap the card out during a turn?

I would suggest contacting your wireless provider and discussing your options with a knowledgable expert rather than some pilots here on the interwebs.

I may have missed it, but where are you flying? Only Canada and Mexico? And you only want coverage for when you do some turns? AT&T has some affordable options for occasional "international" travel, but it has been more than 3.5 years since I worked for them.

Call your provider. They'll help you out.
 
I'm with AT&T and I used to add on their $30 international data plan for my iPhone whenever I was scheduled to go to Canada or Mexico.. It would get you 120MB of data for the month. You don't have to get a voice plan to get the data. Although they'd be happy to sell you voice and messaging as well for more $$$. Voice was $30 for 80 minutes and messaging $10 for 50 SMS messages. So $70 more to get all three packages... Again I just did data and used apps to make phone calls/messages over data.

After my contract expired I got the iPhone unlocked and got a Canadian SIM card from Rogers so during a turn or at an overnight I just pop out the AT&T SIM card and pop in the Rogers one. Now when I'm scheduled to go to Canada I just pay $20 to activate the SIM card for 30 days and get 100MBs of data, pay per use voice and messaging. Going over the data limit is cheaper this way as well. With AT&T it was 2 cents per KB overage or $20 per 1MB. With Rogers it's 15 cents per 1MB.
 
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