Efficient Living Forum - Traveling Internationally with Verizon

A few months ago I went to South Africa and took my Verizon Blackberry. I wanted to stay in touch with friend and family, but didn't want to come back with a ridiculous cell phone bill. Here's what I did:

First, I made sure that I had a Verizon "World Phone." Since Verizon is CDMA and most of the rest of the world is GSM, you have to make sure that either the country you are visiting has CDMA that Verizon supports Click here for a list, or you need to buy a World Phone. I have a Blackberry Tour, which is a World Phone. Basically, it has CDMA for when you are in the US and GSM for when you are roaming.

Second, make sure you change your data plan to the Global package before you leave for your trip. When I went 2 months ago, the price went from $30 per month to $65 per month. A difference of $35 per month or just over $1 per day. I was gone for 2 weeks, so I spent an extra $17.50 or so. This give you unlimited data which means you can use Blackberry Messenger, Gchat, email, and unlimited web surfing for 1 price. If you don't sign up for the data package, they will charge you $20 per MB of data that you use. In 2 weeks, I used about 20 MB of data, which, had I not done the unlimited plan, would have been about $400. Not a bad deal...Just don't forget to switch the plan back to the $30 plan as soon as you get home!

Next, you have to avoid text messages and calls on your Verizon phone at all costs. The discounted calling rate in South Africa was $2.29 per minute. Text messages were $0.05 per incoming message and $0.50 per outgoing. Incoming messages are cheap, but the outgoing ones add up fast. So here is the alternative. Before you leave, go on Ebay and look for an "Unlocked GSM World Phone". The cheapest ones are around $20 including shipping. It is a used phone, nothing fancy. Then, when you get to your country, buy or rent a prepaid SIM card. This card goes into your Ebay phone, gives you a local phone number and a greatly reduced calling plan compared to Verizon. Rental places can usually be found at the airport. If you are in a country that is easy to just buy one, usually you can find them at any gas station. South Africa requires you to be a resident to buy a SIM card so rental is your best option. This is usually $1 per day or less + air time. In South Africa, all incoming calls and texts are free and outgoing local calls were around $0.30 per minute on the cell phone. Expensive, but about 85% less than what Verizon charges. As soon as I got my card, I put it in my phone and emailed friends and family the phone number (using my Blackberry with unlimited data plan of course). Weirdly enough, even though rates were $0.30 per minute for local calls on the prepaid phone, my family in the U.S. could call me using a calling card for $0.16 per minute. And since it was an incoming call for me, I didn't pay anything.

So here is the breakdown of what I got and what I spent:

1. World Phone from Verizon (Start around $50, but free for me because I already had one)

2. Unlimited Data plan during the trip: $17.50
3. World Phone from Ebay: $20

4. SIM card rental: $1 per day ($15 total)

5. Cost to put minutes on the SIM card ($13.50 for about 45 outgoing minutes and unlimited incoming)
6. Cost for family to call me using a calling card $20 for 125 minutes
7. Cost to send BBM, Gchat messages and email: Included in data plan!
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Total Cost: $86

And keep in mind, the phone from eBay is a 1 time expense. After you own one, you can use it any time you travel internationally. And also, since I had a local South Africa #, friends and family in South Africa could call me anytime without having to dial an international U.S. phone number and I could talk for free!

Now compare that to the person that just uses their phone on roaming:
1. 20MB @ $20 per MB: $400
2. 45 outgoing local minutes @ $2.29 per minute: $91.60
3. 125 incoming minutes from the U.S. : $286.25
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Total $577.85

Big difference, right??? Only drawback is that you have to give out a new phone number and carry 2 phones. But for a little extra hassle, the savings is huge. Just goes to show that a little bit of planning can go a longggg way.