Cell Phone Roaming for Mexico

Ok so I hope I am posting this in the right place and i hope this has not been posted already. I sent out a basic email to my guests making them aware of their cell phone options and roaming plans that are available in hopes noone gets surprised with high phone bills after the wedding.

I think this is helpful, general information that can help your guests plan and prepare.

Of course you can change the fonts, colors and formats in your email to make it look a lot nicer.

Att formerly Cingular: You can call them dialing 611 from your cell phone or by dialing 800-331-0500. Simply call an add the World traveler plan for $5.99 per month (they are also able to have the feature start and end on the dates you requested and you will only see a prorated charge for the days you have it. I would suggest adding it 1 day before you leave and leaving it on for at least 2 days after you plan on leaving just in case you were to be delayed in Mexico. This plan allows you to use your phone as you normally would, you will still incur a roaming charge but it will be .59 instead of .99 per minute, minutes will be deducted as usual. Text messages are below and also depend on the current text/data plan you already have-

Blackberrry charges can add up pretty quick - it is suggested not to use Blackberry Internet - you can keep your phone in airplane mode or turn of your wireless feature for this.

Sending Text, Picture, and Video Messages when outside the U.S.

Text Messages $0.50 per message sent

Picture and Video Messages $1.30 per message sent

Wireless, DSL Internet, satellite TV Services and Phone | AT&T

Sprint: You can call them directly 888-211-4727. You may want to confirm, but from what I understand, they have a flat per minute rate of .99 for voice calling and .20 per text message while in Mexico - there are additional text messaging plans you can add for example, 1000 text messages for $10 per month or unlimited text messages for $15 per month - call to make sure your phone is compatible and has the international dialing feature turned on

Cell Phones, Mobile Phones, and Wireless Calling Plans from Sprint

Verizon: You can call them dialing 611 from your cell phone or by calling 800-922-0204 . Verizon has a flat rate roaming charge of .99 per minute when using your phone while roaming in Mexico. Please call to make sure your phone has the international dialing feature turned on. For text messaging:

While traveling outside the U.S., the text messaging rates are:

$0.50/address sent

$0.05/message received

Cell Phones, Cell Phone Plans, Cell Phone Accessories - Verizon Wireless

T-Mobile: You can contact them using 611 from your wireless phone or by calling 800-937-8997. You want to first Call and activate WorldClass service. Charges will be $1.49 per minute - call to be sure there are no other discounted plans you can add to relieve some of these charges.

Voice rate*: $1.49

Text messaging rate

(per message)*:

$0.35 sent, $0.15 received (or pulled from feature bucket)

Internet(GPRS) rate*: $0.01 per KB in Canada

$0.0150 per KB in all other countries

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This is great info for your guest!

You might also want to mention anyone wanting or needing to have their phone in mexico or where ever can either change their plans w/ their provider for a month, or get a SIM card, they're cheap and have decent plans which is much better than international fees, we get a SIM card everywhere we travel

Great info, thanks for posting!

Very helpful info. I will be including this in my guests' packets. Thank you!

oh also on sims cards, there usually is a booth at the airport near car rentals or hotel info where they can get them, or you can go to like expedia or orbitz and order them in advance. Ordering in advance may be convenient, but honestly you can get better deals at the booth.

My FI and I just got iPhones. I know there is an international plan for the data content, which we are looking into getting!

Another thing to keep in mind - we just switched to ATT last week, because we wanted the new iPhone. When were were done setting up, I asked the guy at the store about the plans for Mexico. He told me that generally they only allow customers who have been members for 6 or more months are allowed to change their plans on the fly like that - even for international travel. He said they MAY allow us to add on the Mexico package, if they do credit checks and stuff.

Something to keep in mind. If you're planning on switching carriers before your wedding, I would definitely check into if they have a membership requirement for requesting international plans.

I'm really nervous about that now - if they don't let us have it, I will probably have a tv bridezilla like moment!!

I plan to buy a cheap unlocked GSM phone on ebay and then do the prepaid sim card route as someone suggested... Leave all expensive iphones and blackberries at home.. less risky, too

Very helpful- thanks for posting! I didn't even think about posting this!! Once again.. another reason how great this is! Thank you!!

I take my Verizon phone so that US people can call me and take an old GSM SIM card so that I can call my vendors.

I also suggest practicing text messaging with older guests in order to get them more comfortable with the process. It's sure a lot cheaper to text than call once you are in Mexico.