Phone Decisions - SIM Cards, Data, WhatsApp

It's nice to connect to loved ones and post those awesome pictures while you're on vacation. I investigated some of the options available and made our choice for our upcoming Yucatan, Mexico trip.

When I traveled to Belize for eight days I signed up for Verizon TravelPass for $5/day, but when I tried to use it I kept getting "no service" messages, which was very frustrating. Larry and I ended up using Facebook messenger, video chat, and e-mail/text messages to communicate when I had wifi at each motel.

When Larry and I arrived in Thailand, I purchased a SIM card and data at the airport. Unfortunately, I didn't purchase enough data and we ran out at an inconvenient time. Thailand had good internet connections every place we stayed, so we used Facebook video chats, e-mail and text messages while connected to wifi. We used the phone data for Google Maps when we were out walking around, to check out nearby restaurants or attractions, and to make Line app phone calls.

International Roaming, Verizon and T-Mobile

International roaming can be expensive for a month-long trip. Verizon charges $5/day for Mexico or Canada. T-Mobile doesn't have roaming charges; you can use your existing data plan. According to some travelers, though, the T-Mobile data speed is slower than if using a Mexican SIM card. Using a local SIM card allows you to enjoy the lower local rates with better connection speeds (3G or 4G).

Sim Card Companies Mexico

The three primary SIM card companies in Mexico are Telcel, Movistar, and AT&T Unidos. They can be purchased at the airport, OXXO stores, 7-Eleven, and Walmart, but I would recommend purchasing at a retail store so they install it for you and make sure it's working. We decided that Telcel had the best coverage where we would be traveling, so although it was a bit more expensive we chose it for our data.

Telcel

I purchased a Telcel card from Mexicosimcard.com preloaded with 12G data so we would have data/phone as soon as we entered Mexico. If we had decided on 4GB, the cost would have been $39.95 instead of $74.95 for one month. There is a newer option called E-SIM, but my older Samsung 9+ phone isn't set up for that.

NOTE: It would have been cheaper to purchase the TelCel SIM card and data in Playa del Carmen at the TelCel store or at OXXO, but we had a late airport arrival and wanted to make sure we had coverage as soon as we arrived. Consequently, I paid a higher price for this online card. There is a good article about purchasing a Telcel sim card in Mexico by Kashlee Kucheran including the Spanish words to use.

How to Replace a Sim Card

If you've never replaced a SIM card in your phone, you need the SIM removal tool that came with your phone (or your earring post). Power off the phone and open up the SIM card tray. This video walks you through the steps. Be sure to keep the old SIM card somewhere safe. We lost ours in Thailand and had to replace it once we got back to Idaho.

WhatsApp

Be sure to install the WhatsApp on your phone before you go to Mexico because most of the people I needed to contact had a WhatsApp phone number. WhatsApp uses very little phone data and if you use it while connected to wifi, it doesn't use any of your phone data.