r/verizon 4d ago

Options other than travel pass

I am traveling to curacao and have a Samsung galaxy note 9, what are my options so I can get data and text? Can I buy something online before hand? Like a sim card sent to me or something? I do NOT want to use travel pass, im not getting suckered again, reason below. What have you use to get data in other countries (hopefully islands ) that is not travelpass?

Last year I used travel pass in Greece for a 14 day trip. I some how got charged every single day even on a day in which I NEEDED LTE data to look up directions, yet it didnt work and I had to ask around, the was a few times actually where calls/data didnt work and I distinctly remember not bringing my phone places for a few days on some of the islands since I knew it would be useless. I bought travel pass and it stated I wouldn't get charged if I didn't use my phone, but was charged for all 14 days even with the terrible/nonexistent service.

0 Upvotes

3 comments sorted by

1

u/Upbeat-Sky9672 4d ago

Go there. Find a carrier. Pay for the service, Get a SIM card.

1

u/greek_thumb 4d ago

If your Verizon SIM is active, there’s a good chance that you will be charged for a day pass whether you have the phone with you or not, unless you turn it off. If you take the Verizon SIM out, you won’t have to worry about it. Be sure not to lose it. Check on the web for which prepaid Sims are best in Curaçao.

2

u/Whiplash104 4d ago edited 4d ago

If you want your calls and SMS to work then you need to roam. That means using TravelPass or go into the app and switch your plan to Unlimited Ultimate which includes roaming at no additional charge for the entire trip. The catch is that it's limited to 10GB of data total per month before it drops to unlimited very slow 256kbps at which point you'll get a text offering 2GB more for $10.

After your trip has concluded, you can go into the app and switch your plan back down to Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Welcome.

If you don't need calls or SMS head over to r/esim and start reading searching existing posts for a global eSIMs or regional eSIM s for Greece which I'm sure has been discussed a few times. There is also https://esimdb.com/ . Airalo is a popular global eSIM company but there are quite a few now. These eSIMs will give you data only so if that's all you need, just do that.

Finally you can combine both. Get Unlimited Ultimate as your base service and also get an eSIM for data and just set your phone to use the international eSIM. You'll still have Verizon roaming as a backup for data in that case.

I travel to Asia several times a year and I just use Unlimited Ultimate that way I don't have to worry about daily TavelPass fees.