just got off the phone with verizon.
they said i can use my US cell phone w/ a JA calling card and I will only be deducted normal minutes from my normal monthly plan (using my cell without a calling card is $1.99 per minute!)
has anybody else heard of this or can confirm this is correct???
don't want to get home to a $500 cell phone bill
thanks!
it may be 'technically' correct but it is not the whole story -- what will kill you on the bill is the roaming charges.
the only way to do this without incurring roaming charges is - if the phone is unlocked, and it's a quad-band GSM model that uses a SIM card, and you take out the USA SIM and put in a JA SIM card so you are making calls on the local JA network. If that's not the case and you're trying to use your regular USA phone - humungus roaming charges will be incurred anytime you make calls.
also not sure how you would be able to use a Jamaican phone card with a USA phone either. i don't know that it would work at all, but if it did, you would still have to call an 876- number to access the Jamaican phone card - and that is an international call.
Last edited by MissBlue; 04-11-2012 at 11:22 AM.
I have a basic plan (no 3G, 4G or whatever) & a basic phone w/ Verizon (no camera, no sim card, was an older model when I got it in 2005). I turned it on in Negril in Feb. to get some updated phone numbers to add to my JA cell phone. I immediately got a text that they were charging me $20.43 for turning my phone on in JA (roaming charge???). It could be that's the daily charge, in which case you'd have a heck of a phone bill on your return. Got that issue fixed when I returned home. I would follow MissBlue's advice. It will probably cost more than what they told you because there's more to the story. They just haven't told you everything. Too many horror stories about people using their US cell phones - even after doing their homework - to take the chance. Rent a phone there or borrow someone's. I frequently loan my JA cellie when I'm there when someone wants to make a brief call home. If it's more than brief or if it's frequent, I'd suggest renting one.
they NEVER give customers the 'whole' story - not necessarily maliciously or on purpose, but the random CS rep you get when you call VZW, often just doesn't know what they're talking about.
honestly is it just SO much simpler - and WAY cheaper, no matter howya slice it - to use a local cheap JA cell phone while there. You never have to think about cost every moment you're using the phone, you can just make calls as normal, and be relaxed and talk. Plus you also have the added bonus of not flashing a fancy farrin phone around, and not having to be concerned about protecting it from the sun, sand and seawater - if you drop your cheapo local cell, or it gets wet, it's cheap and easy to replace; you can leave it in a beachbag and go swimming without worrying it might get stolen, if you're out dancing or on an excursion it can get wet and sweaty and you don't have to worry about it cause 'all' your data and contacts wil not be lost, only the few numbers you have stored on the local SIM .... but if anything happens to your 'good' phone, it will be a real bummer.
Last edited by MissBlue; 04-11-2012 at 11:20 AM.
and sevenmile, if you look on the T.A. boards this exact same question is asked over and over again, down to the same explanation of the 1.99/minute, ja phone card, etc etc - this is a common inquiry and the response is always the same.
personally, i just don't understand what the attachment is to using one's home phone while there. to my way of thinking, there is just no upside to it at all. The LAST thing i would ever want to do with my fancy smartphone is have it around all that heat, sand, and salt water (not to mention all the eyes upon it). Mine happens to be a 4G Verizon smartphone that does use a SIM... so it would be an extra-tempting target for pickpocketing as well.
Last edited by MissBlue; 04-11-2012 at 11:36 AM.
You have to be very careful. If you use a Verizon phone to make calls, it may be true you will not pay the 1.99 per minute for a Jamaican call but IF YOU USE THE PHONE IN JAMAICA you will incur roaming charges. You have to be very careful. The first time I went to Jamaica, I called Verizon, obtained the international calling plan and was told that my calls from Jamaica to the US would be 0.39 per minute. OK, I thought... Not too bad. THEN I CAME HOME & RECEIVED A $500 plus phone bill!!!!! I called Verizon and fortunately the young lady who had quoted me that price had documented our conversation accurately and they reversed the charges to fit what I had been told. ACTUALLY - the 39 cents per minute was supposed to be for calls FROM the US TO JAMAICA - not the other way around as I had been told. Thank goodness they were honest and stood behind their employee's mistake. It could have been VERY expensive for me.
IF you have plan on multiple trips to Jamaica, it might behoove you to buy an inexpensive phone from Digicel with a sim card and have at it that way. Another advantage of that method is you know in advance how much it is costing you. I have a Nokia phone I acquired in Ghana, bought a Digicel sim, it works fine and I have had the same phone number for years now. $50 USD and you will probably be good to go.
Another options is IF you have a US phone with GLOBAL READY capabilities that is UNLOCKED you can then switch out the sim card for a Jamaican one (Digicel, Lime, etc.).
Good Luck, Enjoy Fully and Happy Calling!!
Last edited by SweetSue; 04-11-2012 at 11:38 AM.
Buy a Digicell phone and put 1000 international minutes and some local minutes. It will be much cheaper and much easier!!!
http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
you don't even need to put that "International Plan" on a local cell phone - it's less than half the cost to just use regular old Digicel phone cards, which work fine for both local and international. that international plan is a good savings for someone who lives there, or plans to stay for a long visit - but for just a week or two, it's not likely that you would use 1000 international minutes - plus it 'only' works for international calling - you would then still have to buy local credit on top of that, to make local calls.
Regular Digical phone cards are less than half the cost of the int'l plan, and are really all that's needed.
Last edited by MissBlue; 04-11-2012 at 11:45 AM.
The international minutes cost under $20 and if you are going to be calling back to the States it is better. If you put regular local minutes on your digicel and make a call to the States that ONE call will eat up alot of your minutes.
http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
just personal preference. i never get the int'l plan -- but i only call back to the states a few times while there; so local phone cards work fine for me for a 1-2 week visit.
My point in mentioning that was to let people know you don't "have to" get the int'l plan to be able to make int'l calls. Of course they will try to sell it to you - because 'upselling' is their job - and many people wind up thinking that they must buy it in order to make calls to the states -- and that's not so. This int'l plan is pushed to everyone, but most ppl wind up paying for all these minutes that they never use.
It's a great economical plan for someone who's there for a long time and makes a lot of calls internationally - but it's not a requirement. Calls to the states can be made with regular phone cards.
Last edited by MissBlue; 04-11-2012 at 11:56 AM.
Posting Permissions
