Recently, Verizon has launched a new “Travel Pass” program where their customers can take the data, minutes and text messages they have already purchased from Verizon for US domestic use with them to about 100 countries for an additional $10 per day. On the surface this may seem like an OK deal, but when one delves deeper the real cost of the $10 per day “Travel Pass” is actually quite expensive and many times the cost of using an International Roaming SIM card like OneSimCard. In addition, the international Roaming Services provided by Verizon Roaming are inferior to OneSimCard’s in 2 very important ways.
Let’s focus on data, as most international travelers want to use their smartphones abroad and many run a VoIP service like Skype for their voice calls. Using an average of 35 MB of data per day, (Enough for surfing about 60 web pages or 60 minutes of Skype voice calling) a 14 day European trip would consume 490 MB of data. Using Verizon’s “Travel Pass” this would cost $140 in addition to the regular monthly Verizon costs. Compare this to the data packages offered by OneSimCard. Using OneSimCard’s Europe & More data package, 500 MB of data would cost only $25. If your trip involves travel to France, the UK, Germany, Israel or any of the other 20+ countries included in the OneSimCard’s new “Super Select Data Packages,” 1000 MB of data will cost just $19. That is less than US $0.02 per MB and makes using Verizon’s “Travel Pass” more than 7 times the cost of using OneSimCard. Plus, all major US carriers will be charging taxes on your roaming of around 10%, while OneSimCard only has to charge taxes on residents of Massachusetts and California.
In addition to the dramatic cost savings, OneSimCard also offers better international roaming service. Here is why. When using a major carrier’s international roaming service, they almost always roam on only their partner’s network in the foreign country. OneSimCard is different. Typically, OneSimCard roams on 2 or more different networks in each foreign country and switches networks based on signal strength in order to give our customers to best possible service always.
Finally, OneSimCard offers numerous other international roaming benefits such concierge services, extra phone numbers in 60+ countries, Mobiles Miles for calls and no contracts required to use OneSimCard services.
So is Verizon’s $10 per day “Travel Pass” worth it? No, it certainly is not. An international roaming SIM, like OneSimCard, is a far better alternative, providing superior service at much lower cost.