Staying connected through your cell phone provider or internet is crucial when you are traveling within country or internationally. Luckily, Verizon has you covered with international service but does Verizon charge for roaming? Let’s see!
What Is Roaming and Does Verizon Charge For It?
When you are travelling internationally, and sometimes domestically as well, your Verizon phone will connect to a non-Verizon network in order to continue providing services like calls, texts, or data usage.
This happens when you are out of Verizon coverage area and is known as roaming.
Roaming allows you to continue making and receiving calls, send/receive texts, or use data even when Verizon network is not available.
Verizon and other companies that allow roaming hardly ever do so without additional charges.
Verizon will charge for roaming if you have not signed up for Verizon Internal Travel Plan or the TravelPass when on an international trip. Some charges you should be mindful about include the following.
- Verizon roaming charges for calls range from $0.99 to $2.99 per minute as per the information update for the year 2022.
- You will have to pay $0.50 roaming charges to send a text.
- Roaming changes for data used is $2.05 per MB.
Can You Get Free Roaming With Verizon?
Domestic roaming is free with Verizon. As long as you are within United States, the network will not charge you with an extra fee on the nationwide plans.
Moreover, regions like Puerto Rico, US Virgin Island and Hawaii are covered under domestic roaming as well.
To be in the safe side, it is recommended that you go through the Verizon roaming policy for your area before you start using this features.
1. Mexico
How much you are charged for roaming in Mexico depends on the monthly plan or the subscription you have as a Verizon user.
First of all, there will be no charges if you have subscribed to Verizon Unlimited Plan. The roaming in Mexico is included in the plan.
The second option is to sign up with Pay As You Go plans on Verizon. This is a good alternative for those who do not have an Unlimited plan and wish to minimize roaming charges when travelling outside the United States.
As per this plan, you will pay $0.99 per minute for call, $2.05 per MB of data, and $0.50 for sending a text.
The best choice is to sign up for Verizon International TravelPass instead. It will allow you to use all the network services in $5 per day and only on the days when you use your phone in Mexico.
2. Alaska
Alaska is within the US so if you device goes into extended network mode, Verizon will not charge as it will be considered domestic roaming only. This is covered under domestic plan and does not have additional fees. The roaming indicator that you see on the top is nothing to worry about.
It just shows that your device is using another carrier’s cell tower to obtain network signals. Verizon must have signed a contracted with the other company so there are no charges while you are roaming in Alaska.
3. Hawaii
You can use Verizon roaming in Hawaii without any charges as this region is considered part of the United States. According to the Verizon coverage map, any call that you make here would be taken as just another domestic call or data usage.
4. Jamaica
Verizon charges an international rate of $1.79 per minutes for service provision in Jamaica. You can, however, avoid high fees by subscribing to International TravelPass instead when you are in Jamaica or anywhere else where there is a hefty fee for roaming.
Under this program, you just have to pay $10 per day only on the days you use the phone. Other than that, the WiFi calling feature by Verizon is free in Jamaica.
Charges For International Roaming
Verizon does charge when you are roaming internationally. In fact, it has quite extensive details on the official website of what text, call, and data charges will be for international roaming.
- Roaming data will cost you $2.05 per MB.
- You will be charges $0.50 for sending a text.
- You also have to pay $0.05 for receiving a text.
- Charges for calls with international roaming range from $0.99 per minute to $2.99 per minute depending on where you are located.
Moreover, if you wish to minimize these charges, you should sign up for the International TravelPass that Verizon offers.
Similar to the Monthly International Travel Plan, which is a good option as well, the TravelPass will charge you $10 for all the services per day and only on the days that you use the phone. This is an excellent way to avoid high international roaming fees.
Charges For Roaming Data
- Verizon charges $2.05 per MB for roaming data.
- These charges are applicable regardless of the country you visit and for as long as you are outside the US.
- You can minimize international travel costs by activating TravelPass or getting Verizon Unlimited plan.
What Does Verizon Extended Network Means?
Verizon Extended Network simply means that you are roaming domestically. It implies that you are out of Verizon’s cell tower range and now another carrier’s tower is being used to provide you with the same network.
When this is happening, you will see a “Extended” or “Extended Network” sign on top of you device screen. Devices with 4G LTE technology will see “Extended LTE” on top of the section where “Verizon” shows up.
You can also double check this by visiting Settings on your device. Here you will find Extended network mentioned when the device is on domestic roaming mode.
Are There Charges For Extended Network On Verizon?
Extended network does not mean that your device is on data roaming mode and incurring extra fees.
However, since many people are not aware of the different, they think that they will face extra fees when “Extended Network” appears on the Verizon phone.
There are no fees for using you phone when an extended network shows. However, in order to confirm this, it is important that you vising My Verizon account right now and check the Verizon plan that you are on.
Some older Verizon plans charge for extended network services whereas the newer ones do not.
Extended network simply means that your device is using another carrier’s cell tower for signals that Verizon has signed a contract with. Since they are still providing Verizon network, there are no fees.
How Is Regular Service Verizon Different From Extended Network?
There is not much of a difference as you will have access to all the network features when you shift from regular service to extended network and vice versa. However, if you must note, there are some key differences in how the two operate.
- Domestic roaming may give you lower speed and 2G to 3G coverage only.
- It will also make it difficult to stream video content smoothly.
- Other than that, when you are on domestic roaming mode, you will have to dial a “1” before making a call.
In a Nutshell
Verizon does charge for roaming internationally but domestic roaming such as using the Extended Network in Alaska or Hawaii is free of cost. The charges are also variable depending on where you are. Typically, you will be charges up to $2.05 per MB for data, $0.50 for sending a message, $0.05 for receiving one, and $2.99 per minutes for calls.
