I’m traveling through Sicily and before I left I looked at alternatives to using Verizon’s $10/day Travel Pass for International data and cell service. It’s not a bad price, but with my wife and myself, it adds up to $280 for our 14 day trip.
Coincidentally I have been trying out Mint Mobile, an MVNO that purchases minutes from T-Mobile. Service costs $15 per month for the first 3 months, payable in andvance, and then $35 month to month or $15 per month if you renew for a year.
Since I already had their eSIM installed I checked what their options were for International access and discovered its only $20 for ten days with up to 10GB of data, 500 minutes of call time and 500 SMS messages. Similar options are available for 1 day and 3 days. That’s much more generous than Verizon with 100 MB of daily data that’s not transferrable to the next day. Unlike Verizon, I am able to use Mint with my hotspot, so my wife is able to get full access as well.
The data allotment has provided more than enough data for both of us. After ten days we used 6 GB of data powering 2 phones!
You can buy the Mint International Pass (called Minternational Pass) as needed or in advance and simply activate it when needed. I ended up buying a 10 day pass and a 3 day pass for a total of $30. That’s just a bit more than 10% of what I would have had to pay for Verizon’s Travel Pass for two phones. And Verizon does not allow hotspot usage on this plan based on past experience.
I’ve not looked at other MVNO providers, but I would imagine there are some with equally attractive rates. I had always thought that an MVNO was a lower quality option for those that didn’t have the credit scores to satisfy the major carriers, but I was wrong. From my experience with Mint Mobile, they provide a very attractive and low cost option to the major carriers, particularly when traveling internationally.