Yes, Verizon does have Free Mexico Roaming plans

[DandyDon]

The recent thread on this has gone on with confusion so long, I thot it more beneficial to post this as a new thread than just add on to the bottom of the long discussion on the other one...

The "Nationwide Plus Mexico plans are a little difficult to find, a little challenging to clearly understand, and my limited experiences as a new Verizon customer after a recent merger with Alltel suggest that the agents are often not well educated on them - but they do exist, they do provide free roaming usage, and do cover all of Mexico where there is reception.

See Nationwide Plus Mexico

​

Individual or Family plans are available starting at $55 for 450 minutes/month, 1,000 Nights & Weekends, Unlimited Mobile-Mobile US ONLY, free long distrance to numbers in US or Mexico from anywhere in either nation. Plans can be changed one month, changed back the next if desired.

One could even do as I have done in the last with my old company...

Change one phone on a family plan to an Individual Nationwide Plus Mexico plan;

While leaving the other phones on the family group on your old or smaller plan.​

Whichever bottom line works best for you.

Two big changes for me are that I used to enjoy free Mobile-Mobile even while I was in Mexico, but that is not the case here, and I do not see any mention of the Friends & Family Free like on other Verizon plans so I think it save to say that is not included.

Edit after Christi's post. Disclaimer: I have not used this plan yet so I cannot speak from experience, and "Friends & Family® Single-Line Plans with 900+ Anytime Minutes and Family SharePlans with 1400+ Anytime Minutes are available in the U.S. only." For safety if I were to use this plan...
1: Get the agent name and employee number when verifying that the plan provides Free Mexico Roaming with free calls to the US.
2: Have him/her note in your record that the plan does that.
3: Call back the next day to make sure the notes are there.

Do notice their clause: "Verizon Wireless will terminate your service for good cause if less than half of your voice calls over three consecutive billing cycles are from within the Nationwide Rate and Coverage Area." Looks like it would not work over two months in a row, but will for short visits.

 

[Christi]

The recent thread on this has gone on with confusion so long, I thot it more beneficial to post this as a new thread than just add on to the bottom of the long discussion on the other one...

The "Nationwide Plus Mexico plans are a little difficult to find, a little challenging to clearly understand, and my limited experiences as a new Verizon customer after a recent merger with Alltel suggest that the agents are often not well educated on them - but they do exist, they do provide free roaming usage, and do cover all of Mexico where there is reception.

See Nationwide Plus Mexico

​

Individual or Family plans are available starting at $55 for 450 minutes/month, 1,000 Nights & Weekends, Unlimited Mobile-Mobile US ONLY, free long distrance to numbers in US or Mexico from anywhere in either nation. Plans can be changed one month, changed back the next if desired.

One could even do as I have done in the last with my old company...

Change one phone on a family plan to an Individual Nationwide Plus Mexico plan;

While leaving the other phones on the family group on your old or smaller plan.​

Whichever bottom line works best for you.

Two big changes for me are that I used to enjoy free Mobile-Mobile even while I was in Mexico, but that is one the case here, and I do not see any mention of the Friends & Family Free like on other Verizon plans so I think it save to say that is not included.

Hope this helps others...

Interesting! Just a little story about Verizon.

I had a Verizon account for as long as they were Verizon and whoever they were before - I can't even remember - anyway, I was with them for a very long time.

When I moved to Cozumel, I kept my phone, but only for when I was back in the states - I was able to suspend my account while keeping it in good standing and keeping the same phone number. Somewhere around 2002, they started the North American Calling plan - it included all of Mexico, Canada and the US - no long distance and no roaming as long as you stayed within your plan minutes. It was a GREAT plan! I paid my bill automatically from my cc every month to make sure I never lost service. My monthly bill averaged $70 - $80 per month

Early last year, I all of a sudden I received a $980 bill - for ONE month!!!! I was charged international rates and roaming for every call I made to the US and from the US to Mexico (it was when my father was ill).

When I called Verizon, they informed me that the North American plan was no longer offered which resulted in my higher calling rates. I finally go to someone who knew what they were talking about and was told that the plan was no longer offered, but existing clients with that plan were grandfathered in as long as the account was in good standing. My bill was adjusted and I paid the balance.

Four more billing cycles went by without any problems - then one day I went to make a call and my phone was disconnected. I tried to log on to my account and got a message that no account existed for that phone number or user name. Once again, I called Verizon. This time, they told me that I was two months behind so my service had been disconnected. WHAT?????

I checked my cc statements and my Verizon statements and payments were in fact posted ON TIME for the previous two months.

They acknowledged their error, reconnected my service and "waived the reconnection fees as a courtesy." HELLO - they disconnected my service unjustly.

here's the kicker - while they were able to reconnect my service, and give me my old phone number back - the plan I had previously was no longer offered, so they could not (would not) reinstate the plan! There were no plans anything like what I had previously - so I discontinued service with them - BUT - I had to pay the early contract termination fee - despite the fact that my phone never should have been disconnected to begin with!

I will never use Verizon again based on the experience I had with them - but I'm sure others have had excellent experiences with Verizon - just wanted to share this!

 

[tridacna]

Verizon SUCKSVideo

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks Christi. You were probly hit by the "Verizon Wireless will terminate your service for good cause if less than half of your voice calls over three consecutive billing cycles are from within the Nationwide Rate and Coverage Area" clause, even tho maybe incorrectly.

I have not used this plan yet so I cannot speak from experience. I will add an edit...

Verizon SUCKSVideo

Yeah, they all do. It's still a young industry, altho not as bad as it used to be.

Tools. Understand them, use them carefully.

 

[sddiver]

Don,

Good job with being persistent. I had the same experience as Christi without the circle jerk on the billing. No longer offered, only honored for those currently on the plan. They left out the, we will try to force out those on the plan through nefarious billing practices though. That is beyond lame. Here in Low Cal Verizon owns the market as all the others have spotty coverage in comparison.

Let us know how it works out after your trip.

Rich

 

[DandyDon]

Don,

Good job with being persistent. I had the same experience as Christi without the circle jerk on the billing. No longer offered, only honored for those currently on the plan. They left out the, we will try to force out those on the plan through nefarious billing practices though. That is beyond lame. Here in Low Cal Verizon owns the market as all the others have spotty coverage in comparison.

Let us know how it works out after your trip.

Rich

I think Christi's problem may have stemmed from the "less than half of your voice calls over three consecutive billing cycles are from within the Nationwide Rate and Coverage Area" clause however badly it was handled or however confusion may have played. Not sure; don't know all the details of course.

The plans are available, tho. Don't know why anyone was told otherwise, and this should work. Since my family group has Alltel equipment we have to stick to Alltel plans for now, and the bottom line for changing this time would be too much for me to bother this time - so, next time maybe.

 

[tridacna]

. It's still a young industry, altho not as bad as it used to be.

In 5 years time, things will be very different. I am consulting with two companies that will have international roaming plans available within a year at prices that will blow your socks off. Technology is a wonderful thing. The ONLY way the the carriers can respond is by dropping prices. They will continue to milk this as long as they can. The BIG problem is that the government is making such huge revenues through insidious taxation (check your bill) that they will be be resistant to change in which they get bypassed. The carriers play games with US consumers knowing full well that most simply pay their bills without question. They tack on mysterious fees and taxes which are really surcharges for nothing. Example: (There are hundreds of these).:

Text Message Fraud: Part 1 of 2 - Skydeck

 

[DandyDon]

I know. I was a field rep for years - Western Wirelss, then Alltel, working closely with many personal customers. Lots of rip involved. Building the industry and paying for the infrastucture was important, with expected waste and overpayments everywhere in a gold rush industry, but it's built. Time to start enjoying the investment returns.

 

[Christi]

I think Christi's problem may have stemmed from the "less than half of your voice calls over three consecutive billing cycles are from within the Nationwide Rate and Coverage Area" clause however badly it was handled or however confusion may have played. Not sure; don't know all the details of course.

The plans are available, tho. Don't know why anyone was told otherwise, and this should work. Since my family group has Alltel equipment we have to stick to Alltel plans for now, and the bottom line for changing this time would be too much for me to bother this time - so, next time maybe.

Actually, I found my old contract and read it through from beginning to end - that clause did not exist with my plan. It's probably something they've started with this new plan you found as a result of so many Americans living and traveling abroad and taking advantage of a plan that THEY offered!

I'm not the only person that this very same thing happened to. I think it was in fact their way of forcing us off the plan.

 

[judydivescoz]

I just looked back at my bills the last year or so. I was on the North America Plan last year. When I changed phones and added some features I needed with my Blackberry, they eliminated my North American Plan without telling me, how sneaky. They changed us to a nationwide plan. With my husband and I spending so much time in South Africa this past year, we did not get to Cozumel for 11 months. I did not notice until I got my bill last month and found $70.00 in charges I did not expect. Called customer service, they all but laughed at me. At least I got them to credit my next bill $35. a small victory at least. We pay for 6 phones on Verizon right now, changing service would be far to expensive given the early termination costs.