Preparation! Blog Post One!
Phew! Korea Here WE Go!
Phone Plans!
I spent about a week combing through phone plans, looking up international sim card costs, and using the chat feature on a lot of networks...I hope this conglomerate of information will help you on your international travels!
Google Fi- $20 basic plan (& one line) for unlimited talk & text + $10 for each gb of data you want. Internationally whether you are in another country or just messaging someone in another country you can use your data, your texts are free, but calling costs about .20 cents a minute (which isn't too bad.) Once you exceed 6gb of data anymore that you use that month is free. I'd recommend if you wanted to call people overseas to use Whatsapp or add a googlevoice number (an international one) to your phone in addition to your regular number, then you can call people both in the US or outside the US. GoogleFi also provides a data only sim card option which I couldn't find through any of the other providers (though you can buy a data only sim in the country you will be staying at though the cost varies greatly.) I found that South Korean data sim cards for people staying longer than 10 days was pretty ridiculous $ wise. If the referral hasn't applied during checkout add this code so you can get the $20 (after being with googlefi for a month) CODE: VVTTY5 Referral
T- Mobile- About $70 for the basic plan which includes simple global (aka international capabilities; free data, text, .25 cent calls.) From the US to South Korea calls are free.Pick one of the magenta plans if you'd like simple global to be included.
MintMobile- .25 cents per minute, text .05, data .20 per mb (keep in mind there are about 1000 mb in a gb.) I *think* this was only for calling from the US to other places rather than using it while abroad.
Ultra Mobile- $16.00 a month for lowest plan which includes unlimited talk and text, the $19 a month plan has 1 GB of data + unlimited calls and text. These rates only apply if you're in the US and messaging someone in US or in another country. If you are in another country you will be charged roaming rates in addition to your monthly bill. These rates are .25 for calls, .05 for texts, and .20 for each mb.
Know Roaming- The rates for US and international were kinda confusing on here, but they do offer data separately Here . You can check your rates by country by clicking on the hyperlinked "Know Roaming".
Lyca Mobile- Unlimited talk and text if you want to call someone within the US or someone internationally while you are in the US with the $19 a month "international plan." This plan will charge you roaming charges if you try to contact anyone while you yourself are out of the US. This also comes with 1 gb of data (only used in US.)
Ting- In the US I use Ting since it is a cheap service that works decently. In the US you can get unlimited calls and text for about $10 a month plus + extra for data. Internationally To use your phone in South Korea (& other countries) would cost you these rates in addition to your montly $ cost:
$0.30 per minute
$0.12 per text sent
$0.25 per MB used (there is not cap. Honestly, this can add up quickly in a not good way. I'd recommend a place where you can buy a gb rather than all these mb separately.) I would say this is my second favorite plan that I had found.
International rates from US/Outside US
Conclusion: I wound up choosing the GoogleFi service because they actually allowed you to use their data overseas as well as text for free internationally. Here is my referral code (we both get $20 when you sign up and join a plan. ) If the referral hasn't applied during checkout add this code so you can get the $20 (after being with GoogleFi for a month) CODE: VVTTY5. In addition to the good deal this was overall GoogleFi offered me a $250 phone for $99 for joining their service (they even had a $50 one that was normally $200.) I needed a new phone since my phone basically became obsolete so this was great! This is by no means all of the nitty gritty details of these services, just a quick overview from the notes that I took. I encourage you to do your own research and to always clarify any questions you have with an agent.
International Sim Cards-
My alumni contact suggested This Website for your international sim card needs. You can pick up the card in the airport or have it delivered. I also found these sites for sim cards to use in Korea specifically- this site Korea . Calling plus data Korea , data only Korea. More about Korean sim cards here. ALSO! In general check out if your phone will work in South Korea here ! Make sure when bringing a phone overseas that is is Unlocked and that it is capable with the sims network (either gsm or cdma.)
Comments
Post a Comment