Best option for travelling abroad: Pay as you go vs. Travel Pass

[petergoode]

My wife and I have finally resumed foreign travel, and we are not sure we are receiving accurate advice from Verizon regarding the most cost effective plan to use.

Specifically, neither of us make calls or send texts when abroad, but would like to be able to receive calls and/or texts if sent.

During a recent European trip, my wife's phone triggered virtually daily Travel Pass sessions, probably due to one of her apps accessing cellular data.  She did not actively initiate any text or cellular data sessions.

When I spoke with the Verizon staff by chat prior to leaving, they told me that in order to have access to incoming calls and texts, we would have to use the Travel Pass plan.  However, now that we have returned home, I turned off my wife's Mobile Data "access the internet through your mobile network" setting, and  the Data Roaming Access, and she was able to receive calls and texts from me.

It would be my impression that we could have avoided the $10 daily charge if we had turned off the Mobile Data setting and Data Roaming Access (we had WiFi access most of the time), and turned them back using the Pay as You Go Plan if we needed to send a text or make a phone call.

If someone can kindly clarify all of this, would be great, would have potentially saved us over a hundred dollars with Travel Pass charges we really did not need.  

Thanks!

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello petergoode. We definitely understand the concern with regard to your charges for your trip. You are correct in stating that an app requesting information would have triggered the TravelPass session. The only real way to avoid triggering a TravelPass charge would be to put the device in Airplane mode, and then turn on Wi-Fi. This will avoid any network connection through the cellular network. The TravelPass option would be the best option for traveling abroad if not staying longer than a week, as Pay as you go can be very hard to estimate and the charges change based on where you are.~Peter

[petergoode]

Thank you for attempting to clarify this otherwise confusing situation for me.

Since posting, I stopped by our local Verizon store and asked about the international plan options.  Once again, I received advice that was contradictory to information previously provided to me by chat and phone representatives.  Specifically, the in-store agent told me that I could alter my Do More plan by paying $10 per month on each of our phone lines, which would result in accrual of three Travel Pass days per month, to a maximum of 36 Travel Pass Days, which would not expire.

The agent gave me the phone number for Verizon's International Plan department.  Following is the NEW information this seemingly well informed representative provided to me:

1.  Under my current plan, once I had used the previously accumulated Travel Pass days, upon triggering the next Travel Pass day, I should have been automatically charged $10 for the next three Travel Pass days.  This did not occur.  Instead, I was charged $10 for each of several subsequent Travel Pass sessions.

2.  This representative told me that there does NOT exist a plan whereby one can add $10 to their monthly bill and accumulate three Travel Pass days.

3.  My wife's and my only need regarding international phone use is to receive texts and phone calls, whether on or off WiFi.   We realize that the only way to totally avoid international phone charges would be to place the phones in airplane mode, but of course, we would not be able to receive texts or phone calls.  Accordingly, in order to avoid having our phones unintentionally trigger new Travel Pass sessions, we should turn off Mobile data under the Data usage setting, which would still allow us to receive texts and phone calls, but avoid having new Travel Pass sessions unintentionally triggered by apps which otherwise automatically do so, i.e. e-mail, Life 360, etc.

4.  If we identify need to access the internet, send texts, make phone calls, we could turn the Mobile data back on, and a Travel Pass day would be triggered.

I would greatly appreciate your please reviewing the above to see if this accurately reflects Verizon's policies.  Evidently the matter of international plan optimization is an of confusion not only to your customers, but also to your representatives!

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello Petergoods. We would be happy to clarify. TravelPass is started when you make or receive a call. text or use data. Learn all about it here: https://www.verizon.com/support/international-travel-faqs/ -Joe

[petergoode]

Your response, unfortunately, points precisely to the problem Verizon has with respect to advising its customers regarding international travel plans.

As mentioned in my previous email, the International Plan phone rep told me I did NOT need to sign up for anything further, that every time I use up three Travel Pass days, I will automatically be billed $10 for an additional three Travel Pass days.  The FAQ (which, by the way, includes some dead web links), however, indicates I should sign up for the $10 per month plan in order to accrue three Travel Pass days per month, per line.  And, that they DO expire after a year, though I was told they NEVER expire.

And, I can't tell if the Do More plan allows for the addition of the $10 per month plan, this is not mentioned in the FAQ.  It only references the Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome plans, and I have no idea how those relate to my Do More plan.

And, finally, I am still awaiting clarification as to whether we can avoid unnecessarily triggering the Travel Pass days by turning off Mobile Data when not on WiFi, i.e. when the email app checks for new email, or Life 360 updates our location...yet still being certain that our phones can receive texts and calls, which I presume WOULD trigger a Travel Pass day.

This is quite frustrating...not life or death by any means, but I can't imagine I'm the only Verizon customer who remains confused as to how to optimize use of our phones when abroad.

[petergoode · Accepted solution]

So, I finally have a definitive answer (at least, I THINK I have a definitive answer) on this matter.

I have switched my Do More plan to Unlimited Plus, same monthly cost.  I have added the $10 per month to accumulate three travel days per month on each of our two lines.  

I can evidently avoid triggering these by turning off cellular data, so apps such as email and Life360 will not be able to access the internet unless I am on WiFi, or turn cellular data back on, which would start a new Travel Pass day.  So, once I accrue enough Travel Pass days to cover upcoming international travel, I will discontinue the $10 per month per line add on.

Verizon needs to get its act together vis a vis international travel plan options.