Travel Pass - not quite what promised. Beware the small print.

[Didjit]

If you're considering using the Travel Pass abroad, be aware that there are caveats that Verizon doesn't mention.

They claim you can use your same exact domestic plan abroad for just $10/day.  What they don't tell you is that Verizon will throttle your data rate down to 2G speeds after 500MB.  That's 100 times slower than the 4G you're used to.  That basically means no streaming or downloading of movies/shows, which run about 1 GB/hr.  And if you're streaming Pandora, you'll get less than five hours before you're shut down.

None of this was mentioned when I signed up despite asking, "so, everything will work just like at home? And there won't be any surprises?"  And even now that I know about it, it took me a half-hour of burrowing through their website to find any mention of it.

So beware.  Sure, you can have your domestic plan while abroad, but you just can't actually use it.

[Ann154]

It's all in the FAQs. International Travel FAQs | Verizon Wireless

[SCODUB34]

Wrong. They changed the plan and didn't let anyone know.

[Ann154]

I doubt it. Either way, the FAQs as they stand now is how the plan works currently.

[Ann154]

Hmmm. It seems it was changed in February 2017 when the new Verizon Unlimited Plan was announced. Get unlimited data on the network you deserve: Verizon | About Verizon. The change might not apply to those customers on an older plan like the XXL Verizon Plan.

[Justwantoreadandpost]

Don't believe you're correct on the date being Feb - it's a more recent change.

In April, was traveling internationally, and returned on the 22nd. TravelPass was okay at that time, and I was using it extensively for streaming and tethering.  No issues, no warnings, no caps.

Now, throttled to uselessness after .5 GB/day.

http://pizzainmotion.boardingarea.com/2017/05/06/verizon-wireless-changes-international-travelpass/

[SORKA95032]

Yea, and the it's a light gray and small compared to the rest of the text. I would have totally missed it had I not been looking for it because of this thread. Traveling to India. Was going to have TP but now I'll acquire a local sim instead. 2g is barely fast enough for email.

*High speed data applies for the first 0.5 GB/day with 2G reduced speeds thereafter. If more than 50% of your talk, text or data usage in a 60-day period is in Canada or Mexico, use of those services in those countries may be removed or limited.

[Justwantoreadandpost]

This appears to be new.

Was in Columbia several weeks ago, and didn't have a cap.

Today in Prague, I get a text message, saying I've hit my cap and am being throttled.  The hotel I'm in has lousy wifi, so this will impact my ability to work for the next two weeks.

You've done a nice job of summing it up, "So beware.  Sure, you can have your domestic plan while abroad, but you just can't actually use it."

Thanks, Verizon.

[SCODUB34]

While in Canada this weekend, I found out one of my phones was throttled to 2G after 512 mb  of usage. Apparently on April 25th VZ decided to change the terms of the Travel Pass program that I signed up for, without any notice. Initially if you had the XXL plan you can use your 4G all the time in Canada, and you get the throttle to 2G in the Unlimited plan. I elected to stay with the XXL plan for that reason.

So basically, at around 10 in the morning we're out of data for the day until midnight. Good job Verizon.

So I call the cust service rep and she lies to me saying that the way it's always been. [Removed]! I go to Canada about 10 time per month and the kids watch videos and stream music, never any problem. Then she went on to say you still have 2G service, like that works.

After 17 years, the rep and the super shmoozer rep could care less. As a 30 year employee, I'm going to ATT, where they don't throttle the Int'l data. And VZ is wondering why their stock is in the tank, and customers are jumping ship.

profanity removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service 

Message edited by Verizon Moderator

[Justwantoreadandpost]

Spoke with Verizon at length today, as I’d encountered the 2G throttling after exceeding .5 GB the very first day of a 2-week stay in Prague last month. I had not had this problem just the month before in South America.

Apparently this “feature” is called Data Optimization and may *not* actually be a required component of TravelPass, although it is a new one. The Verizon rep was unaware of it; I had to spend several minutes breaking it down to her, and she took another few minutes to research on her end.

Result: The rep offered to remove Data Optimization. Really? Just remove?

After a significant amount of back-n-forth on my part regarding “Why would VZW do this in the first place?” and “Are you sure this will fix the problem?” and “Is there anything else I need to know so I won’t be surprised later?” we’ve now removed Data Optimization.

So, in theory, when we go to Italy end of this month things should be back to what they were previously – unlimited data at 4G speeds, where available, at $10/day internationally, subject only to the throttling caps on our US unlimited plans (which if I recall is ~22 GB per line, ~11GB of tethered 4G, depending on local demand). If you do blow through that much, you should then be throttled to 3G, rather than 2G.

We’ll see if it works in Italy.

Would be great if others might try this, see if it works, & report back.

[MOBILE1888]

I am going to Italy next month and am considering TravelPass to.

How did it end up working for you? Signal wise? Reasonable coverage?

I follow what they are saying about the "throttling". That sticks. Did it work better for you when they removed the throttling? Is that a thing they have to do or is it somewhere on the account website setting that we can change? and lastly did the bill come out like expected?

I'm aiming to use it for directions and texting mostly. Not streaming.

Thank you for the information. Hope your trip was great!

[JAIMINP89]

Hey! I stumbled across your post as I had the same issue when I was in Europe last year (2017).

Did you see the difference in your data speed after testing the "removal" of Data Optimization in Italy?

Thanks!

[SMARVA]

Just traveled to the Netherlands and the UK and had a terrible experience with Travelpass. Have used it without issue in the past but on this trip data was throttled and our phones constantly lost reception. Had trouble making calls and using data was impossible. Verizon has completely destroyed the value and use of Travelpass so I removed it for future trips.

Also, called customer service and at no point did they mention throttling or acknowledge and culpability or change on their part. They informed me that they do not actually provide the service so are not responsible for the quality. I informed them that I would no longer pay them for a service that they could not deliver.

It's a shame because Travelpass was a great feature and one of the reasons I liked and recommended Verizon.

[jav6]

I don't think the Verizon TravelPass feature has any control over the local network service reception.

[SMARVA]

But they do have control over the fees that they charge, and how they respond to customer service issues.

They also do have control over throttling.

[jav6]

Yes they do have control over throttling which is based on your Service Plan.  It also is only comes into play when you're able to make calls and are using data.  You can't blame your reception being poor and calls being dropped in another country on TravelPass.

[SMARVA]

First of all, I can, do, and should blame them for poor network coverage on multiple devices in multiple countries. This wasn’t an isolated dropped call. I agreed to pay them for access to my plan, not access to my plan on a disfunctional network. Had Verizon been upfront that the network may or may not work I obviously would have never signed up.

Second of all, I can, should, and do blame them for failing to address the issue or refund fees they charged me for a product they then couldn’t deliver. This is fully in their control and is the larger issue.

[lukevinyl]

You couldn't be more misinformed.

Verizon has no towers in other countries and you are simply adding the capabilities to use other countries towers/network.

So sure, you can blame VZW for service on another carrier's network but it certainly wouldn't be justified.....

[SMARVA]

Why wouldn’t it be justified? I paid them for access to my plan and they couldnt deliver that. These aren’t random third party networks, Verizon is contracting with them to offer a service and then selling that service to me at a profit. It’s like buying something on Amazon and then saying Amazon is not at fault if the item shows up broken because Amazon didn’t manufacture it. If the network is not capable of providing me the service Verizon is selling me then they should contract with a different network. Based on the comments above it seems like Verizon often contracts with subpar networks.

And none of you (who all definitely don’t work for Verizon) have addressed the larger issue. The correct response from Verizon is “we’re sorry, we’ll refund the fees we charged you.”

[lukevinyl]

You said it perfectly, you paid them for "ACCESS" to your plan. That is precisely what you had-- access to your plan. VZW (or any carrier) can't guarantee service in the U.S. in any area when it is Verizon towers, and so obviously this is even more so the case in other countries when it isn't their network....

You ARE picking up the available service that is in those countries, the same service that the citizens of that country utilize, the same towers and reception that they have available to them. It is not as if you are only receiving the carrier that Verizon has selected for you-- this is the carrier/carriers that is available in the country you are visiting.

After doing a bit more travelling internationally and using the various networks in these countries you will see this is the case and VZW isn't just selecting sub-par networks for you to roam on....

I actually have seen these charges get refunded for myself and others but it generally won't happen if your  use was significant, and for good reason.

[SMARVA]

What you’re saying is not correct, Verizon contracts with a specific carrier. And obviously you didn’t read my original post or I doubt you would state that the cities of London and Amsterdam only have 2G networks and can’t hold a signal for longer than a few minutes. Obviously these first world cities have better networks than we received. Not sure why you’d make a categorical statement about something you clearly know nothing about.

Furthermore, if these were in fact the best networks available and the entire country was running on last decade’s technology I’d still have an issue with Verizon for concealing that from me. In fact if your false assertion above were true it would be worse as they’d be knowingly selling me a deficient product.

And also obviously my usage usage was not significant, I COULDN’T USE THE NETWORK. That’s my whole issue.