Help with International Travel Plan Decision

[jss_nyc]

Hello,

I am traveling to France for one week starting on Sunday, March 27th returning Sunday April 3rd.  The entire trip takes place during one billing cycle.

I am trying to decide between the four month-to-month plans that Verizon offers.

$40/100 mins/100 text/100MB

$85/250 mins/250 text/250MB

$25 / 100MB (minutes/texts a la carte)

$50 / 250MB (minutes/texts a la carte)

I always get confused about the way things are "pro-rated."

Let's say I get the $85 plan.

If I turn the plan on on my departure day and have it turn off on my return day, I believe I will pay ~$22 (the pro-rated portion of $85), get the full allotment of 250/250/250 and if I go over on data, I will owe an incremental $25 for each additional 100MB.  So, for example, if I use 340MB, I will pay $47.  $22 (as above) + $25 for the additional 100MB.

Is this correct?

This was how I understood the plan, but someone told me that if I actually used the full allotment of either minutes, texts or MBs, I would be charged the full $85 (rather than a prorated portion.  So, rather than paying $47 in the above example, I'd pay $110 ($85+$25).

Can someone offer some help?

JSS_NYC

[Weth · Accepted solution]

Both are wrong.  You do not want to pro rate as that also reduces how much data and minutes and texts you have by the same percentage.  You will just incur the overage sooner. 

You need to activate retroactively to the first day of your billing cycle to get the entire amount and it will be $85. 

Also consider the $10 per day Travelpass that allows you to use your current domestic  plan In the covered country. 

And finally consider the new wifi calling which is free.

[jss_nyc]

Does anyone else have a POV here?  This is now the 3rd different response that I've heard in the last hour.  Any and all help would be appreciated!

[Weth]

Yes but has anyone else you talked to actually done this? I have and this is the way it works. I've also seen people get burned by thinking the way you are. Of course you don't know me so let's wait for a third-party or rather a fourth party to chime in to confirm. 

[jss_nyc]

Yes.  In all cases (including, apparently, yours), the person "had actually done this." 

I'm hoping that an official Verizon representative will answer my question in this forum.

[Weth]

I see you haven't figured out the official Verizon answer is often 5 different things.  The only one that matters is what shows up on your bill.  For a 7 day trip, you best deal with Verizon will be Travelpass for $70.  Believe otherwise at your own peril. 

[vzw_customer_support]

jss_nyc,

Let's make sure you are in the best plan available while you are out of the country. Just to make sure your phone is compatable what kind of phone do you have?
JasperM_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[jss_nyc]

Hi Jasper,

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

JSS

[vzw_customer_support]

Jss_nyc,

France is so beautiful around this time of year. You are going to have such an amazing time there next week. I want you to have the most accurate information when picking an international plan. Good news, your device will work in France. When selecting your plan, you will want to backdate the plan. This will ensure that you will get the full allotment of minutes, text, and data. For example, if you were to go with the $85.00 plan that includes 250 minutes, 250 text (unlimited incoming), and 250mb of data, you will need to backdate the plan to the beginning of the cycle. If you were to prorate it for only the time you will be there, the system would only allow you 19 minutes, 19 text, and 19mb of data.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions about your travel plan. We are here to answer all of them.

KatrinaN_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the 'Correct Answer' button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[jss_nyc]

Katrina,

A couple of things:

(1) As I indicated in my earlier post, this is not what your phone representatives told me.  This is the third different thing that someone has told me.

(2) Why will pro-rating the plan for one week, result in 19MB of data?  If the plan is 250MB/month and I will be away for one week (which is 23% of a month), shouldn't I get 57.5MB (which is 23% of the data)?

Thanks,

JSS