Mint Mobile International Calling

[rappahannock_rev]

Back home in the States I get my phone service from "Mint Mobile" (which piggy-backs very cheaply off T-Mobile). A very satisfied customer! "Mint Mobile" advertises International Calling and International Roaming rates, which would allow me to keep my same phone number.... I've never tried that International service. Can anyone on the Forum share their experience with it? I'm not so much worried about the cost as I am about the the ease and quality of service in the new 2FA age.

 

[J Willhaus]

Before we moved where we could not get T-Mobile service, we used it in Spain on every visit. There was no additional cost at that time (last time was in summer 2019) and we got free data. The only down side was that people calling us in Spain had to pay charges. We got around that with WhatsApp most of the time. We were very satisfied with the T-Mobile service if that is what Mint Mobile will also be using.

 

[John Sikora]

In general, the US carriers use whatever European carriers are available in the country you are going to. As such, they are pretty good and reliable. You will find some exceptions, but in general, it's not something I would worry about too much. If you are concerned, the US carrier should be able to provide you with a coverage map for the country you are going to.

 

[Andy in Ohio]

I have used Mint for years. I live in the US, but when I was in France in 2019 I bought extra "international credits" (not the correct term) on Mint mobile to send texts as well as access internet data. You add them to your Mint "wallet" i believe. I did run out, so next time I got to a wifi area i simply added more. I dont think they offer an unlimited package, but I have not checked recently. I'm doing the Portuguese Camino in a little more than a month, so will need to see what Mint offers now.
All in all, I have been happy with Mint for many years.

 

[Susan Peacock]

Haven’t used mint mobile but did use t-mobile this past October. Basically, data and texting were free, but calls to US numbers still had a small cost. I was only gone a month and did get notified upon my return that I had exceeded my international usage that was supposed to be less than 50% of my monthly use. It looks like I could have purchased additional international coverage.
Also, keep in mind that your number would be international rates (for the caller also) for anyone calling you from a Spanish number.
I have a newer phone, so I had my t-mobile turned into and e-sim, freely up my SIM card slot. I bought an orange card at the Madrid airport and popped it into the sim slot. This worked great. I could switch between the service that worked and had a Spanish number.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've never tried that International service. Can anyone on the Forum share their experience with it? I'm not so much worried about the cost as I am about the the ease and quality of service in the new 2FA age.

Hi Rev. I've not tried Mint but I have recently written how a free service from Google Voice can help you out with 2FA and cheap international calls. Check out my posts on this forum thread (well, others too):

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/2-factor-id-banking-and-tech.72807

I got a call from a friend last night and I recommended Voice to help him out with his situation so PM me with any questions and I can make help do double duty.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

FYI, here are Mint's international roaming charges while in Spain:
Voice Rate per Min: $0.25/min
SMS Rate per SMS: $0.05
Data Rate per MB: $0.20

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Help this technologically-challenged viejo: what is "international roaming"?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Roaming is when in your travels to call, text or connect to the internet you have to use a tower that is owned by a provider other than the one you have a contract with (you have roamed into an area where your provider can't provide you service but another network can). Providers have made deals to allow this but when you do the provider you connect to will charge you more than their customers and likely more than your service provider would if they owned the tower. The non-contracted provider doesn't bill you though, it will bill your provider who will pass on the cost to you on its monthly statement, maybe with a hidden additional "service fee" of its own.

In the US the major providers have built up extensive nation-wide networks since those early days so you may never see roaming charges since you are generally using your network's towers. This isn't the case when you travel to another country. The deals your provider has made overseas with other companies can cost you a lot on your monthly bill. You may not see the costs broken down like Mint Mobile does (see post #7 above) but your provider figures something out to cover the costs you and others incur, perhaps by figuring an average cost of what users incur in country X. For example, data connection might not cost you any extra but to do that your provider and their contracted provider in country X may have to restrict your speeds.

So, when in another country, if you get service at all you end up paying more for it (e.g. price per call minute) and/or having service deprecation (e.g., restrictions on number of calls or texts or slower data speeds). One US provider might give you the same deal as you get at home but to cover their costs they may charge you X amount per month service charge or perhaps Y amount for every day you connect to one of their overseas partners.

The EU has put restrictions on companies so that service charges between EU providers essentially will mean no or essentially little extra charges for roaming. I think this takes effect in July 2022.