Verizon cell...adding Mexico plan

[Colorado Belle]

Anyone done this?

Currently, I've been told that I can, for an extra $15.50 per month, add Mexico to my family and friends Verizon plan.
Once added, I can use my cell while in Mexico to call the US w/o roaming charges, to call US cell phones that are in Mexico w/o either party incurring roaming and to call any Mexican cell or landline w/o roaming. This would be great, but I fear that once there, the actuality might be different from the hype.

Has anyone done this who can verify that above is true? If it is true, then I think that might be my best option.
Previously I've gotten Skype for calls from mex to the us, unlimited for $6.99 /month. My apt last year required me to have a landline, so that worked for landline to landline PV calls. Then I should have gotten a cheap cell for cell to cell calls and emergencies.

[loafer]

The wife and I have used the verizon cell Mexican plan the last few years without a problem. The only problem in Mexico is that friends from Mexico calling you, it is long distance charge for them. We just got a cheep telcel phone for friends in Mexico to call us. But for calling the states, and people from the states calling, worked great.

[MN2PVR]

I've added it just for 1 month for the week that I'm down there, then cancelling it after I get home. It worked great - no additional charges on my bill and I made and received quite a few calls to/from the US while I was there. You just have to remember to cancel it when you get home because they won't do it for you.

[Colorado Belle]

aha...so if I call a mexican cell then I won't pay but THEY will be charged long distance 'as if' I was calling from the US?

[loafer]

My understanding of mx phones, could be wrong, is you are charged for all outgoing call and not incoming. We called from us and mx to mx numbers, and no one said they had extra charges. One thing I forgot to add was we had global phones from Verizon. Not all phones will work on the Mx plan. Check with Verizon.

[dlockesf]

Loafer is right, Mexican cell phones don't get charged for incoming calls. When you run out of pesos on a Telcel phone you can still receive calls.

I think charging for receiving calls is pretty much a US-only deal. How about Canada?

As far as special phones, we had a plain old Verizon CDMA phone and used in on the Mexico plan for years. Nothing global at all. Those are generally GSM phones, with SIM cards.

Verizon's coverage isn't perfect because they use second tier Mexican wireless carriers as partners, but they cover most places. Once they had no coverage in Mazatlan but I think they fixed it.

[robertb]

I have the "Mexico Calling Plan" on my Verizon (VZ) phone. I have used the calling plan on a number of different phones over the years, and they all worked great. I don't have a "World Phone" or anything like that. I did have trouble calling NOTB from PV around Christmas and New Years. Calls wouldn't go through and people sent me e-mails telling me that my phone was not working. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I was back in PV in February, and at the same time, there was some sort of Economic Summit in Cabo. I have friends over there and they said that they could not use their VZ phones to call and there were no incoming calls. I went to an internet cafe and called VZ. The tech guy I talked with said that Verizon piggy-backs on a cell phone company in Mexico called "Moviestar". He said that the system was overwhelmed with not only their normal Mexico traffic, but when there are large number of people making and receiving calls NOTB, the system is overloaded and will reject calls. (He did removed the $15 fee from my bill.) One thing to keep in mind when you bring your Android or iPhone in to Mexico is, be aware that using the data features on your phone (sending/receiving picture message, downloading files, surfing the web), all are very costly. I was in PV for 9 days and I used my phone as I normally would. I thought it was really cool to lay in bed, read the NYTimes, checkout my favorite website, catch up on e-mail, etc. I got home and found that I had run up $397 in "international data roaming" charges. Before you head to Mexico with a data-capable phone, call your carrier and make sure you understand what data will cost you in Mexico. If you want to avoid the roaming data charges, make sure you understand how to disable the data feature on your phone. (Put it on "Airplane" mode, or switch off the data capabilities.)