Help, buy Phone is USA or in Thailand?

[onera1961]

If you're world traveler or travel to multiple countries every year, Google's Fi is a good option. $10/Gig of data through out the world and $20 for unlimited calls inside US. And anybody in the US can reach your US number (for voice and SMS) no matter where you are in the World.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

AT&T has a $2/day plan - you only pay for the days you use it - so I am pretty sure you can do the same thing. Level up to PAYG month-month plan, then level back down when you leave.

 

AT&T's $2 per day plan covers unlimited domestic calling and SMS, but no data. For medium to heavy mobile users depending on the length of the trip, it's probably going to be a better deal than TM's $3 per month minimum plan, which only includes 30 minutes of calls or up to 30 SMSes before they start charging extra at the rate of 10 cents per min. But for very light users, TM might be a better option.

 

When I'm back in the U.S., apart from the $3 a month TM plan that I usually add a TM prepaid customer data pass for ($10 for 7 days and 1GB LTE), I use FreedomPop's AT&T LTE free plan that includes 200 calling minutes, 500 domestic SMS, and 200 MB of data per month, with the ability to go beyond any of those limits by paying a bit extra. That, along with MagicJack and TextNow wifi calling, usually covers my visits.

 

In short, the FP 200 minute free calling allocation usually covers my mobile calling needs apart from wifi calling. And the $10 TM 1 GB data pass for their $3 a month prepaid plan plus the 200MB of data from FreedomPop usually covers my mobile data needs. Total mobile cost for 1 to 2 week trip starting at $13 and up to $23 if I end up buying a second TM 1 week data pass.

 

On my most recent trip, meanwhile, I noticed that TM also has begun offering what they call a Tourist Plan package that lists at $30, but ends up being $42+ after they add a $10 activation fee and tax. Oddly, it's only offered for a fixed 3 week duration and is non-renewable / non-extendable, nor can you switch it to another TM service. And it must be purchased with a U.S. bank card. But for that price and period, it does include the SIM, up to 1000 minutes of mobile domestic calling, unlimited U.S. and international texting, and 2 GB of LTE data, with unlimited 2G data after that.

 

https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-26344#firstheading

 

But I've never chosen or used it, because I don't like having to switch to a new SIM and number on every trip, and that it apparently can't be switched to the $3 a month prepaid plan after its 3 week duration has expired. For the three week period, the $42+ price works out to about $2 per day for a lot of calling and texting, and a decent amount of LTE data.