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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:22 pm 
Ticas ask me for advice!

Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:08 pm
Posts: 437
I'm wondering if any CR residents might offer some advice here.

I'll bring an unlocked phone and get a plan when I get there.

What concerns me, though, is all the two-factor accounts that I have that will have to be changed to a new (eight digit!) phone number. I've heard a lot of nightmares people have had trying to retain access to their U.S. based financial accounts once they lose the number associated to their accounts. I'll write to the places where I have my accounts to see what they say, but I thought I'd crowdsource this here first to see if anyone has relevant experience or knowledge to share.

Currently I am using Google Fi as my phone service, and part of their deal is that you can continue to use it when you're outside the U.S. Once you've been out for six months or so, though, you've violated their TOS and you get cut off.

I've heard rumors that their workarounds, though. Besides sending the phone to the U.S. so that it can ping there a while, I was wondering if anyone had heard of how to retain their Fi service. Or do you know of a good phone forum where this kind of thing might be discussed.

Grateful for open discussion here, and my PM's are open.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:56 pm 
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I use Mint's yearly plan. The SIM is not in my phone, so I don't use minutes on a daily basis. Fee is around $200 per year and works fine when I visit the US. I set *most* of my accounts for two-factor, but some still look for a phone number. I have used it for Paypal, Xoom, Fidelity, Suntrust(Truist), Ally, and Capital One. Never a hiccup. I tried using freebies like TextFree and others, but they seemed to 'break' off and on. Bought the SIM on Amazon and activated it in the US.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:48 pm 
Ticas ask me for advice!

Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:08 pm
Posts: 437
Boynton wrote:
I use Mint's yearly plan.


Sounds like what I'm looking for.

Is it this plan? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741FGRG2/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=29c63d87e955c1c09444f8f49d760a04&content-id=amzn1.sym.726c7794-4d50-454f-b330-ab19dd5b2c80%3Aamzn1.sym.726c7794-4d50-454f-b330-ab19dd5b2c80&hsa_cr_id=1948195620201&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=7b02d7be-a0ab-47e3-9f36-1c1df520951a&pd_rd_w=i062Y&pd_rd_wg=SNqqX&qid=1654652159&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_1_title&sr=1-2-a094db1c-5033-42c6-82a2-587d01f975e8?

I don't see anything at all about International usage except Canada and Mexico so I'm a little surprised it works so well in CR. And then do you have another phone for your in-country calls? Or are you able to keep it all together on one phone?


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:06 pm 
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Maybe Google Voice(not same as google fi) App. Port your current US number to Google Voice before leaving the US.Check out this Expat info article.
https://culturepassport.co/keep-us-number-abroad/
Plus 2FA should work on a moble browser with your current email that you've always used.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:24 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!
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Bookie wrote:
Boynton wrote:
I use Mint's yearly plan.


Sounds like what I'm looking for.

Is it this plan? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741FGRG2/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=29c63d87e955c1c09444f8f49d760a04&content-id=amzn1.sym.726c7794-4d50-454f-b330-ab19dd5b2c80%3Aamzn1.sym.726c7794-4d50-454f-b330-ab19dd5b2c80&hsa_cr_id=1948195620201&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=7b02d7be-a0ab-47e3-9f36-1c1df520951a&pd_rd_w=i062Y&pd_rd_wg=SNqqX&qid=1654652159&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_1_title&sr=1-2-a094db1c-5033-42c6-82a2-587d01f975e8?

I don't see anything at all about International usage except Canada and Mexico so I'm a little surprised it works so well in CR. And then do you have another phone for your in-country calls? Or are you able to keep it all together on one phone?


Yes, that is the plan. The $60 purchase price includes 3 months of service. After that, you can pay yearly ($180 or $15/month). You get to select your US area code.
mintmobile.com

I only use it in CR for texting so I add International Roaming Minutes which never expire. The feature is called UpRoam and you can buy blocks of $5, $10, or $20. I have a Kolbi prepaid SIM for local use.

Day to day, I have my Kolbi CR SIM in the phone. If I need to send or receive international texts or check my US voicemails, I swap to my MintMobile SIM and it connects to Claro and uses the the roaming minutes. Then I put the Kolbi SIM back in. If I travel to the US, I put the MintMobile SIM back in and I have a working US phone during my visit. I have yet to use up my first $20 block of roaming and I have had it for 2 years. I use an old unlocked iPhone7 purchased from Amazon.

Just a note, when I first moved here I still had a year left on a US Sprint contract. The line cost $60 per month but international texting was included and roaming was 20 cents a minute. It also had free 2G mobile data which was enough for Waze & GPS. Since most of the people here use WhatsApp, I just used that and most places had WiFi. My US calls were business related so I was able to expense the roaming charges. Plus, my business contacts could still call my US number. When the Sprint contract ended, I canceled it.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2022 10:35 pm 
Ticas ask me for advice!

Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:08 pm
Posts: 437
Thanks for spelling it out for me Boynton. I've got a lot to learn about phones, but at least it all sounds doable.


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