T-Mobile is looking to make yet another super-unpopular change to its rates. | Image by PhoneArena
Did you book your flight tickets and hotel room for your upcoming international summer vacation and perhaps even started packing your bags even though your trip is still two or three weeks away?
There's only one more thing to do (at least if you're on T-Mobile), but it might well prove to be more important than getting the best possible travel insurance at the lowest price. I'm talking about remembering to add an International Pass to your wireless plan for the duration of your holiday abroad, which is set to become even more crucial for your financial well-being on June 25 than ever before.
International calls will be twice as expensive soon
We've all seen Magenta make some... questionable changes to many of its monthly rates, taxes, and fees over the last couple of years or so, catching flak from a lot of longtime subscribers with various eye-popping hikes I'd rather not dwell on for too long, but even by these standards, a 100 percent increase feels completely shameless, unjustified, and possibly unprecedented.
This is the only confirmation we have at this time for T-Mobile's looming international talk price hike. | Image by ArtisticComplaint3 on Reddit
And yet here we are, counting the days until June 25 (that's exactly two weeks away, mind you), when T-Mo apparently plans to double the $0.25 a minute currently charged for voice calls initiated from outside the US.
That's right, you will soon pay $0.50 per minute if you travel to, say, the UK (or any other warmer place around the world you can think of) and want to hear the voice of a loved one from back home. That's a whole buck for every two minutes of conversation, $15 for half an hour, and $30 for an hour, which can add up to an obscene amount of money for a one-week or two-week vacation if you're not careful.
How can you dodge this charge?
That's pretty easy, but it's also not super-cheap. To get "free" calls on your trip, you need an International Pass, which starts at $10 a day (for now, at least) with 2GB of high-speed data also included. A 10 Day Pass, meanwhile, will set you back a grand total of $35 with 5 gigs of high-speed data (for the entire 10-day window), with a 30 Day Pass costing $50 and giving you access to T-Mobile's blazing fast network for up to 15GB in addition to granting you unlimited calling (and, of course, texting).
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What do you do when you travel abroad?
Texting, in case you're wondering, is actually the easiest and cheapest way to avoid the "Un-carrier's" international calling charges, at least on the Experience Beyond and Experience More plans. Those two options include unlimited texts in "215+ countries and destinations, as well as high-speed data allotments of 15 and 5 GB, respectively, in their standard monthly prices.
At $100 a month (plus taxes and fees) for a single line of service, however, you might expect the Experience Beyond plan to come with at least a few minutes of "free" international calls, which is unfortunately not the case.
How does T-Mobile compare to the competition in this department?
In short, not great. That's because AT&T's Elite 2.0 and Verizon's Unlimited Ultimate plans both come with unlimited talk for international travelers in addition to unlimited international data and text.
Even on T-Mobile's costliest new plans, you'll probably have to pay $0.50 a minute for international calling soon. | Image by T-Mobile
For customers on cheaper plans, both carriers offer international passes starting at $10 or $12 a day, while the pay-per-minute rates for international calls vary from country to country and are generally higher (or, in some cases, a lot higher) than 50 cents.
That would seem to suggest T-Mo's June 25 change is at least partially justified, but it remains hard to explain (and understand) why Magenta isn't looking to add free international calling at least to its top-of-the-line Experience Beyond plan.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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