TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Phone Question

No they won’t be charged. They are calling a US number. I will play with this in a few weeks and report back!!!

Excellent.....I still don't see how it is no charge to connect to a roaming network but I will take it as fact...and...from what you said you will not be charged for incoming calls AND they will not be charged for calling you ....so a freebee all around....which also kinda makes me suspicious

So I guess when I am anywhere in the world anyone can call me and we can talk forever and it will cost both parties zip......hmmmm ...sounds like a plan.

I don't know if it is my particular plan or what, but I only turn off cellular data. I still receive phone calls - spam goes straight to voice mail with no charge. If I answer from my kids it charges $1.79 per minute for phone calls. Texts are $.05 to receive .$.50 to send. No $10 day pass triggered.

What Kim is saying above is exactly what happens for me.


Edited to add: When I am at the condo - I use wifi and we FaceTime and iMessage at no charge. But I talked for a a bit with my daughter who was going through a divorce last year with no wifi and the only charges were $1.79 per minute, which still ends up cheaper than $10 per day.

Sooooo... $1.79/min charge for incoming and outgoing (I think)....got it. Makes sense now. Didn't think it was a freebee. (and it's $1.79 + 8.8% tax.). Still not attractive to me but go with what you are comfortable with

Personally if using that plan I would have the person text me and I would call them back on wifi as soon as I can

Interesting. When I didn’t have the travel plan I was never charged for incoming calls. Will have to research that. I don’t think it’s correct that there is a charge for incoming. Let’s say I get 15 calls from people wanting to sell be a service plan on my vehicle. Should I be charged? If so, that’s a gold mine for the phone companies. But I will double check on that

I think it makes sense that the person making the call (using the roam network) pays the price. I just don't about the USA person calling SXM....yes it's a USA cell number BUT using a roaming network. Not at all like wifi calling which does not use any network

Edit: HMMMMM

But - SXM Dutch side is on the North American calling plan. 1-721- It’s weird. But once I have the time I will double check old bills and if all fails will try it out when down in a few weeks.

I am only charged if I answer and talk. If it goes to voice mail, no charge.

My daughter was not charged a fee, as far as she is concerned, she's just calling my regular US number.

Edited to add:
It works this way all over the world and on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Azamara (before they were sold) cruise ships but sometimes the fees are different.... well, at least where I've tried.... Tahiti, Spain, Portugal, and several spots throughout the Caribbean.

For me, it's not worth the hassle to try to turn on and off the travel pass or text to call later. My kids know I'm in SXM and rarely call unless it's urgent. As when I'm home, I don't answer numbers I don't know and if I don't think it's urgent, I will text or iMessage when I have wifi. It's worth the peace of mind to me to have my phone available, not just for my kids, but my parents are getting older as well. Like you say, everyone's different, but it is worth the very minimal charges to me to not have to worry about it. All I do is turn off Celluar Data when I get on the plane for SXM (or anywhere) and turn it back on when I get back to the USA.

Except that switching to airplane mode while flying is a Federal requirement.

On another note...I guess Verizon eliminated the weekly Travel Pass plan that used to be $40....can't find it anywhere. I found a monthly $130 plan but no weekly

I turn mine off during flights.