Cartagena Reports

Interesting to hear your remarks about Sprint and Verizon not working in Colombia. For years, I have used TMobile and that service has worked for me in the past in Colombia but it has been several years since my last visit. However, Sprint acquired TMobile (or was it the other way around?) last year so I am now billed via Sprint. Supposedly, this deal happened in part so they could combine their networks with the international deals they had made with foreign telecom companies to share their towers etc.

If Sprint does not work, I would have to resort to a local SIM card so no big deal, just a minor inconvenience.

[QUOTE=PerkinWarbeck;2537348]I used Travelpass last week through Verizon and it worked perfectly. Is it your phone?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=PerkinWarbeck;2537348]I used Travelpass last week through Verizon and it worked perfectly. Is it your phone?[/QUOTE]No, its Verizon's phone. I am buying it from them each month. Travel pass did not work before Christmas when I was in Cart and I had to cut short my vacation so I did not miss business calls. Have read on other blogs that Sprint is not compatible either with Colombia's telephone grid.

[QUOTE=PerkinWarbeck;2537348]I used Travelpass last week through Verizon and it worked perfectly. Is it your phone?[/QUOTE]Can I use my Verizon phone in Colombia?

If your unlocked cell phone has GSM 850 and 1900 bands it should work in Colombia. A CDMA phone will not work in Colombia. In the US, both Verizon and Sprint use CDMA. An unlocked GGSM quad band phone is a good choice for Colombia and other countries. Dec 29,2014.

I deliberately disabled my American cell phone so I wouldn't get one of those huge bills that they talk about every once in awhile on the TV. Is there a way to keep your American SIM card active without getting a big Bill? What I've been doing is disabling the American phone and using a separate phone with a Colombian SIM card. In Cuba getting a SIM card is a huge thing because they're afraid of people plotting a counter revolution but in Cartagena it was very simple I just went to the first internet cafe near the apartment and asked for one and then also bought a 5 gig got a plan with unlimited phone usage and texting for 15 days for 50,000 pesos. If there's any alternatives to this I would love to hear it. If anyone's here let me know and we can meet for lunch or whatever.

Jet Blue changed my flight and now I arrive on a Monday instead of Wednesday. Fortunately, I can work remote so after about 1/2 pm I can get out and about. I might even work from a Juan Valdez if the internet connection is good.

Has this ever happened to anyone? I got the BS covid excuse from Jet Blue, but to not have ANY other options than to go two days early? I can understand adjusting the hours some, but this pissed me off. Initially. It's less than $100 for the two additional nights of lodging and then whatever I spend will basically be the same as when I'm at home. I get to ease into my vacation and not run the streets too crazy as well as spread my chicas out over 7 days. I'm not expecting much for Monday and Tuesday since it is typically the slowest days of any mongering destination I've visited in the past.

Lemons=lemonade LOL.

[QUOTE=CubaTourist;2537417]I deliberately disabled my American cell phone so I wouldn't get one of those huge bills that they talk about every once in awhile on the TV. Is there a way to keep your American SIM card active without getting a big Bill? [/QUOTE]It must not be the American SIM, but the company and plan you are using. For probably the last 10 years I have been on the T-mobile plan where I do not pay anything extra for roaming internet and have free calls over wifi. I also have free calls and texts between USA, Mexico, and Canada. My bill is $70 even every month. I let my Colombian SIM go many years ago. It was no longer needed with this plan and whatsapp. I am in Brazil now writing this through my T-mobile internet.

[QUOTE=NeilGeorge;2537136]Verizon and Sprint phones do not work in Colombia. Incompatible with the Colombia network system. Yet Verizon tried to sell me their "Travel Pass" which and not work. Not even working with wi-fi.[/QUOTE]I have T-Mobile and when I was in Cartagena I got their "International plan". Damn Service was better than when I'm in the US. Go figure.

[QUOTE=NeilGeorge;2537393]Can I use my Verizon phone in Colombia?

If your unlocked cell phone has GSM 850 and 1900 bands it should work in Colombia. A CDMA phone will not work in Colombia. In the US, both Verizon and Sprint use CDMA. An unlocked GGSM quad band phone is a good choice for Colombia and other countries. Dec 29,2014.[/QUOTE]Are you using a phone without a SIM card? I've been a Verizon customer since 2014, and have been living in Colombia for long stretches since 2018. Usually, I just go get a SIM from the Claro store in Centro Uno outside the city walls. It always works. This past week, I only stayed for 9 days, so I went with Verizon's travel pass and it worked perfectly. Are you using some super old phone that is not compatible? I've been using the newest edition iPhone with no problems whatsoever.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2537134]I reported today in another thread about talking to another board member here in Rio last night. He asserted that the changes in mongering as far as the chicks are concerned is due to the internet. After reading what you wrote, I pretty much agree with that. Mongering in Brazil and Dominican Republic and Philippines and Thailand before widespread internet, was just how you described Cuba to be today. Cuba does not have internet like that, which is why I only went once. But I guess I sacrificed internet for having cheap GFE as a given. If they ever let the internet take over in Cuba, you can say goodbye to the great days of mongering there, the same as we have had to do in these other countries.[/QUOTE]Yes, yes indeed.

[QUOTE=NeilGeorge;2537136]Verizon and Sprint phones do not work in Colombia. Incompatible with the Colombia network system. Yet Verizon tried to sell me their "Travel Pass" which did not work. Not even working with wi-fi.[/QUOTE]Maybe your Verizon phone is incompatible with Colombia's networks but not all phones that people buy from Verizon are incompatible with Colombia's networks. I have been with Verizon for 15 years and I can make my current Google Pixel work anywhere in the world. Many other phones bought through Verizon will also.

This is literally me copying and pasting a post I made only 2 days ago, with small modifications.

Over the years Verizon phones have changed but it still depends on the actual model of the phone, I used Verizon for years and my phone would be useless in Colombia. I had a cheap Chinese Galaxy clone dual SIM I used to carry down there. It did not work because not only does / did Verizon us CDMA technology but Verizon had them locked. Then when Google made the first deal with Verizon to sell their Google Pixel Phone they required that Verizon sell the phone "unlocked". Google was also selling the phone themselves in their Google Store so each phone is made as a multi band to work on any network. Now other phones have followed and I am fairly sure that all phones made by major manufacturers that sell through Verizon are multiband and work on most networks. Google Pixel phones also have the capability of being dual SIM because they have an eSIM capabilty, so when I am traveling I can keep my original number in case people at home are trying to contact me, and I download an eSIM from Google Fi to use when traveling because they do not charge for roaming and the data is reasonable. This is really handy if you are traveling to more than one country. I am posting an image of the description of a Galaxy S21 5 G, Apple iPhone SE (2020), ad the cheapo Galaxy A01 . According to this article linked below, Verizon only demands that your phone be locked to their network to the first 60 days. This article also addresses how to get it unlocked.

All that being said, I am not going to argue with someone's reasoning of having their primary phone locked up for your lifeline and carrying a burner monger phone. It is a safe way to go.

I personally do not worry about it being my lifeline though because everything that is on my phone is also in Google's Cloud, as with anyone who has Google email etc, if I lose my phone I can wipe it clean from Google Chrome browser on any computer. Deactivate that phone from my Verizon account. Then I can buy any Android phone, new or used, activate it with any service provider, as long as it has a factory reset, log into my google account with my Gmail and that phone will download and set up exactly the way the phone was that I lost.

One more thing that may sound silly but should be kept in mind is this. It is your screen time out time, This is especially true in Medellin where people are known to run by and snag a phone straight from your hand. When I am traveling I keep my phone at the lowest screen time out, 15 seconds, make sure your settings lock the phone at screen time out also, I am not sure they all do, anyway now all you have to do is give chase for 15 seconds to be sure your phone locks, if you are chasing that fool isn't going to focus on keeping that screen alive, and then will not have access to your phone and everything under the sun that is on there like Google Pay or Apple Pay etc. I am sure that I would give at least 30 seconds chase to be sure, and obviously you do not necessarily have to catch them, but just keep them nervous enough to not focus on that phone.

I would suggest to anyone that wanted a travel phone to go online and find a phone that works on Colombia's networks. According to medellinguru dot com -.

[URL]https://medellinguru.com/cell-phones/[/URL]#text=The%20 GSM%20850%20 and%20 GSM, will%20 not%20 work%20 in%20 Colombia.

"The GSM 850 and GSM 1900 bands are used in Colombia for cell phones. If your unlocked cell phone supports GSM 850 and GSM 1900 bands it should work in Colombia. Most noteworthy, a CDMA (CDMA Only) phone will not work in Colombia. ".

For people that travel between multiple countries I suggest finding a phone that advertises as dual SIM and "quad band" or "global phone" etc because these work in most countries.

Or do what I do and see if your phone is compatible with Google FI which gives you flexibility to work in every country without roaming on the data, and just make free voice calls through Wi-Fi.

Lastly if a person is traveling between different countries and wants flexibility, if you do the research on compatible phones they could look at buying a used cell phone that is compatible with Google Fi, cost for service is 20 USD per month for service then 10 USD per GB data, there are no contracts so I cancel after one month, the advantage is no matter which country you land in you can use the same SIM and at most have to turn your phone off and on to lock into a signal when you land in a different country, I have used Google Fi in the Colombia, UK, Mexico, France, Spain, and the Czech Republic. The last three all in the same trip and the same SIM.

[QUOTE=NeilGeorge;2537393]Can I use my Verizon phone in Colombia?

If your unlocked cell phone has GSM 850 and 1900 bands it should work in Colombia. A CDMA phone will not work in Colombia. In the US, both Verizon and Sprint use CDMA. An unlocked GGSM quad band phone is a good choice for Colombia and other countries. Dec 29,2014.[/QUOTE]I have been using my Verizon phone for years in Colombia. When I turn it on upon landing at the airport it always says welcome to Colombia. If you open the phone and text or read a message or a WA you will be charged $10 for 24 hours and you will have access to whatever plan you have in the states I have unlim so I can text and call as much as I want, to both Colombia and the USA, for 10 a day. If you don't turn you phone on for the next 24 hours, there is no charge for that time period.

[QUOTE=NeilGeorge;2537393]Can I use my Verizon phone in Colombia?

If your unlocked cell phone has GSM 850 and 1900 bands it should work in Colombia. A CDMA phone will not work in Colombia. In the US, both Verizon and Sprint use CDMA. An unlocked GGSM quad band phone is a good choice for Colombia and other countries. Dec 29,2014.[/QUOTE]I used Verizon in Cart on my iphone a year ago for the $10/ day and it worked great. I set it up with them ahead of time. On days that I didn't have contact with the USA and only was on whatsapp with chicas and others in Cart on wifi I didn't get charged.

It you would have bought an unlocked phone you could saved lots of money. For about $15 you could receive about two weeks or more time on the phone.

Whatsapp is free and works anywhere in the world.

I have a Unlocked Motorola G8. I paid $200 online.

[QUOTE=LatinaLover#1;2537514]I have been using my Verizon phone for years in Colombia. When I turn it on upon landing at the airport it always says welcome to Colombia. If you open the phone and text or read a message or a WA you will be charged $10 for 24 hours and you will have access to whatever plan you have in the states I have unlimited so I can text and call as much as I want, to both Colombia and the USA, for 10 a day. If you don't turn you phone on for the next 24 hours, there is no charge for that time period.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=WorldTravel69;2537657]It you would have bought an unlocked phone you could saved lots of money. For about $15 you could receive about two weeks or more time on the phone.

Whatsapp is free and works anywhere in the world.[/QUOTE]What are people still doing all this talking on the phone for? My parents know to send me a message on whatsapp. My insurance company emails me. My doctor has a system to write messages back and forth.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2537666]What are people still doing all this talking on the phone for? My parents know to send me a message on whatsapp. My insurance company emails me. My doctor has a system to write messages back and forth.[/QUOTE]Aww come on E, your job facilitates you to conquer the world. Many of us don't have that luxury. Getting a Sim card is good if you plan on talking locally minus WhatsApp or Internet connection. I switch from AT&T to T-Mobile. T-Mobile has a $35 10 day international pass. Free calling and texting to the US plus 5 G Internet. AT&T and Verizon charges $10 a day.
I chose this option because I don't like give out my passport information unless absolutely necessary. Cuba and now the Dominican republic both require you to give them your passport information before assigning you a Sim card. Prior to that, I unlocked all my phones and use a local Sim card when I touchdown.