Does Verizon work in Saudi Arabia?

If you are planning a long-distance trip to Saudi Arabia, you may want to keep in touch with your friends and family back at home and keep track of your roaming charges. If you are a Verizon, then you may be wondering whether the roaming charges are worth the price.

So, what do you really need to know about roaming with Verizon? Well, on all nationwide Verizon plans, domestic roaming is a free service. However, you would need to pay additional fees if you plan on taking your phone with you for international travels to places such as Saudi Arabia. You also have the option to roam on a pay-per-minute basis which I am afraid may be quite costly if you will be staying in Saudi Arabia for a long period of time. Generally, Verizon works in Saudi Arabia but it is only worth it if you have subscribed to an international phone plan.

What are Verizon’s international roaming charges?

Verizon’s international roaming charges entirely depend on the type of Verizon plan that you have subscribed to and are using. If you have a Verizon plan that is not designed to offer service outside of the United States, then you will be subjected to paying additional fees when you are travelling abroad to places such as Saudi Arabia. This means that you may be charged on a per-MB, per-text and per-minute basis when abroad. Unfortunately, these prices tend to add up pretty fast if you aren’t careful and may cost you a fortune.

When you are using your phone in Saudi Arabia, you will get multiple texts from Verizon breaking down the overall charges per day and in the event that you are at a usage threshold, they will also send you a text message.

How about Verizon’s international roaming minutes?

When you are planning to go to Saudi Arabia and are planning to use your phone and Verizon plans, international roaming minutes will be billed as independent minutes and at times they tend to be quite expensive. However, Verizon gives you a few options that will enable you to cut a few costs and make using your phone abroad a lot more convenient. If you own a 4G LTE device, you can always sign up for Verizon’s TravelPass prior to the onset of your trip. TravelPass is quite advantageous as it allows you to comfortably use your daily domestic minutes, texts and data allowance for about $10 daily.

Additionally, the $10 fee is only charged on days that you are using your phone. If you do not use your phone on specific days, then you wouldn’t have to pay for those days.

Verizon’s data, messaging and global voice rates

Global messaging rates with Verizon for international roaming would cost you $0.50 for every text message that you send and another $0.50 for every text message that you send. In addition, for both your incoming and outgoing multimedia messages, you will be charged $0.25.Global data rates would cost you about $2.05 per MB for seamless data usage while in Saudi Arabia.

What Verizon roaming plan choices do I have when travelling to Saudi Arabia?

Amongst the multiple ways through which Verizon will charge you for your phone’s usage when travelling to Saudi Arabia is through TravelPass which is the most convenient international plan under Verizon. With TravelPass, you have the chance to use your mobile smartphone just like you always have back at home in the US. TravelPass allows you to comfortably pay a consistent daily rate to take your domestic text, talk and data options with you wherever you choose to go. An added advantage with TravelPass is that you only pay for the days that you use your phone. In this case, the daily fee would be $10 for Saudi Arabia. All you need to do is text the word ‘Travel’ to 4004 and Verizon’s customer representative will activate it for you.

Locations	Domestic locations such as Mexico and Canada	Other overseas destinations such as Saudi Arabia
Included	Talk, text and data	Talk, text and data
Price	$5 per day	$10 per day

Another option you can consider prior to your trip to Saudi Arabia is either of Verizon’s monthly international plan. These international plans give you a chance to set a monthly allowance of text, talk and data you your mobile account when travelling abroad. You can always renew it every month until you don’t need to use it anymore. This often comes in handy when you travel for long stays. The table below summarizes both monthly international plans under Verizon.

Monthly International Plan	1	2
Monthly costs	$70	$130
Talk time	100 minutes per month	250 minutes per month
Text	100 SMS per month	1,000 SMS per month
Data	0.5 GB per month	2 GB per month

The last option that you can use when travelling to Saudi Arabia while on Verizon’s network would be Verizon’s Pay-as-you-Go. This option however, is only ideal if you do not plan on using your phone too much when you are travelling abroad. You should avoid this option if you know that you will need your phone often because the prices can escalate pretty fast.

With the pay-as-you-go plan, you can call your friends and family for about $0.99 per minute when you are travelling to Mexico and Canada and around $2.99 per minute when in Saudi Arabia. This is a pretty huge difference if you look closely. Texting and data prices cost the same on this plan no matter where you go. That means that you would need to pay $0.50 to send and receive texts and $0.25 for multimedia messages. Data, on the other hand, costs $2.05 for every MB.

Final Thoughts

Whichever option you choose to use for your trip to Saudi Arabia, always ensure that it is one that seamlessly caters for your telecommunication and network needs at all times throughout your trip.

FAQs

1. Will my Verizon phone work with a SIM card from Saudi Arabia?

Yes, it will. As long as it is unlocked.

2. Which is the best Verizon phone plan when travelling abroad?

This entirely depends on the duration of your trip. If you are going for a short stay you may want to use the Pay-as-you-Go or Verizon’s TravelPass but if you are there for a long stay, you may want to try out one of the international monthly plans.