Cell Phone Use in Mexico
 

I am heading to Mexico and my parents are paranoid about it. Does anyone know if their cell phone works in Mexico and how reasonable are the charges?

It depends on the service. Call the cell phone company and find out. If not you can buy a phone in Mexico if you want too. The down side is international calls will cost you a $1.00 a minute at best and probably a lot more. Personally I just use Ladatel cards and public pay phones to stay in touch with home. If I am going to stay somewhere more than a day or two, I get a contact number and give that to the folks at home.

Thanks D. I will get on the web and get info on the Ladatel phone cards!

I have AT&T service. They include international dialing in their service. I go to Cancun often and use my cell for incoming & outgoing. They charge .99 a minute roaming and .25 a minute for the call. Also have another international plan that costs $3.95 a month. Roaming rate is the same, but calls are .15 a minute. Whatever you do, don't use hotel phones, even if they say they have discounted rates. My sister called PA and it cost her $45 for 9 minutes.

You just by the Latadel cards at most stores in Mexico. They have a liitle sign in the window with a picture of a phone on it. Or use the cards find a public phone that says ladatel then dial, I belive, 011-area code- plus number. If not its 001-area code plus number, can't remember which.

Ladatel cards work fine and are a cheap alternative when you have a planned call. However, I guess that your parents main concern is whether their cellphones will work, right? I would be almost certain that they will work. Maybe you can find this information on their carriers website.

I forgot another thing. It is very easy to go into some stores and buy a pre-paid card cellphone (Telcel Amigo, for instance). You should pay somewhere around 50-60 US for a cell phone and 50 worth of calls. This phone will certainly work, if your parents' phone doesn't.