SIM Card needed while traveling from US to Belize - suggestions please

March 3, 2013 6:06 AM

I'll be traveling to Belize this summer and would like to use my Verizon iPhone 4s, which I will have unlocked from Verizon by that time, for local voice and data calls. I'll I plan on using Talkatone for making wifi only calls back to the US as well as using the data part from the SIM Card to text back to the US while I'm there. It would be nice to be able to purchase a SIM Card here in the States before traveling, but I'm not against purchasing a SIM Card at or near BZE Airport when we arrive. Thank you for your time. I do appreciate it.
posted by Jackie_Treehorn to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

Honestly, IMO, it would be better to buy a cheap phone and a prepaid card when you get there. Carrying around a $300 phone in Central America is a bit risky. Use wifi when you're in a hotel, etc. Free wifi is everywhere.
posted by empath at 6:09 AM on March 3, 2013

here you can buy one.
posted by DreamerFi at 6:25 AM on March 3, 2013

Isn't the Verizon iPHone 4s a CDMA phone? Meaning, it won't take a SIM and won't work in Belize.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:45 AM on March 3, 2013

It appears to be dual-band with a micro-sim for GSM use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_4#Storage_and_Micro-SIM
posted by bizwank at 10:57 AM on March 3, 2013

Are you certain Verizon will unlock your phone? Because I tried to do the sane thing last year with an old blackberry I had (but was no longer using) and Verizon refused to unlock it for purposes of going to Europe and using a Sim card. I would double triple check that because you don't want to be under a certain impression with regard to your cell phone usage and then come back to a surprise $2000 phone bill. Verizon is the shittiest company I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with so I don't trust or believe a single thing they say but YMMV.
posted by young sister beacon at 12:55 PM on March 3, 2013