Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
You may have heard that Mint Mobile offers free roaming in Canada, but what about our neighbor to the south? While you won’t get free roaming, it is possible to access service in Mexico with Mint Mobile. In this quick guide, we’ll explain how to use Mint Mobile in Mexico, how much it’ll cost you, and whether or not there are any better alternatives for traveling.
How much does it cost to use Mint Mobile in Mexico?
Mint Mobile’s international plans used to be extremely complicated and expensive, requiring you to top off the plan with a pay-as-you-go model. Nowadays Mint has shifted to its Minternational Pass program, which is much more straightforward.
The Minternational Pass is compatible with networks in over 180 countries. These plans come in one, three, or ten-day packages and offer the following benefits:
- 1-day pass: You’ll get 60 minutes of talk, 60 texts, and 1GB of high speed data for $5.
- 3-day pass: 200 mins, 200 texts, and 3GB of high speed data for $10.
- 10-day pass: 500 mins, 500 texts, and 10GB of high speed data for $20.
Let’s be honest, these rates aren’t bad but they are a bit limiting. What if you don’t plan on using more than 1GB of data over a 3-day vacation, as you’ll primarily be on Wi-Fi when you are consuming data? You’d have no option but to upgrade to a 3-day pass that includes more data than you need. The costs can also stack up in a hurry for longer trips. For example, you’d pay a whopping $60 for access to just 1500 minutes and texts, and only 30GB of data if you stayed for a month.
Are there any alternatives I should consider?
If you plan on traveling frequently you might want to consider another carrier, such as Google Fi. Google’s prepaid network feels a bit more like a traditional carrier but still has cheaper pricing than the big networks. It also offers some of the best international rates around, including free talk, text, and data in over 200 countries for select plans. You can learn more in our guide to the best Google Fi Plans.
What if you only plan to travel on occasion or are you just really happy with Mint’s network already? In that case we recommend a travel eSIM. For those who don’t know, an eSIM is basically a virtual SIM card so you can sign up on the fly without waiting for a physical card.
We have a guide that breaks down some of the best eSIMs for international travel. That said, if you already are interested we highly recommend checking out Airalo. You’ll find plans as cheap as $6 for 1GB of data that’s good for seven days. Need larger data allotments? We also recommend checking out eSimatic’s plans.
Can’t get Mint Mobile international data working?
If you run into issues with accessing international data on Mint Mobile in Mexico or anywhere else, odds are it is one of two issues:
You don’t have global roaming enabled
It is important to ensure you have enabled global roaming or International Plans will not operate.
For iPhone users: Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and tap the slider next to Data Roaming.
For Android users, it will vary. Most phones use the same general steps as Google’s Pixel, but you may need to look up your specific device.
For Pixel users: Go to Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs > Mint Mobile and then tap the Roaming switch to turn it on.
For Galaxy users: Go to Settings > Connections > Mobile Networks and tap the Data Roaming switch to on.
It’s an Android APN issue (and this is most common)
Most Android users will find that their problem is actually down to the APN they are using. The first thing you’ll want to do is go to Mint’s website and configure your phone correctly by following their instructions, as many times Mint Mobile seems to be actually set to T-mobile’s APN by default.
After you’ve correctly added your APN information you’ll need to enable roaming. For many phones, this can be done by failing #766#. After that, connect to WiFi, open the Mint app, and activate your International Pass. Even if you get an email saying it activated automatically, this isn’t always true and so it doesn’t hurt to check manually.
