Quick answer:Yes, Mint Mobile supports international roaming with roaming credit added to your account. Using your phone in Canada, calls are $0.06 per minute, SMS texts are $0.02 each, and data is $0.06 per MB. However, if you visit Canada often or need a lot of data, getting another plan or adding data from another provider can be cheaper.
Mint Mobile is a prepaid carrier that offers data plan packages with discounts for those willing to purchase multiple months at once. Mint Mobile is owned by T-Mobile and uses the T-Mobile network for its coverage, including full access to 5G. While Mint’s plans mostly focus on domestic usage, they do come with free calls to Mexico and Canada. If you’re actually visiting one of these countries, though, the prices can get steep.
Does Mint Mobile work in Canada?
T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile, but unlike many of T-Mobile’s postpaid plans, Mint doesn’t include usage in Mexico and Canada in the price. So yes, you’re able to keep using your Mint Mobile service while visiting Canada with one of thebest Mint Mobile phones, but you must add some International Roaming Credit to your accounts. To find this option, log into your Mint Mobile account and go to the settings page. International Roaming Credit can be added in increments of $5, $10, and $20.
How much credit will I need?
How much credit you’ll need depends on how much Wi-Fi you’re able to take advantage of at your destination. You canset up your phone to conserve datawhile you’re away and evensee how much data you useand which apps use the most. Wi-Fi data usage does not count against your mobile data, so if you plan ahead, you can get most of your downloading out of the way for free. Even so, Mint’s data in Canada is quite expensive and can add up quickly if you need to rely on it.
If you need a lot of data in Canada, it’s worth it to consider setting up another SIM for some local data. If you bought one of thebest Android phonesunlocked or have paid off and unlocked your phone, there’s a good chance you can add a second plan using eSIM. An embedded SIM — an eSIM — is a SIM slot integrated into your phone’s hardware to which a SIM can be downloaded. Many phones are equipped with a physical SIM slot and an eSIM slot, so you should be able to add a second SIM.
Additional options
You can use an app like Airalo to add a data eSIM with 1GB to 10GB of data. At just $6 for 1GB of data for a week in Canada, this could save you quite a bit of money compared to Mint’s international credits. This is perfect for a quick trip or a vacation, but a new plan may be a better solution if you travel to Canada frequently.
Google Fi, for example, is a prepaid carrier that runs on the same T-Mobile network as Mint Mobile, but all of its plans include usage in Mexico and Canada. So while Google Fi plans are generally more expensive, it could work out cheaper if you need more than half a gig. Google Fi’s cheapest plan starts with a $20 charge for the line and then $10 per GB after. There’s also a $50 unlimited plan with 35GB of high-speed data that can be used in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada. Fi also has multi-line discounts, making it a bit cheaper if you’re bringing a few people with you.
If you need to head off to Canada in a hurry, you don’t need to change your Mint Mobile phone plan to keep using it. Just make sure to curb your data usage and load up your credits before leaving the airport’s Wi-Fi.
Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile is a prepaid carrier that uses the T-Mobile network for domestic data. If you travel abroad, you may keep using your Mint service, but you’ll need to load your account with credit which will be charged by the minute, text, and MB used.