
You can order a Telcel SIM card and have it delivered to your house before you set off for Mexico. If you have time and are set on getting yourself a SIM card, I think the easiest thing to do is to order it on Amazon. Getting a Mexican SIM Card Before You Arrive If you want to unlock your phone, even only for international use, your phone has to be 100% paid off. Since Sprint was bought by T-Mobile’s policies override their old rules. Note: If you have Sprint, this has changed. Do you have a regular, micro, or nano-SIM card in your phone? You’ll need to know this so that you buy the correct one on Amazon or once you arrive. If you’re unsure of what type of SIM card you have, you’ll also want to find that out. You only want to make sure that you will be able to put international SIM cards in it. You are not asking for it to be unlocked so that you can switch national providers. However, regardless of where you are based if you have a phone contract and you are still paying your phone off, you will likely have to call your provider and ask them to unlock your phone.īe sure to let them know that you are unlocking it for international use only. Is your phone unlocked for international use? This is mostly aimed at American travelers. In general, they are a good option if you want to stay in the big cities, but I have found the coverage to be average at best in more rural places or near the beach. They do also offer reasonably priced month-to-month options similar to Telcel, but the packages vary slightly. You can usually even get a new phone with this plan for a small amount extra per month just like you would with a phone plan in the USA. If you are going to be staying in Mexico City or another major city in Mexico for an extended period of time, this may be your best and cheapest option. The coverage is better than Movistar, however, it’s cheapest if you get yourself a contract and pay for an entire year upfront. It’s easy to buy a SIM card and to top it up. If you’re just going to be staying in major cities like Mexico City or Guadalajara, then Movistar is fine.

Movistar is probably the cheapest, but it’s also the most unreliable and drops out when you leave major cities. The other two companies that you’ll likely see a lot of information about are AT&T and Movistar. You get service almost anywhere and you can pay as you go very easily and cheaply. They have the largest network setup in the country.
