I have written before why I Suffer Through T-Mobile Service – their global coverage. However, those speeds are slow and their new Global Pass is reasonably priced and offers fast data. It’s a shame no one has told the T-Mobile call center about the new service add-on.
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What Is Global Pass?
T-Mobile introduced a new service a couple of months ago called Global Pass (that name will be important soon). The service allows subscribers to add a 24-hour pass providing 512MB of high-speed 4G/LTE for an added cost of $5 plus tax. The speeds are as good as you might expect in a high-speed environment at home, I received download speeds of about 40 MB/second as any subscriber to LTE service in that country would have on a local provider.
The service can be added online (though I have not been successful in that regard) and over the phone. The customer service over the phone can be painful.
Why Is It Necessary?
Sometimes 2G data just isn’t good enough. I have commented in the past that most of the time this is good enough to get some work done. Emails are received easily, Google Maps mostly works with 2G speed – it’s serviceable. However, now that Global Pass has been introduced and the cost is so affordable on a per day basis, I prefer to treat myself to a better experience. I also find that it generally improves my overall enjoyment of the trip. I can look up restaurants and pictures of food on Yelp much faster (2G is so slow), everything is faster generally, not just my service but what I use my service to deliver to me.
What Has My Experience Been?
Repeat after me: Global Pass, Global Pass, GLOBAL PASS!
When I called customer service (*611 from your T-Mobile phone) I struggled. The representative indicated that she had no idea what I was talking about, went away to talk to a supervisor, returned and said I already had global coverage as part of my plan. The rep (and assumptively her supervisor) were referring to my general T-Mobile coverage which gives me 2G/free text/$.25/minute calls in nearly any country in the world.
That’s not the same thing. I pressed further and googled the name of the service.
Repeat after me: Global Pass, Global Pass, GLOBAL PASS!
The representative went away again and came back ready and able to add the package to my plan. This experience repeated the next day until I pointed them to my bill which highlighted the service that was added. Twenty minutes later it was added. The third day in Hong Kong I made the same call and was told the product didn’t exist.
Repeat after me: Global Pass, Global Pass, GLOBAL PASS!
The representative reiterated that it doesn’t exist. I hung up and called back to repeat the situation I had on the first day and after an hour had the pass loaded on my account. The fourth day it repeated. Then in Mexico on another occasion, we played the same game again. A rep told me that the only thing that was available on my account was 50MB for seven days at a cost of $50. I hung up and called back and the rep again didn’t know of Global Pass:
Repeat after me: Global Pass, Global Pass, GLOBAL PASS!
Divorcing T-Mo?
Matthew wrote this week that he has finally had it with T-Mobile and his claim is valid. He is getting a divorce and has moved on to greener pastures with Verizon where he is willing to pay $10/day for 512MB of 4G/LTE data. I am not so willing to leave them just yet. I am somewhat on the fence. I think that Global Pass (when I can get it activated) is excellent but I am also interested in GoogleFi.
The issues I have had with T-Mobile domestically has been a concern but Verizon is much more expensive in my experience and I am not always in a country long enough to take advantage of Global Pass but do need the regular 2G/free texts/$.25/minute calls I receive with my current plan. For example, I recently flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Chicago. Had I purchased a Global Pass it would have expired by the time I landed in Tokyo and 2G was absolutely fine for me until I was able to get to the lounge and leaving from it. I certainly wouldn’t have paid $10 to Verizon for the few hours I had on the ground.
But I could be persuaded.
>Read More: Why I Suffer Through T-Mobile Service
>Read More: I Just Divorced T-Mobile
Have you tried Global Pass? Is T-Mobile worth putting up with for the cheap price and good service even if it’s difficult to add Global Pass? Has your experience with Global Pass been different than mine?
Google Fi is a godsend. Gave up Verizon a long time ago. No more pay per day or getting low speeds abroad.
I was about to suggest the same. 2G is better than nothing, perhaps, but it’s never enough.
It used to be, and for $10/day – it still would be. But for $5/day I’ll pay for the upgrade.
It’s not 10 per day, on Fi it’s the same rate as in US. $10 per GB. If you get their unlimited plan then you don’t pay more than $60 for the month for data.
I’ve literally had nothing less than 3G anywhere I’ve been with Project Fi since 2016. And that’s ~40 countries on the 6 main continents. And of that, I’ve only had sub-LTE speeds in maybe 4 or 5, and those were “developing” countries. I’m a YUGE Project Fi supporter, and I even use iPhone which, theoretically, should be a detractor. But the benefits just greatly outweighs the minor inconveniences.
Who needs something like this? You must be moving around more than Brett Kavanaugh’s hands at an orgy.
What an idiotic analogy …to use an innocent person to relate to phone speeds humm go to boost toad !
Just bc some things cannot be LEGALLY proven, does NOT necessarily equate to actual innocence – especially when the accused is already swimming in a cesspool of lies, deceit & behaves like an angry drunk on tv in front of the whole world!
Just sayin’! Hehehe
“Just bc some things cannot be LEGALLY proven, does NOT necessarily equate to actual innocence”
He must have learned it from the Clinton’s. They’ve been doing it for decades.
“humm go to boost toad !”?
What? I, too, think the analogy was reaching a bit – though, I did chuckle. But if YOU are going to have a retort that is political in nature, can you please make it intelligible or, at the very least, readable?
I stayed with ATT. More expensive, but so easy…..
As long as you aren’t tied to iOS, Project Fi is the way to go. I travel a lot (France, England, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand so far this year) and have yet to have any coverage or speed issues with it that can’t be solved by simply toggling airplane mode on and off. And it’s cheap, relatively speaking, since even hardcore tethering can’t push the bill above $80.
You don’t have to leave Apple on Project Fi. I’ve had an iPhone since 2007 and Project Fi since 2016. There are workarounds for every “major” detractor on iOS while using Project Fi. In fact, it irks me that people keep saying these things because the more people who use Apple products with Project Fi, the greater the chance of Google changing their tune and tapping into a market they’re losing out on.
Wow what a bargain 512mb for $5.00. If you’re truly a global hopper one needs a dual sin card phone. Then get a local sin card so you don’t rip your self off.
That’s going to happen soon too with the new iPhone for me.
What you are rrferring to in regards to the dual sim card is currently only an available feature with the iPhone XS Max.
My coworker just upgraded to the XS Max on AT&T and they required that he use a SIM card for service. They would not activate over the eSIM. That basically locks you out from getting a SIM in another country for your data.
I found AT&T very hard to deal with as far as that kind of stuff was concerned. I have a friend that will activate GoogleFi on his Android for me and then I can pop it out and try that. If I can use an eSIM for GoogleFi, I will try them together first, if not, I may move there straight away.
The feature the writer received is called an international data pass. There is not a global pass. We tend not to use the international data passes anymore because with a rate plan from the last 2 years, you can add a $15 feature for the month and have unlimited 3g, rather than paying for 1 day of 4G.
To each their own as far as price and speed, but it is not right in my opinion to condemn a company based in your misunderstanding of it’s products and services.
There’s a reason you couldn’t find “global pass” on the website: it doesn’t exist. If you knew where to look however, the international data pass was waiting for you, no calls to customer care required.
Go check out your account under manage data and add-ons and it is under one time data pass and the name is 24 hour global pass for $5. The older one was better it was $10 for one week and $10.
And I have tmo OnePlus .
This is far inferior to Verizon which when you land it asks you simple text to add the daily pass for $10.
So maybe tmobile doesn’t want people to actually use this because the process is a big waste of time and cumbersome.
Do you work for T-Mobile, Victoria? The reps seemed to be able to find it once we got the words Global Pass through. At least colloquially, this is what it has been called (here’s another blogger familiar with it: https://onemileatatime.com/tmobile-global-pass/).
And that’s not the only reason I condemn T-Mobile, there’s also this: https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2017/08/13/why-i-suffer-through-t-mobile-service/ (also cited in this post).
Kyle…
You have kids. I’ve read some of your articles and comments. I’m not sure how old they are..but I know you have some..so I’m sure you’ve experienced what I’m about to explain.
Has your kid ever asked you for something specific, but accidentally used the wrong word? Confused?
Example:
You kid loves ICE CREAM
BUT your kid is very young..
and thinks the ice cream is just “frozen milk”.
So when your kid asks you “Daddy can I have some frozen milk?”
You would probably reply “Don’t you mean Ice cream?
Now of course YOU would know EXACTLY what your kid meant when they said “frozen milk”
BUT .. what if you’re just the babysitter?
And you have literally NO CLUE what this kid is talking about?
Do you understand now Kyle?
YES .. it is the reps fault for not completely understanding how ignorant the customer may be.
It’s hard for a representative to decipher what imaginary features the customer is thinking of sometimes
Regardless..
Victoria and Psychic are absolutely correct.
I travel GLOBALLY every day..
Which means I use my phone mainly INTERNATIONALLY…
which means I’m ROAMING..
That being said.. I have to add the INTERNATIONAL DATA PASS to get the speeds I need when I need them traveling abroad.
Well, first, let me tell you I love analogies. I love good analogies, I love bad analogies, I overuse them but I love them. And yes, you’re correct, I have one four-year-old daughter. And your analogy nearly works.
Nearly.
The reason it doesn’t work is because I described the plan (512 MB, one day, International, $5) but what I was getting back was “7 days 50 MB, $50” and “$10 per MB”, and “$10/phone/month.” Instead of describing a cold dessert called froze milk, my daughter would describe ice cream and I’d bring her a roast duck. Or a television. Or say “we don’t have anything like that”
I believe Victoria is right. I’ve had tmobile since the day I graduated from boot camp. First phone I saw as I walked out of hell into my new found freedom was a tmobile stand and these fancy tmobile Samsung gravities. Mmmm antiquated now but a solid device. Well the reason we jaunted down memory lane was to iterate me and tmobile go way back and also that I was in navy and had to jump from random port to random port and unless I knew someone in that port my safest and most solid data connection was that phone. Also when you’re out to sea with no internet connection for up to 6 months…..that’s a lot of downloading just to keep up with modern media and oh yeah talking to family on the other side of the world. I was terrible always forgot to Skype my mom. Dont be bad like me kids Skype your mom before you download Beyonce’s new video. I am on a digression marathon tonight but I needed the data booster thing alot. It was called data pass global pass is some passport thing. Oh thanks for paying attention if you actually read this otherwise have a goodnight and now I want frozen milk.
I use FlexiroamX. If you plan ahead it’s quite cheap. It’s data only, so you can’t use it for things like calls.
I have been with tmobile for over 12 years, they used to have stellar customer service that made up for their limited service years ago. Today tmobile is a total different company, it’s got much better coverage but customer service has deteriorated to an all time low. It’s not that they dont want to help, it’s just that customer service has serious product knowledge issues. They mean well but they will mess up your order or change you are trying to make and then you would have to spend hours on the phone for weeks to come un order to make it right.
So far I have had mmmm about 5 or 6 issues all over the later 3 or 4 years of my relationship with tmobile and honestly I have to say they were all resolved but only after going through hours in the phone.
Most of these issues, in my opinion were screw ups from lack of training or product knowledge where the customer service rep just goofed off trying to look professional but did not have the know how. Also I have noticed that tmobile reps dont know anything about smart watches, and they are not sure about the sophisticated products like international roaming etc. Its all in who you get over the phone, it’s hit or miss. Years ago tmobile was such a such a squeaky clean company that kept my business for all these years.
The reason I continue to be their customer is because I have a simple choice family plan that has been grandfathered in so nobody in the wireless industry can ever beat. First 4 lines for $100 and $10 dollar per each additional line, plus I have 2 free lines that I snubbed during a promotion last year.
Now another issue i have with tmobile is that they have abandoned their most loyal simple choice customers in terms of device promotions, so i have not seen any bogos or other promos sent my way in a long time which is not fair.
Rates vs coverage wise tmobile remains the best choice in the US hands down. Overall tmobile is the winner, I say that because I have also used all other services over the years as well for my business and personal use. I dont think you can get the plan i have today, so it would be hard to say if i had any of the newer plans they offer. 8f money is no object Verison is the best company but in a modest budget Tmobile are the champions.
As a T-Mobile customer I added International Data to my tablet to use as a hot spot. Not sure if they still have it available.
Husband uses T-Mobile in France and has had no problems.
Weird. In Matthew’s comments he has directly stated you left TMobile as well. In fact, he says you were completely unable to use your phone as was his problem.(the problem was apparently with his phone and settings as every user that responded did not have an issue, even more true since you could obviously use your phone. Should he post an update? )
It does make a reader wonder if these are in fact sponsored articles. His more than yours…
JC – I checked his piece (https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2018/09/26/t-mobile-verizon-switch/) and can’t find anywhere that I’m even mentioned (not in the post, not in the comments).
And I can assure you for two reasons that neither of these is a sponsored post. First, in accordance with FTC guidelines and per Boarding Area policy, we would have to clearly state as such. And second, he’d drive a much nicer car if Verizon was paying some of his bills instead of the other way around.
be honest with me Jc, are you autistic?
Global Pass needed in Mexico? I’ve gone to Mexico City many times and I always had 4G speed without the add-on. I traveled extensively in Europe last year and it was consistently 2G, but not in Tijuana or Mexico City where 4G is free for American T-Mobile customers. Google’s Project Fi is restricted to a few phones, unfortunately, not mine so I can’t switch over.
It depends on when you signed up for your service and what plan you currently have. We were able to add a North America package for $10/month.
After my last comment, a pop up with an offer for Verizon was presented. Weird.
That’s internet voodoo, not us. I have the same problems with Facebook ads except scarier still – after speaking about a topic near my phone.
You get what you pay for. And it’s not always what you see on the front end.
Weather Verizon or AT&T the few times I’ve had to call in I’ve always talked to an English-speaking American here in the US.
This is true. It’s the insane international rates that have made me leave both of those providers in the past.
I have one plus 5 with 2 SIM cards. When I am out of country, I always buy that country’s SIM card.
Most of the sim cards I charge for a month. They are rechargable once 30 days gone by. It’s much cheaper then spending $5 per day.
BTW, I am happy with T-Mobile for last 5 years and has no desire to change.
T mobile global plan is not called global pass is called simple global. I think this was the issue you had.
It’s how it was referred to by staff who had succeeded in adding it. Perhaps it’s abbreviated in their system, though Lucky also found it to be referred to as Global Pass. Regardless, by description they were unable to deliver as well.
Looked in the Tmob app and under the Add Ons in my account there is a section called One Time Data Pass. Under that, there are two options, HD 24 Hour Pass for $3.00 and 24 hour Global Pass for $5.00. Might be worth looking at.
Hope this is helpful.
Dude, everyone knows tmobile is for value users in big cities. If you are travelling frequently or live in a remote area, you got to have att or Verizon. Stop complaining, you got what you paid for.
I’m not sure you read the post. I wasn’t complaining about price of the service, nor of the data pass. I wasn’t complaining about coverage. I was only discussing the inability to add a service option on.
I do not know why they need a website, if each time i need to call and explain the same thing and all their representatives are basically stupid and can mess up everything
I apologize that it has been difficult for you to get things accomplished. The service you are talking about is the one plus international plan. This gives you the faster data speeds you are speaking of. We do however offer data passes which are only good for either 1 day up to 7 days. We definitely don’t want to lose you as a customer.
I’m using MetroPCS now after giving up on T-Mobile and seeing if the Lesser price service would be worse service.
well being that I’m supposed to be on the T-Mobile system I can only tell you that apparently if I have Wi-Fi turned on and mobile data I can’t get service at all except to manually dial my phone. I can’t go online and get answers I can’t ask Google to give me a response I can’t even get OK Google to dial a phone it just too much for the T-Mobile system to figure out and yes I went circles and circles with service people just like you did on T-Mobile and the only person that finally knew what I was talking about was in Costa Rica.
Now I see why senior friends of mine are going to one of those consumer calling companies for seniors,. at least then what you’re paying for is phone calls and texting and that works. Maybe I’ll try that next to see if you can get online. So many of the senior people I know don’t know how to get online without hitting a button that they push that says ‘Get Online Here’.
Yeah, T-Mobile’s internet speeds suck in most places outside USA – as does its customer service now (despite the false claims made in its tv commercials).
But for texting, emails, WhatsApp & voice calls T-Mobile has worked beautifully around the world for us, be it next door in Mexico, throughout Europe, in Moscow, South Africa & even China.
As to the overall comments about all of the big wireless carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) why is anyone surprised that an industry with so few “competitors” has not just bad, but exceptionally bad, customer service?
If we want better service and more value for our dollars, be it for cell service, internet browsers, cell phone operating systems, and of course, now our airlines, then we MUST begin demanding of our legislators either much stricter anti-trust enforcement, regulatory oversight, or better yet, MORE COMPETITION in these overly (dangerously?) over concentrated industries (be it by incentivizing new entrants or forcing divestiture of assets into newly formed companies)…
…or we need stop whining about how bad things are like crybabies and just deal with it for what it is.
Besides being sad, it just grows so tiresome seeing so many people complaining about how badly the companies who gladly take our money treat us treat us so badly, yet nobody wants to do anything about.
Folks, it’s not only NOT going to change, but it will get worse if we all sit back and whine, but somehow expect a Super Hero with magical powers to waive a magic wand and suddenly make things better.
Either we do something to make things better and to stop these flagrant consumer abuses by exceptionally profitable companies love taking our money, but offering as little as possible in return.
Or we all just shut up.
It’s up to ALL of us to accept things as they are – or pull together to make things better!
Just sayin’
But please, no more “Whine-A-Thons”!
Put up – or shut up.
Uh we do know about global pass but most of our cust would like more than 24hrs smh get your life together. We are not Reps we are Experts….just so you know.
Confirmed, just called T-Mobile with questions about the 24 hour global pass, they held me in the phone for 20 minutes, and still do not know what I am talking about.
So I have tmobile and followed exactly what was suggested, go to tmobile app under account go to plans and usage, then at the bottom manage data add ons. When you get to the next screen if you have any type of extra data the ne t section says 24 hour global data add $5. It is only a feature truly used outside of the US.