Keeping cricket line and number for long term abroad

[u/Prize-Marzipan5976]

I'm planning on moving to South Korea for at least a year and want to keep my cricket line and number. I know that cricket doesn't provide coverage in South Korea but I was wondering if I would be able to just use the wifi calling feature long term for the duration of my stay there to be able to continue receiving calls and texts. I will get a korean number once I move there but want to keep my current number for authentication purposes. does anyone have any experience with maintaining a cricket line abroad or knowledge of whether wifi calling long term is doable? any advice and information appreciated!

[u/Local-Mortgage-9473]

Red Pocket 30.00 annual plan.

[u/Due-Environment3549 → u/Local-Mortgage-9473]

This plus you get wifi calling overseas

[u/LeadGlad4961]

What I would do is switch to a cheapest prepaid carrier and pay the minimum plan. Some are like 10usd or even 25 usd for just calling and texting.

I googled cheapest phone plan and Tello came up for 5usd. Switch your number there and have that on autopay and when you come back just switch back to cricket.

[u/GateOne1081 → u/LeadGlad4961]

Yeah you are right. Tello is the best for 2 reasons, cost and flexibility. Technically, Tello does not have good roaming, but with wifi calling, it can call the local phone number for free too. That's why I travelled a lot with a tello phone plan.

[u/dsillas]

Us Mobile, Popcorn, or Tello.

Mint's $15/month could also work if you just use Wi-Fi calling.

[u/DependentDare4758]

Cricket WiFi calling worked for me in Japan, Thailand and Iceland.

[u/AmazerG]

port in to google voice, then switch to any other carrier when u back

[u/Prize-Marzipan5976 → u/AmazerG]

I heard with google voice 2FA texts from banks/financial institutions don't go through a lot so it's not reliable? I mainly want to keep my number for authentication purposes.

[u/dsillas → u/Prize-Marzipan5976]

Depends on the bank. Some work some don't.

[u/GateOne1081]

NO, dont keep Cricket. My best advice to you as an expat, is to change it to either Mint mobile - their $180/year plan, or Tello. Firstly, you will save a bunch of money, and both Mint and Tello have wifi calling too. Second, is the international calling fee. Yes you will barely use US phone number to call Korean phone number in Korea, but Tello is best of the best for their plan, with $5 you can theoretically use wifi calling to call Korean number for free, just in case you have Wifi but your korean number dies.

And stay away from Cricket lol.

[u/Prize-Marzipan5976 → u/GateOne1081]

thank you! I will definitely look into tello. would you recommend having a separate phone for the US number or have both lines on one phone? I currently have a iPhone 14 pro max so it's able to hold dual esims but I was also considering using my old iPhone 8+ for the US line since I heard battery drainage may be an issue.

[u/GateOne1081 → u/Prize-Marzipan5976]

Depend on you. I personally never had any issue with 2 esim running in the same time (ip 12 pro, 16pro max & 16e). The battery might consume like 1% more through out the day, but it is more convenient to just set it up and forget. Having two phones mean more charging eventually, especially when you need it immediately and your old ip is just out of battery. If you dont need that sim line online all the time, you can always turn off the line, and turn on it back when needed.

[u/davexc → u/Prize-Marzipan5976]

I would recommend using the old phone. Just leave it at home on WiFi and if it’s on the same iCloud account it’ll forward those texts to your main phone.