Is keeping my US phone number worth it?

15 comments

1. we went to Japan and rented the wifi hub that sits in a backpack

   worked great

   for 6 months it might be cheaper to buy one

   didn’t have to change our plan or be charged any roaming fees

2. For 6 months to a year, I would keep the US phone number as it appears you are planning to return to the US.

   You don’t need pocket wifi AND a Japan SIM card AND another phone. Just put your current US phone on the cheapest plan you can find. Switch your existing phone to a Japanese SIM when you arrive.

   What are you going to use your US based banking apps for while in Japan that has it’s own large variety of digital payment systems?

3. I ported my mobile number to google voice before leaving. The only slight issue I’ve had is with not getting login texts from chase bank, but they can be told to call you with the code which works. Otherwise other short-code security texting has worked. That is to say, I bank just fine on my phone that only has a Japanese SIM in it.

   You can port is back to a real plan when you come back to the states.

4. >I currently live in the US, and I want to keep my US phone number. I’ll be in Japan for 6 months to a year, depending on how I like it, how homesick I get etc. I currently am a part of a T-mobile plan (attached to my fiancé’s plan) and I know if I cancel my plan I will lose my number.

   Do you need to receive texts or phone calls for any type of 2FA, banking etc? -> keep it as it is, possibly reduce the plan to it’s bare minimum if possible.

   Otherwise you can Pause the plan. Usually providers allow you to pause a plan for up to a year. This means you can keep the number, but you will either pay very little to nothing during this 1 year.

   >I saw on another post someone has been using a pocket WiFi plus an extra phone with a Japanese sim, just in case they need to make calls in Japan.

   You don’t need both. Either have a Japanese SIM, or a pocket WiFi, there’s usually no need for both. If you just need a data plan, and make a call every now and then, just use a pocket WiFi and use Skype or something for calls. If you need to have a Japanese number, get a SIM card. Only if you need to use both the Japanese and US number a lot, I would recommend a second phone or a phone with dual SIM slot.

   >I also want to add that I use my phone a lot for my banking apps. Will that be affected if I lose my U.S. plan? Like, make it less secure?

   It depends how it’s setup. If it uses the phone number in some way, then yes it will be affected. If it only uses apps for authentication, then probably not. It’s probably best to check this beforehand, by removing the SIM and trying to log in to all important apps.

5. $20 to port the number to google voice. In five years, never an issue with 2FA texts/calls.
   In Japan, I just have a Japan SIM with voice and data. No US account with monthly fees for my old number or any extra devices needed.
   Some banks will let you register an international number for your account, too. Some won’t. You usually can’t do that change online, but you can call and check. I only have credit unions and they all let me change my address to the Japan one, too.

6. I moved mine to Numberbarn. Cheap and works. Google Voice as others mentioned is also another great option.

7. Just suspend the line while in Japan. You can suspend twice in 12 months and each time up to 90 days. So you can suspend the line for 6 months without problem. Not the perfect solution if you stay for a year, but it’S an option.

   [https://www.t-mobile.com/support/account/suspend-or-restore-your-line](https://www.t-mobile.com/support/account/suspend-or-restore-your-line)

8. One nice thing about T-Mobile is you get free internet(although not the fastest) when in Japan. You also get access to paid entertainment services on the plane for free. I would get a esim from iijmio or someplace similar and keep your US number. Espacially if you are only staying for 6 months to a year.

9. You used to be able to park your US phone number with Google Voice – other than the low transfer fee I believe it was essentially free.

   Since your plan is to return to the US it would be most convenient to keep the same number. For instance I had the same cell phone number from 1998-2011 and it made things much easier especially once they got rid of long distance charges.

10. If you have US banks accounts, you need a US phone number. I ported my number to a mobile app called “tossabledigits”, and it’s been fine for doing 2FA with my numerous banks and financial services. It does seem to have a problem if someone sends me a really really long text message though; I don’t think it supports MMS (which is what messages get sent as if they’re too big, or have pictures). But for 2FA and also having a phone number where I can talk to people in the US as if I’m in the US, but through the app, it seems to work fine.

11. No, get a Japanese sim card because there will be many times when you will need a Japanese number. Order a sim card and then when it arrives switch 2FA on your accounts to the Japanese number. I use my Japanese number for American websites as 2FA and have had no issues and zero international sms charges.

    Btw T-Mobile “free” international data is dogshit. I came to Japan originally with T-Mobile and I could not even do a Google search or get Google Maps to work with it.

12. I kept my U.S. phone active. I have a U.S. phone with the cheapest T-Mobile plan available and a second Japanese phone as well. I also didn’t want to lose my number and I was concerned about getting locked out of apps, bank accounts, etc

13. Personally, I would keep it for a while if you can with a family member/trusted friend in case you might need it for any 2FA/texts that you haven’t ported over to a Japanese number in time for your move.

14. Is getting a SIM card at the airport a good idea? Any recommendation for service provider? Can you recharge the SIMs easily? Great discussion, thanks!!

15. T-Mobile does offer Digits for free if your on postpaid. You may be able to contact @TMobileHelp on twitter to ask if your line can be moved to a low cost digits plan.

    Digits is an app that allows you to use your number on a different device. So what you can do is get a local SIM and download the digits app onto your phone and it would ring for incoming calls and you can use outgoing texts and incoming as well via the app. Only thing is that verification codes cannot be received via the digits app.