Know Before You Go

Did you know? We can also assist you with this request over the phone. Just call Customer Care for help at 1-888-944-9400.

Be Prepared For Your Store Visit With These Time-Saving Tips

Good to know:

• You can review international service plans and pricing, as well as the countries and regions where our services are available.
• You will need your account PIN, if calling Customer Care
• You must be the account owner, an authorized contact

  You may appoint one or more persons to manage your account ("Authorized Contacts"). These Authorized Contacts will be able to access and make changes to your account, including but not limited to; view information about the account, add and/or terminate lines of Service, purchase equipment, extend and/or renew the IT, make payments on the account, etc. You are responsible for any account changes and/or purchases made by any Authorized Contact. Authorized users could be:

  • The Account Owner or primary contact is financially responsible for the account
  • A Power of Attorney (POA) is granted access to the account and may act on the Account Owner’s behalf
  • An Authorized Contact is granted access to the account and, in some cases, may act on the Account Owner’s behalf.
  • A User Contact is granted limited access
  • An Unlisted User has no documented affiliation with the account
  • An Anonymous account is a prepaid customer who chose not to provide a name. These accounts can be with or without a PIN. The inclusion of a PIN does not alter transactions the customer can complete.
  or have power of attorney on the account to add an international plan onto your phone.
• You must have completed 3 months of continuous service and your account must be in good standing to add an international service plan

Before you Travel:

• Contact us to add the international plan and help you set up your phone
• Consult the Device Tutorials to update your phone's network system select to "Automatic" or "Home Only"
• Consult the Device Tutorials to update your phone's network mode to "Global" or "GSM"
• Add the U.S. Cellular Customer Care number to your contacts +1-865-777-8484

When Travelling:

• Power cycle your phone after entering the country to ensure your phone registers properly
• To make a call, dial 1 plus the country code before the phone number. This also applies to numbers already stored in your phone.
• When possible, connect to a secured Wi-Fi network to save on data usage
• You may receive an SMS message to inform you that the international service is available
• You will receive (free) usage notifications:
  • If usage exceeds thresholds within a given month
  • Based on calendar month usage; notifications are not tied to billing cycles. For example, if you go abroad on the 29th of the month, usage will be measured until the end of the month and reset on the first of the following month.

Upon Return to the U.S.:

• Consult the Device Tutorials to switch your phone's network mode back to LTE/CDMA

Ready to visit a store? Find the one nearest you >

Smart Tip: Some stores will even let you schedule an appointment ahead of time.