Dialing out of Mexico with a US or Canadian phone creates a surprising amount of confusion. Luckily, it’s pretty simple to make regular calls and the big providers tend to offer free calling from Mexico to the USA for folks on vacation. Some even provide data while traveling.
Country Codes and Making Calls Out of Mexico
Country codes are necessary to make calls and in most cases, this all you need to call out. 800 numbers are the exception and they have a different sequence as listed below. For the USA and Canada, you can simply add a +1 ahead of the normal number to make a call. For some reason, texting often still works fine without adding the country code.
Calling locally in Mexico requires the local country code of +52 to make calls. For all of these, keep in mind that you need to include the “+” sign. Every country across the globe has their own code and the same rules apply universally.
USA Country Code is +1
Canada Country Code is +1
Mexico Country Code is +52
Using WIFI to Call Internationally
Enable Wifi calling on your cell phone to activate this option. Using Wifi saves data and with a decent signal, the calls work just as well. You also have the option to use calling apps for phone, video and messaging. Whatsapp is very common around the globe and it works well even on weaker signals. The other party will need the same messaging app however.
Dialing 800 numbers in Mexico
This is a very common problem and not many sources share this information. It’s really important when you need to call the credit card company or anything pressing back home. Nearly every corporation we deal with has one of these numbers and knowing the proper cadence for international dialing can save your butt.
In Mexico, change the numbers to get your call through:
- Change 1-800 to 001-880
- Change 1-888 to 001-881
- Change 1-877 to 001-882
- Change 1-866 to 001-883
- Change 1-855 to 001-884
The changed prefixes here are specific to dialing from Mexico to the USA and Canada. Other countries have their own systems that will not align like this so keep that in mind when traveling beyond the borders of Mexico.
