Hi John,
Absolutely! When you input a number to WhatsApp, they send that number a text message to confirm and initialize. Then, you’re good to go.
You can also change your phone number on WhatsApp, and maintain your existing chat history and contacts.
You can ALSO never use that phone number again after setting it up, and WhatsApp will continue to work. Once I got a SIM card in Thailand, used it to set up WhatsApp, and then left Thailand and that SIM card long behind for YEARS and continued to use WhatsApp with that number. After setting it up, it is merely something used to identify your account and for people to discover you; it has no bearing on your actual phone plan.

Great question, Jeff! This is the magic of Fongo: you can make/receive calls to/from any phone number – land line or cellular! Your can call and receive calls to/from your parents normal number, regardless of where you are in the world – as long as you have WiFi or data. And…it’s free! I didn’t believe it when I first tested it out, but I’ve been using it solidly since 2017.

Thank you for sharing your travel experiences.
My question is with Fongo. When you call your mom in Toronto does she also have a Fongo account or just a regular landline or cell phone. We have elderly parents that we would like to keep in contact with.

Hi Kelly,
Yes – an international data SIM card (eSIM if you have a new enough iPhone) would be ideal! Check out this article for more on that: https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/finding-the-best-esim-for-international-travel-your-ultimate-guide/

As for your US Verizon number, unless you have a “wifi calling” option, you’ll need to turn off your home SIM card while you’re away, otherwise you’ll get charged for roaming, which can get very expensive.

Hi Bill,
I have no personal experience with Hushed, so unfortunately I can’t speak to that. But….you need to receive calls from US-based numbers….do you currently get these calls to a US phone number, or a Canadian one?
Because if having a Canadian number is okay, with Fongo, you can get calls from anywhere in the world (regardless of your physical location, they are paying the rate to call a Canadian number). You get to take the call for free (again regardless of location), as long as you have a Wifi or data connection.

If you need a US number to receive those US-based calls, you could get one through Skype as an alternative to Hushed.

I was looking into Hushed as I often need to receive calls from US based phones (I’m Canadian also). I looked at Hushed’s reviews on Trustpilot and the recent flurry of 1-star ratings and complaints has me concerned. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Bill

Thank you Nora! Their web site definitely does not make that clear!

Hi Pamela,
Actually, that’s not true! I love Flexiroam, but they are NOT intuitive, so I totally understand why it looks like they only do eSIMs. But they WILL send you a physical SIM card.
Select the package you want (which will say eSIM), then on the checkout page you’ll be given an option to say you do not have an eSIM compatible device, at which point they will give you instructions for how to have a physical SIM card mailed to you.