Making a simple telephone call to a cell phone in Mexico can be as difficult as crossing the border in traffic if you do not know do it. There are different prefixes and area codes for cell phones that make things complicated. Some cellular phone companies have special service plans that allow for international calls but require activation and sometimes carry additional costs.
dial
If you are in the United States and wish to dial a cell phone number in Mexico, you must first dial the prefix for the international operator, 011. Then you proceed to dial the country code for Mexico, which is 52. Then dial a 1 to indicate a cell phone call. After that you mark the area code for the city to which you are calling. Tijuana, for example, is 661. Finally, you dial the seven digit number for the cell phone. In summary the process is;
011 (U.S. exit code) + 52 (Mexico country code) + 1 + (Mexican City area code) + phone number.
Area Codes
Here is a list of area codes of Mexican Cities:
Acapulco 744, Aguascalients 499, Campeche 981, Cancun 998, Celaya 461, Celestun 988, Cihuatlan 315, Ciudad Jimenez 629, Ciudad Juarez 656, Colima 312, Comitan 963, Cordoba 271, Cuernavaca 777, Culiacan 667, Guadalajara 33, Guanajuato 473, Lagunas 972, La Paz 612, Leon 477, Manzanillo 314, Mexicali 686, Merida 999, Mexico City 55, Monterrey 81, Morelia 443, Oaxaca 951, Pachuca 771, Puebla 222, Puerto Vallarta 322, Salamanca 464, Saltillo 492, San Cristobal de Las Casas 967, San Luis Potosi 444, Santa Rosalia 615, Tecate 665, Tijuana 664, Tlaxcala 246, Todos Santos 61x, Toluca 722, Torreon 871, Tulum 984, Tuxtla Gutierrez 961, Uruapan 452, Valladolid 985, Valparaiso 457, Veracruz 229, Villahermosa 993, Zacatecas 492, Zamora 351, Zitacuaro 715
Pay phones
From a pay phone, you may make a call to a cell phone using one of the popular prepaid phone cards.
These cards are available at convenience stores, drug stores and liquor stores. There are many different brands to choose from and many have different rates for international calls. It is best to bring a magnifying glass to read the fine print of the terms and conditions on the card. Once you find a brand that you like and that works well for you, stick with it. The Hello card claims to have the lowest rate for Mexican phone calls at 1.8 cents per minute. For $20 you get 1108 minutes. A competing card, 1 Minute Mexico, charges 5.5 cents per minute, giving you only 363 minutes.
