Say goodbye to international roaming charges, thanks to Verizon's new TravelPass

While we may not have flying cars just yet, one sure sign that the future has finally arrived comes this week in the form of the ability to use your domestic cellphone abroad for a (potentially) small daily fee. Verizon has announced TravelPass, a flat fee that allows you to use your regular, U.S. cellphone in more than 65 countries without incurring enormous extra charges.

For $10 a day, you can now access your normal cellphone minutes, messaging and data in much of the world. But the real story here is that in Canada and Mexico, that figure drops to just $2 a day. You'll only be charged on days you actually use your cellphone, and each activation will last you 24 hours.

To get TravelPass, Verizon customers simply need to turn the service on at myVerizon.com. Verizon explains how it works from there:

"The daily fee is only charged on the days you use it in one of the TravelPass countries. TravelPass activates when you make or receive a call, connect to a data service or send a text while within one of the 65+ countries where TravelPass is available. Another daily session will begin once you make or receive a call, send a text or use data after the 24-hour period expires. You can keep TravelPass on your account at no charge so it will be ready the next time your travels take you abroad."

Gone are the days of international fees and roaming charges in the triple digits just for turning your phone on to check directions in the Yucatán (Where was offline mode when I needed it?!). Well, the fees are gone for Verizon customers at least. Though in this ultra-competitive wireless market, it's a safe bet that the other American wireless carriers will be rolling out their own version of this program soon enough.