Cell Phone in Canada

[Geri and Jim]

We are planning on going into Canada soon. What should we do with our cell phones? Should we just turn them off for a week? Can we turn them on for a few minutes? How bad will the roaming fees be? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks, Geri and Jim

[lllkrob]

If you have Verizon depending on your plan, you can have your phone plan amended to allow coverage in Canada. We were in Canada for two weeks last year and our phones worked perfectly. Yes there is a surcharge on Canadian calls but it was only about 10 or 12% I believe. Just call your carrier and ask.

[Doug Sage]

Our Verizon phones worked across 4 provinces this summer but the roaming charges were vicious. I think it was 79 cents per minute! We did not contact Verizon before going up there because they sent us a message saying our phones would work seamlessly. They just didn't bother telling us about the roaming cost! I think that you can contact them and pay something like $5 extra per month and get a lower roaming rate and I would definitely recommend that. Then you can cancel that service after you return to the states.

[GaryKD]

I have AT&T. The roaming charges are really bad. They were around a buck a minute. Even on the American side, do not use your phone. Many times you connect through a tower on the Canadian side and their cash register starts filling with your $s.

[TW]

and coverage is only around cities, towns etc... BIG areas have NO COVERAGE.... Don't pay those huge roaming charges.... Keep the money for yourself.

Greetings
TW

[LindaH]

If you're only going to be in Canada for a week, I'd just turn the phones off...it's probably not worth the bother and extra money to add Canada to your account (Verizon, at least...I don't know if other carriers offer Canadian coverage).

If you think you just HAVE to have a cell phone available, you could stop at a 7-11 once in Canada and buy a Speak Out phone, Speak Out. Here is their store locator: Store Locator