Phone service in the USA

[geman]

Hello, we are planning on spending a few months in the US this summer and were wondeing if anybody had any sugestions on advice on a phone plan for the US.

We currently use Telus on a pay as you go bases but would like something we could call ahead for reservations and call home to Ontario to the grandkids.

I'm sure some of you had had good luck with one company or another, loking forward to some responses...

Rick and Barbara

[logansrun]

As soon as u r across the border, go to a WalMart & buy a "Tracfone" & a card for minutes....works well for us!!!!

[Dave Killey]

We bought a at&t phone a couple of years ago from an at&t store. It is a pay as you go type plan. $.10 minute anywhere in the usa and the minutes do not expire as far as we know, but the plans change all the time. Now I just buy the amount I think i will use for my trip into the usa.
The trick is to make sure them minutes do not expire in 30 or 60 days and any other hidden item. When i check wal-mart at the time, it seemed all the pay as you go phones had minute plans that expired.
It also seems that each carrier changes their plans and best to shop around before making your decision.
Good luck and safe travels

[Parametric]

We have bought a pay as you go phone across in the US fairly inexpensive. It is the Tracfone and when you top up , you get double minutes for life. I chose Tracfone for easy availability of the time cards to buy. You can also buy time online. Another good feature is their neighbour policy - that is you can have a local Canadian number to call the cell in the states and only pay for air time, no long distance or roam charges. You can also call home (Canada) via a relay phone number without roam or long distance charges (tho I haven't tried that yet). Bought it in Bellingham, WA and cell works in Hawaii too, just air time charges. Display shows days left and minutes left.

[Groovy]

We have an AT&T Go Phone with the 10 cents a minute plan. But we use Skype on our laptop for almost all our calls. Sign up for $3 a month and you get unlimited calls to the USA and Canada.

[rvrepairnut]

Iam stationary for 5 months and use magic jack plus.Call anywhere in NA for 20.00 per year 7 days a week 24 hours a day as long as U have good internet connection

[Jack1234]

We have an unlocked iPhone and use T-Mobile. Unlimited Internet, Text & nationwide (US) calling for $70p/mo. We use calling cards for long distance outside the US.

[dennis45]

We went to Costco last year and bought two phones (one for each so we can stay in touch at the Mall ) on the T-Mobile network. I think they were about $50 each.
Paid $100 for 1000 minutes on each phone. Thereafter, you can add as little as $15 at a time at the same $.010 per minute rate. Can add minutes from the phone or online. Very easy.
Good for anywhere in the US and minutes are good for one year. In other words, if you add minutes once per year, you retain the same phone number.
Calls to Canada are not cost effective but Canadian callers can call you and you are charged only for minutes. No long distance. T-Moblie coverage was pretty good everywhere we went. Also, the rate includes voice mail, call waiting and caller ID.
We use our Magic Jack to call home from the US.

[bgsc]

We use AT&T and a Trac Fone as others have mentioned AT&T have the .10c a minute deal plus they also have a "International Plan" that for $5.00 a month you can call Canada and talk for 250 minutes a month if you renew this before your month time expires you carry over any unused minutes, we find the quality of the connection with AT&T is better than the Trac Fone

[Possum]

I have a trac phone that we use mobile to call while in the states but only to phones in the states and once we are parked we use the Magic Jack to call home and into Canada. At one time I was a loyal Telus fan but now they are provider of last resort for cell and persona non grata for our house.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by Possum

I have a trac phone that we use mobile to call while in the states but only to phones in the states and once we are parked we use the Magic Jack to call home and into Canada. At one time I was a loyal Telus fan but now they are provider of last resort for cell and persona non grata for our house.

I must assume the MJ is working for you. We tried it and after popping a few blood vessels out of my forehead, tossed it in the can and took a deep breath. Spent more time on the phone with the dips$&@ at MJ than we did making legitimate calls.
Now back to Telus and looking for another alternative. In the process of moving to your fair province (hope it does not turn ndp, grin) so will pursue the phone later.

[Possum]

Originally Posted by dennis45

I must assume the MJ is working for you. We tried it and after popping a few blood vessels out of my forehead, tossed it in the can and took a deep breath. Spent more time on the phone with the dips$&@ at MJ than we did making legitimate calls.
Now back to Telus and looking for another alternative. In the process of moving to your fair province (hope it does not turn ndp, grin) so will pursue the phone later.

I have my MJ hooked into a ten year old Toshiba (this one) laptop that handles it without a hitch, running XP. My wife's newer and more powerful HP running Vista just produces goobledegook when we try hooking the MJ to it. I did a lot of testing of systems before we left home to try to see what did and didn't work.

When I get my new laptop this one will be relegated to the MJ only category and that's OK for me.


BTW I have found out the MJ uses up all available resources from the computer it is hooked to and the only thing to do is dedicate a computer to the mj. The unit we have at home is hooked to an old desktop that only has XP and MJ programs on it and we operate this 24/7 365 without many issues. An every Sunday reboot of the computer keeps the issues away.

May I be so bold as to recommend you source your land line via SHAW cable service. That's the Telus free route we chose.

[WheelingIt]

Another vote for TracFone. Only buy the minutes you need and no more. No monthly fees, no other charges.

Be aware that TracFone resells for Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint all of which have vastly different coverage maps. Which phone you buy will determine which network you end up on. So, research the phones carefully. If you don't need "smart" capabilities, all the older phone models (non-Android, non-smartphone) ending in "C" will run on Verizon network.

You can call internationally on the TracFone with no cost increases by following a procedure (calling another number and then going from there). I haven't used it since I use Skype for all my international calls, but you can read about it here:
http://www.tracfone.com/includes/con...conditions.jsp

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by Possum

I have my MJ hooked into a ten year old Toshiba (this one) laptop that handles it without a hitch, running XP. My wife's newer and more powerful HP running Vista just produces goobledegook when we try hooking the MJ to it. I did a lot of testing of systems before we left home to try to see what did and didn't work.

When I get my new laptop this one will be relegated to the MJ only category and that's OK for me.

BTW I have found out the MJ uses up all available resources from the computer it is hooked to and the only thing to do is dedicate a computer to the mj. The unit we have at home is hooked to an old desktop that only has XP and MJ programs on it and we operate this 24/7 365 without many issues. An every Sunday reboot of the computer keeps the issues away.

May I be so bold as to recommend you source your land line via SHAW cable service. That's the Telus free route we chose.

Thanks for the info. You are correct about the MJ being a hog.
Not sure if we will have Shaw in Osoyoos. I have been told it is Eastlink but not positive. Of course now our Shaw HD boxes will likely be toast also.
Does it ever end??