Community Forums

Pawjam3 · 08-15-2012, 01:28 PM

We'll be leaving for Canada, from St. Louis, in about a week and a half. Our cell phones will not work there. We are still newbies. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jim

**CLIFFTALL** · 08-15-2012, 01:33 PM

I have AT&T and they work in Canada. If I don't purchase the Intl plan , the rates would be sky high. Who is your provider?

Lincolnboy2 · 08-15-2012, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pawjam3

We'll be leaving for Canada, from St. Louis, in about a week and a half. Our cell phones will not work there. We are still newbies. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jim

Add the international plan for whatever time you will be there to your package....cancel it when you return.

gripper · 08-15-2012, 02:45 PM

We went to Canada in '07. I used my cell phone and my computer, with an air card, to get online. Verizon is my carrier. However, I totally forgot about "Roaming Charges" and received an $850.00 roaming charge, when we got back home. We were only there, just over a week! Whew! I won't do that again.

Pawjam3 · 08-15-2012, 05:50 PM

We use Tracfone, prepaid. We also use Skype when at a place that offers wifi. I'm just concerned about not being able to call "roadside assistance" in case of a breakdown.

TXiceman · 08-15-2012, 05:52 PM

Stop at the first Walmart in Canada and buy a Trac Phone with the minutes.

Ken

jacmat · 08-15-2012, 06:05 PM

Tracfones and Net10 do not work in Canada.

sdennislee · 08-15-2012, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gripper

We went to Canada in '07. I used my cell phone and my computer, with an air card, to get online. Verizon is my carrier. However, I totally forgot about "Roaming Charges" and received an $850.00 roaming charge, when we got back home. We were only there, just over a week! Whew! I won't do that again.

Next time you are going to cross the border call Verizon before crossing and tell them you want to cover Canada for a period of time, then remember to cancel when you cross back over to the lower 48. THis will help you avoid the $850.00 kind of bills.

BFlinn181 · 08-15-2012, 08:21 PM

When my daughter visits from Australia, she buys a sim card from T mobile that she can plug into her Australian Iphone (they have removable sim cards) and gets a temporary number. If your phone has a removable sim card, you could do the same in Canada.

Fred1609 · 08-15-2012, 08:29 PM

I would think its the same as Canadians coming South....head to Walmart and buy a phone or call your Cell phone company for a specific plan for Canada......Sign up for Gmail and you can use Gmail to phone any phone in the US or Canada. Doing a little digging on your part can save you money and hassle.

frankdamp · 08-15-2012, 08:29 PM

My recommendation would be to buy a Canadian pre-paid phone once you cross the border at a Canadian WalMart or similar store and then let everyone who calls you regularly know what your Canadian number is.

You might even be able to get your US phone service provider to re-direct calls to your Canadian number until you return to the US.

We are British citizens and have a UK cell-phone. Whenever we go to the UK, we call the phone company from the airport to reactivate the phone and then send our US friends an e-mail with our UK cell-phone number. Unfortunately, it changes every time we reactivate.

We've even lent the phone to friends who have gone to the UK - it works for them also.

sdennislee · 08-15-2012, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

When my daughter visits from Australia, she buys a sim card from T mobile that she can plug into her Australian Iphone (they have removable sim cards) and gets a temporary number. If your phone has a removable sim card, you could do the same in Canada.

I have done this with my AT&T iPhone, but I can't do it with my Verizon iPhone, Verzion does not have a SIM card. I have both AT&T and Verzion iPhones. )one is for work and the peter is my personal phone in case you were wondering why I have 2).

sirpurrcival · 08-15-2012, 10:35 PM

By far, the easiest way to get a local phone for emergencies and other use abroad is to get an Unlocked GSM phone. This is the type that has a sim card. When you get to where you are going, buy a prepaid talk plan from the local phone company, put the card in and away you go. In Canada, the companies that support GSM are Rogers and Fido. There may be some others too but those two companies (really 1 company) are pretty big. As for the phone, You can get them on EBay but they must be unlocked. For temporary use phones, I have snagged a couple from junk piles and such and unlocked them where I could. They are good enough for foreign travel and you can do this around the world. Prepaid phones you may get from the phone companies may be locked to them only and in some cases unlocking can be hard or you have to have special expertise and equipment to do it.

I would be willing to bet money if you ask around a bit, you can probably find someone with an old gsm phone that they don't use any more. Snag it, do a google search on it for unlocking and see what comes up. If you go that route and you aren't sure, pm me with the make and model and I will see if I can find out for you