Re: Cell Phone Plans - Can anyone help?

[jodimuse]

Hi folks.  I've been pondering this question for a while now, and I'm driving myself insane looking at all the plans and options and ... bleh.  So I thought I'd ask my friends what THEY thought.  (That's you guys.  Yeah.  You.  Really.  No, don't look around.  Well, I guess you could run for the hills if you want to, but I kinda hope you won't

Comments

[hsifyppah]

I was in sort of the same boat - I was on Fido's cheapest plan (Fido is owned by Roger's now) and it was still way more than I needed. I ended up getting the 7-11 "Speak Out" pay-as-you-go phone which is one of the ones that doesn't work at all in the US, and getting a T-mobile pay-as-you-go phone to use while travelling in the US. My husband and I share the US phone since we don't often travel together in the US - he goes on road trips, I go to filk cons. :) Both 7-11 in Canada and T-mobile in the US have minutes that expire in 365 days if you spend more than $100 a year. So we get $100 a year for the US phone (which is like 1200 minutes, so we never come close, but it's worth it for the peace of mind of not having them expire - plus $100 of Rogers/Fido roaming charges would have been like 20 minutes of airtime in the US on my old plan!), and I end up getting $100 refills every 4 or 5 months for my Canadian phone. So all told it's cheaper and I never have to deal with Rogers again. :) (7-11 is on the Rogers network, though, but

[hsifyppah]

Also, I just keep separate phones for Canada and the US because I share the US phone, but I have some friends who do the sim card switching thing no problem between their Canadian and US plans. Apparently if you buy a phone in the US, most carriers will give you the unlock code if you call and ask! I have an expat US friend who was very, very surprised when Rogers wouldn't give it to him.

[jodimuse]

I would probably switch out the sim card if I had that option (my husband rarely, if ever, travels) ... which makes buying the phone myself rather than relying on a special from the cell phone carrier (or signing up for a yearly or two year plan to get the savings) far more convenient. And I really like those U9's. ;) Buying it online through eBay would mean it would come unlocked... Lots of things to think about. But the idea behind all this is not to have any contracts and/or regular cell phone bills to pay every month, considering how little I actually *use* the thing.

[jodimuse]

Cool ideas ... Pretty much what I was thinking of for my own solution. The Petro Canada plan is also the "Speak Out" pay-as-you-go - same as 7-11. Only I have a Petro Canada way closer to me than a 7-11. :) (I in fact, don't know of any 7-11's up here in Newmarket ... though maybe I should look ...) Yup. After checking Google - NO 7-11 stores up here in Newmarket. How freaky is that?? :) But there are Petro Canada's all over the place up here.

If you had your own phone that was unlocked and GPS compatible, do you know if they'd still let you go on to the "Speak Out" system (just using their SIM card)? And did you get your T-mobile phone and plan while actually IN the States or did you order it and get it all set up from Canada? Which phone are you using for your plans? And do you like the phone?

The only downside of this is that my number while I'm in the States would be different from the number I use in Canada ... though I guess it's not a huge big deal. What city is your US phone local to?

Thanks for the info!

[tarkrai]

Sorry, completely unhelpful here, but just with a couple of cultural thoughts...

Having lived in two cell phone cultures (US and Germany), I had no idea that it wsa this way in Canada! OTOH, it makes a sort of sick sense. *sigh*.

Cell towers are expensive. It's taken close to 20 years to build a reasonable, competitive phone network in the US, simply due to the large amount of geography involved. I remember comparing plans with Katy back around 2002, and her being shocked at how limited options were in the States compared to Europe.

OTOH, when you look at a)population density, b)number of square miles that need coverage, and c)cost of coverage per square mile compared with d)income per square mile.. it makes sense. Unfortunately.

*hug* Good luck!!!

[jodimuse]

Those cultural thoughts do make a lot of sense. After all, we have a lot of square miles to cover here in Canada with not so much population density ... But come ON people (ie: cell service providers). This is 2009. There's got to be SOME kind of viable solution at this point ... you'd think ...

Anyway, thanks for the hug. It's needed. ;) Take care!

Have you checked to see

[sffilk]

if any of the American companies will let you use your phone in Canada?

For instance, I have a T-Mobile pay as you go phone and it costs me $100/year for 1000 minutes. You can get less minutes for lesser amounts ($10, $25, $50). The only downside was that I had to replace my phone last year after it lasted me for 3 years (it was supposed to last me only 18 months, as the customer service people told me when I called them. The telephone itself cost me all of $69US when I bought it.

Hope that helps.

Re: Have you checked to see

[jodimuse]

Hi. :) Unfortunately, if I go with that option (ie: ONLY getting a US cell phone), then anyone local to me here, would have to pay long distance to call my cell. And obviously, I'll be in Canada far longer than I'll be in the US. ;) You're right though - that cell phone rates in the States are TONS better than they are here in Canada. But the other problem is (and this is after speaking with T-Mobile on the phone), T-Mobile doesn't ship to Canada. And I can't top up online with them either. I could go the eBay route, it's true. And I may yet do that ... But otherwise, I'll need to wait until I'm actually IN the States before I get a cell phone number. Which kind of sucks because then no one has the number in advance. It's a conundrum. :)

T-Mobile doesn't have to ship to Canada

[sffilk]

that's what friends are for!! And as far as topping off, you can do it via phone, as long as you have a credit card. The only alternative I can think of otherwise is a phone that is good around the world. The downside to that is the cost of a call - $1.49 a minute.

As far as the costs on the T-mobile phone, it's $.10/minute to wherever for you.

If you're not careful, you could find yourself with a T-Mobile phone next January after a trip to a "small Southern town" (hehe)

Re: T-Mobile doesn't have to ship to Canada

[jodimuse]

:) I'm actually really loving that Motorola U9 ... so the idea would be that I'd only need a sim card. But my mom's currently in Florida so it's entirely possible I could get her to pick me up a T-mobile sim kit ... I'll have to look into that.

Just found out though, that the Petro-Canada Wireless service Brooke mentioned (I was just on the phone with them) doesn't sell their sim cards separately. :-/ That means either I have to buy one of their cheap phones and just take out the sim card myself ($69 or so?) or I have to go with another company that doesn't offer voice mail as a default option. Bleh. This is pretty confusing. :(

[missquirt]

I don't know if this is helpful for you at all, but I've got a cell phone with Virgin and I've been entirely happy with it. I'm not a big phone-talker, and some of their monthly pay-as-you-go plans work really well because the minutes don't expire quickly. I'm currently on the $20/month for 100 minutes plan, but there are definitely options that allow for fewer minutes; figuring out the cost-effectiveness would depend on your needs.

I initially chose Virgin because they were the only carrier that included voicemail automatically. Texting is fairly expensive; not sure if that's important to you or not.

I've found their customer service is excellent. I can manage most things myself through the website, and when I have had to call in or email for help, they've been super quick in responding and very friendly.

My phone doesn't work at all in the states, and I'm not sure if there are any options that would make it work; I've never needed a cell while out of the country. That's why I'm not sure how helpful this is for you.

[jodimuse]

Well, the more I look into this, the more and more likely the Petro Canada Wireless looks like a good deal ... I can buy one of their phones with the plan for $99 - it will have the ability to play Mp3s and it will come with voice mail included. I can then buy $25 increments which will last 4 months at a time. That's probably all I need. Plus, if I go to the States, I just get a T-Mobile sim card and plug it into the same phone. From what I understand, Petro Canada sells their phones unlocked. (I'll have to double check that though ...) And if I don't end up liking their offered phones, I can always replace it with something off of eBay at a later time - or even buy a phone when I'm in the States later, since there are a few more options available there. I guess I'll have to wait and see ...

But thanks for telling me about your experience with Virgin Mobile! It's good to know that they offer voicemail automatically too. That's not an option I see with a lot of companies here in Canada.