Cell Phone Plans Canada/USA

[mato]

Since my current [phone] contract is up and my new job is under way, I thought I would ask the AvCanada community for some advice. For those who travel across Canada and the U.S. regularly for work, what are some of the best phone plans out there? Can you be a Canadian and sign up for a plan in the states? Does anyone have two SIM cards for when you cross the border? Is their any provider out there with one flat all inclusive rate for North America wide calling from anywhere in Canada and the U.S?

Currently have Canada Wide, 6 gig's for 50 a month. I do enjoy that my bill is the same every month as I can't really exceed any limits on it (while in Canada)! This is one of the old Virgin Mobile plan's in the 807. Not sure that I could really beat that!

Please share your tips here if you have any. Thanks in advance.

[Taxivasion]

Telus $150/ month unlimited calls texts between and within the two countries. 2gb's of data shared between the two.

Tried other plans without unlimited and got hosed. Too much work to buy different SIM cards, billing,etc.

[skypirate88]

What do you need the plan for? I just use skype and FB messenger while on the road. I can't message people whenever I want but really, these are sufficient. I haven't had a problem finding a wifi connection in my travels, which are not limited to the US

[ahramin]

I have found it best to have a different sim card for each country / region. Just too expensive otherwise.

[DonaldDuck]

I have found it best to have a different sim card for each country / region. Just too expensive otherwise.

Good call!

some other good advice - Koodo "Saskatchewan" Plan Unlimited Calling / Txt / MMS + 5 gigs of fast data. now $53 a / month. No roaming in all of Canada!! I switched a few months ago and love it.

Nice knowing that even if you are in smalltown nowhere that you can make calls without racking up bills.

unfortunately the 'no roaming' part doesn't extend to US of A (the 2 sims' sounds like best advice to me! In europe at least, I just buy a new SIM for every country I am

[AuxBatOn]

Rogers offers 5$ a day for unlimited roaming in USA (up to 50$ a month). If you have a 60$ plan, way cheaper than any crossborder plans out there.

[John Bull]

https://www.windmobile.ca/plans-and-dev ... ne-plan-50

[springlocked]

If you have that $50 tbaytel plan - keep it it's the best in canada especially since you likely have free in plan calling to USA , mine does. For the States I use Roam Mobility which is very cheap(costs nothing to call forward my tbaytel number since I have american long distance from canada) and when I go "off" continent I always by a "local" sim with good data so I can voip back to Canada. I now carry a duel sim phone and have also a Virgin account for areas where Rogers is not. A little inside info. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have the cheapest plans in Canada but you need to go in person to a local kiosk to get a in province plan.

Now if you have been crazy enough to drink the IPhone koolaide you are sh1t out of luck unless you bought an unlocked on but when people open with mentioning a contract you likely have a branded phone. Any android phone can be easily unlocked. Contracts and subsidized phones are the biggest scam in the mobile industry. This is true in our biz since you could find yourself in an area where your carrier has no service. Now what do you do with that contract.

The secret to mobile phones and good rates is own your own unlocked phone and no contracts. Pretty simple formula but it works. Most brand name phones are expensive and will likely cost around $800 but there are good alternatives. Good used phones. A 6 month old Samsung could be had for $100 in mint condition or you can do as I have and buy new phones in the $300 range for a phone that is in the same class as the Samsung 5 or 6. Cut the sting from the providers and control your mobile phone your way.

Calling plans are getting very cheap but now they are gouging data rates. If you leave your auto updates on cellular your phone will use almost a gig in data even if you just left in on the table for a month.

[springlocked]

dupe

[AirFrame]

If a new phone is in the budget, I can highly recommend the OnePlus X. It's a high-end Android phone and has dual SIM support. It's also not the size of a paperback book, which for some reason has become "normal". What happened to phones with 4" screens, anyway?

[Blackroc86]

T-Mobile has a plan that gives unlimited calling in the US, Canada, and Mexico. You can add data plans that work in all 3 countries as well.

[awitzke]

I have samsung galaxy S5 dual sim card. while right now one is my BC number and one an Ontario number, you could easily have a US number on one of those cards.

Take a look at https://www.roammobility.com/snowbird-plan for US roaming plans.

[springlocked]

I can highly recommend the OnePlus X

+1 no pun intended

The other neat thing about 0ne Plus phones (I'm on my 3rd one with the X model) They have all the frequency bands including T-Mobile and Wind and did I say reasonably priced

[redlaser]

Try texting, its free, I use it all the time,

[co-joe]

If it's a short trip I've purchased a package from Telus and it worked fine for a week in Florida. They email you updates on data usage.

Buying a US sim card is cheap once you're there, if you want to get one before you leave Canada you can have certain companies send you one via mail so from the airport to the store is covered. I of course left it to the very last minute so went with the more expensive Telus US plan. I think it covered the Bahamas as well.

[goingnowherefast]

I've hopped carriers 3 times now with my unlocked phone. It's wonderful. Kept the same phone number too.

I know several who have US plans and phone numbers in Canada. Downside is all your friends/family will now have to pay calling/texting rates whenever they communicate with you in either country because you have a US number.

My best advice is find an app that supports voice over wifi, Skype or similar. Wifi hot spots are much more plentiful south of the border.

[AirFrame]

I have used the Roam Mobility plans while travelling in the US, and swapped SIM cards when I crossed the border. My Canadian Cell plan is with Rogers, and recently their "roam like home" plan seems to be comparable to the Roam offerings. Haven't used it yet, but even if it's a hair more expensive, it would be much more convenient to keep the Canadian number and all other plan features, and just go to the US without thinking about it.

[Kapitanov]

Videotron just got a new plan: Unlimited CAN and US call, texting and 2 Go of data for only 65.95$ or 50.95$ per month if you bring your own phone (you can get an extra 5$ off if you have any other services with them). You can use your plan in the USA for up to 90 days a year with no extra fee.

I don't think there's any unlimited US plan cheaper from a canadian mobile company.

Very good deal in my opinion!

[dashx]

Look at AT&T GoPhone plans.

Here is the unlimited plan that lets you talk/text/use data in Canada US and Mexico:

$60 Monthly, $55 with AutoPay
Unlimited Talk, Text, and Data Usage in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada (Unlimited Talk & Text requires 50% usage in the U.S.).
First 6GB at high speed (then data speeds slowed to max 128Kbps for the rest of the term).
Rollover Data: Unused high-speed data carries over for one 30-day renewal period.
Unlimited Talk & Text from U.S. to Mexico and Canada.
Eligible for Multi-Line Discount on up to 5 lines. (Req's Multi-Line account, restr. apply.)

They have a variety of phones to choose from. And after 6 months you can unlock the phone for free (Apple maybe not...).

So if you plan to spend more time in the US than Canada (in terms of talk and text) this might work.....

With Wind I have heard mixed reviews. Some say there is no charge to talk while in the US. On the website it says 15 c/min while outside their normal area of coverage.....

[flyzam]

Look at AT&T GoPhone plans.

I use cricket (owned by ATT) - $45 a month pay as you go (with autopay) I was paying $150-200 a month with virgin now a flat 45. 2.5gb LTE unlimited calls canada <-> USA. Just 50% of your data and calls have to be from the US.

couldn't be happier.