Canada trip prepaid choice

[timdennis]

Kids are going to Canada-Quebec City/Montreal for Scouting trip, one week duration. I'm not going. Their typical use is 90% texting to 10% talk. All my phones are prepaid. I have Trac, Tmob, VZ, Page Plus.
I did a search but many posts are a few years old and there is conflicting info.

Any opinions on best choice of what I have. If none are good and there is another option I'd do it since it involves kids.

[Pabster]

Canada is a sticker for Prepaid as many simply don't allow service there and the ones that do, rates are ridiculous.

GoPhone (AT&T) roams fine in Canada, calls are 39c/min and text are 25c/each. I have written GoPhone off domestically with their recent data changes but their Canada rates seem...OK...for short-term limited use.

[october262]

Kids are going to Canada-Quebec City/Montreal for Scouting trip, one week duration. I'm not going. Their typical use is 90% texting to 10% talk. All my phones are prepaid. I have Trac, Tmob, VZ, Page Plus.
I did a search but many posts are a few years old and there is conflicting info.

Any opinions on best choice of what I have. If none are good and there is another option I'd do it since it involves kids.

tracfone is no good since the phone cannot be used outside the united states.

[silentjudge]

T-Mobile prepaid also can roam in Canada. I believe its cheaper rates than GoPhone but you should check.

Sent from my LG Nitro HD

[HF305]

I think VZ Prepaid and Page Plus will also roam in Canada. The former may even have no extra chargs SMS from Canada. But that section of their website seems to be down now.

[Telekom]

Kids are going to Canada-Quebec City/Montreal for Scouting trip, one week duration. I'm not going. Their typical use is 90% texting to 10% talk. All my phones are prepaid. I have Trac, Tmob, VZ, Page Plus.
I did a search but many posts are a few years old and there is conflicting info.

Any opinions on best choice of what I have. If none are good and there is another option I'd do it since it involves kids.

T-Mobile roams in Canada at 69¢/minute. If you have an unlocked GSM phone you can get a prepaid SIM from Rogers or Fido (a division of Rogers.)

[timdennis]

If I was going I'd bring all the phones and experiment with them and post the results here, but my kids aren't going to do this-they'll forget.
Anyway I have power text on the Page Plus phones but have read on other posts different results. Some said it still charged a higher roaming sms rate,others that it did not.
THE AT&T info. is interesting. I bailed out on them as the plans are too high but have unlocked AT&T phones. I wonder if Airvoice would roam in Canada.
I have a VZ prepaid phone with over $100 on it that I rarely use. Thinking maybe sending that.

[IsLand_BoY]

If I was going I'd bring all the phones and experiment with them and post the results here, but my kids aren't going to do this-they'll forget.
Anyway I have power text on the Page Plus phones but have read on other posts different results. Some said it still charged a higher roaming sms rate,others that it did not.
THE AT&T info. is interesting. I bailed out on them as the plans are too high but have unlocked AT&T phones. I wonder if Airvoice would roam in Canada.
I have a VZ prepaid phone with over $100 on it that I rarely use. Thinking maybe sending that.

Bingo. Send them with the Verizon phone since you have a large enough balance on it, and you hardly use it:

International Roaming – Voice Calls
– 69¢/min in Puerto Rico, Canada & US Virgin Islands
– 99¢/min in Mexico
– $1.99/min in Bermuda
International Roaming – Text Messaging
– 50¢ per message sent
– 5¢ per message received

That said.. Tell them that it's for limited use so they don't run out of $ while there.

[IsLand_BoY]

Hmm. T-Mo is slightly cheaper, so I guess it just depends on which account has a larger balance or a phone that you're willing to part with in case it gets lost while traveling:

From outside the USHomesick? Keep family and friends close while you're traveling outside the US, with your convenient No Annual Contract phone.

Canada $0.59 / min.

MessagingText messages (Canada) $0.10 each to send or receive

Picture/video messages $0.25 each to send or receive

[Telekom]

How old are the kids... Can they walk in to a local 7 -11 and pick up a sim card and activate it and make it all work

Unless things have changed, you cannot get just a SIM at 7-11.

[Telekom]

http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/prepai...akout-sim-card

"*Note: The SpeakOut SIM card is a full size SIM card and will not fit into any device that requires a mini-SIM."

A full size SIM card is the size of a credit card.

Someone needs to educate speakout7-11.ca on what a full-size, mini-SIM and micro-SIM is.

[ruudabaga]

Note that there are no 7-11 stores in the province of Quebec, where the OP needs to get the service.

Some other options to consider for pre-paid in Canada:

www.pctelecom.ca
mobility.petro-canada.ca
www.virginmobile.ca
www.fido.ca

[timdennis]

If I was going I'd bring all the phones and experiment with them and post the results here, but my kids aren't going to do this-they'll forget.
Anyway I have power text on the Page Plus phones but have read on other posts different results. Some said it still charged a higher roaming sms rate,others that it did not.
THE AT&T info. is interesting. I bailed out on them as the plans are too high but have unlocked AT&T phones. I wonder if Airvoice would roam in Canada.
I have a VZ prepaid phone with over $100 on it that I rarely use. Thinking maybe sending that.

The kids have been in Canada a week-coming back tommorrow. I wanted them to take the VZ phone but they didn't care for it(LG 5600). They liked my MOT Razr on Page plus, thought it looked neat & retro. I ASSURED THEM IT WOULD WORK. I emailed PagePlus Customer service and did get a resonse that it would roam in Canada. Well it did not. They could not make or receive texts or make voice calls. Calls to phone went to voice mail. I did not expect that. I was curious if the texts would come off the power text package or be charged the higher roaming rate and it turns out neither-did not work. I did email their Cust. Svc. and received no response this time.
A parent chaperone using a company phone on VZ let the kids use her phone when needed. My kids sent me updates via email or facebook posts from the Hotel Computer labs.

[timdennis]

I also posted this in the PagePlus forum. Do not depend on them in Canada.

When I emailed CS last month I received a response that it would roam and was given a link to this. I think someone reading this would think it would work there-else why give prices and say this. If they have roaming agreements with only some carriers how would I know that. FYI my neighbors VZ phone worked fine.


"International Roaming

What is it?

International Roaming allows you to use your Page Plus phone outside the United States.

How much does it cost?

The cost for International Roaming depends on the country you are in:

Country Voice Calls
(per minute) Send Text
(per message) Receive Text
(per message)
Bermuda $1.10 50¢ 25¢
Canada 60¢ 50¢ 25¢
Mexico $1.10 50¢ 25¢
Puerto Rico &
US Virgin Islands 60¢ 50¢ 25¢
How do I add it to my plan?

International Roaming is automatically included with Page Plus service.

How do I use it?

When traveling in a supported country (listed above), simply use your phone normally"

[IsLand_BoY]

Thanks for the update. They really should specify that they only have agreements with certain Canadian carriers. That is a good reason to stick with a major provider and not a reseller when it comes to roaming, especially international roaming. Unless you're roaming in the US only, where I'd recommend TracFone because they roam (and work!) just about anytime there's a signal to be had.

At least your kids were able to get in touch with you and made it back safely. I'd be pretty annoyed though as I'm sure you are.

Sent from my Galaxy S III