I'm going to study in London next semester.
I have a Rogers account. My 3-year contract (with data) was started in May 2009.
My plan is:
-$45 smartphone plan (200 minutes + My5 + 500 MB)
-$15 value pack (CID, 2500 sms, VM)

My question is: what would be the best solution for me if I won't even be using my phone with a Rogers line in London? I know I can't get out of my contract, so is my only option to change to the $30 voice plan until I get back? I know that I'll also have to pay the damn $100 for taking data off..

Thanks!

im assuming you are going to london ontario?
change your phone number to a london local one
10$ or something and use your phone like normal
only LD to call home

london england...rogers may freeze the account for 4 months if you ask nicely?

get someone else to take over the account if you're going to the UK. If it's London, ON - ^ what buykrux said.

funny thing
a coworker of mine went to england for work, signed off all her belongings, her car, phone, cancelled insurance etc etc, she was home the next week and had to start all over on everything...lol

My bad, I forgot to mention it. London, UK not London, Canada.
I'm only going for approx. 5 months though, so I don't really want to transfer the line to someone else. What is the cheapest I can pay per month while staying within the contract?

Through retentions maybe you can get the 20$ EPP...

I was at school in the UK for three years and Rogers told me repeatedly that they could (would) not 'freeze' the contract for me. They said my only option was to downgrade the plan to the bare minimum. However, if you do go down this road, when you get back in five months, you will be at the mercy of whatever plans (and prices) they currently have. There is no guarantee that you will be able to get back your old plan at the same price. So, I guess the only caveat is, if you are really attached to your current plan, be aware that it might not be waiting for you when you get back!

In your case, it looks like you'd save about $35 a month if you dropped your plan to the $30 package you mentioned in your first post. But to cancel data alone you will be paying $100 (plus tax, I'm pretty sure), so it's going to take you a little over three months to recover that cost. For the effort, you'd probably only save about $60 bucks over the five months. Is it worth it? Your call.

Skytrain

Skytrain: Great point. This trip is already going to be expensive as hell as it is. If I can't find someone to take over, I think I might as well keep the plan as it is and treat it all as a write off.

Talk to retention, to see if you can get a $20 EPP + $15 Blackberry email plan. That way you will be saving around $25/mth, meanwhile not needing to terminate any contract. That will save you around $140 over the 5 months, after tax.

Good luck!