Major Cellular Confusion!

[CdnMom2]

Oh please help, knowledgeble helpful Canadians!

I have a prepaid Fido for 2 years now (since my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes). We use it rarely, but I am VERY happy to pay the $10 per month to have it. and I like my little phone. I can not use it in U.S. unless go on Fido's monthly plan. I also think the phone itself (Nokia 5190) may not be usable -- not analog or not PCS or something! I had the option to add the other feature later for a $75 purchase of something that snaps onto the phone. Already we can't use it when we head North to in-laws or my husband's work (Collingwood areas). Again, we don't use it that often, but it has been great for when I'm out & about and people must reach me (my kids to report in or school, Guides, etc.). I really would rather not be changing the phone number that all have for emergencies for me & now that my kids have finally memorized it! LOL!

So now we MUST have a phone for upcoming drive down i-75 & almost 3 weeks in U.S. I am SO confused with all the holiday deals at various sites & GMS vs. analog, etc., roaming, long-distance, etc. We will never use some 200 plus minutes per month plan after. Maybe I keep my phone & don't use it in U.S. Husband gets the better-coverage phone (no real interest there, but I wouldn't mind if he had one for his daily winter commute and we have it for when we're heading North too, but what is that worth to us dollarwise?...)

Can anyone help with realistic info about how much it costs to place a call in U.S. on your Canadian phone. Say I'm in Park with phone & a couple kids and sleeping-in off-site/running errands husband wants to call me... Or we're on i-75 and need to find hotel room or cancel one we can't get to. Or when we're staying in Condo/hotel and use of phone is not included.... Or we phone some loved ones back here from a Beach or something!? Or loved ones/house-watchers need to contact us?

Sorry I'm always so long-winded on here. I have been surfing this for an unbelievable time and I'm going in circles of confusion now!
Help please!!!

 

[poppedout]

I am in a similar situation and what we are considering is buying a US only - pay as you- go phone to be used on our trips down south. The deal at virgin mobile looks like it would be best - The phone costs $60US, add $20US about twice a year and you will have national digital cellular service. - no roaming - no long distance wihtin US , reasonably cheap calls back to Canada, and will recieve calls from Canada.

Worth considering - it might make sense if you go down to the US twice a year or so.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/

 

[bunnyfoo]

I have a Rogers/Cantel phone which worked okay for me in Florida. I believe it 'piggy-backs' on the AT&T networks. I haven't used their service while driving long distances yet ... so I can't tell you what the reception is like outside of large cities. I pay a monthly fee and was told that when you make calls in the US, you pay airtime + long distance ($0.95/minute) and there might be a roaming fee too (I can't remember). I know you can get cheaper rates if you subscribe to a different plan ... I can give you actual rates of what I paid on my last trip ... I just have to go and dig up the bills

 

[CdnMom2]

Thanks for responses so far.
bunnyfoo I don't want to be too much trouble to you, but if you had the info I'd love to know. If short calls are going to end up being $5 each with all the charges I'd sure like to know!
We don't even do much L/D calling from our land-line either so I really don't have a good idea.

 

[TimNDansMom]

CdnMom2, I also have a Rogers cell phone. There are several different plans and they are always coming up with something new. I don't see anything in my information for a plan that will give you better rates for foreign calls.

I had just got my new phone so I phoned my parents from Orlando last March to try it out and had no problem getting through. In fact it was so clear, it was hard to imagine they were back in Canada! That call was 4 minutes and cost me $3.80 for airtime at a rate of .95 per minute and the long distance cost was $3.00 at a rate of .75 per minute. So total was $6.80 for a 4 minute call.

 

[CdnMom2]

Here's an update that may help some:

I can easily switch from my prepaid Fidomatic to their monthly service without losing my current phone number. Simply phone them & that night at midnight it's done. My current phone will do the work I need. I only need to keep on the monthly service as long as I wish to. They'll credit the bill for any days I don't use within that month if I change back right after my trip. $10 for just having the phone (i.e. emergency) and any minutes used charged on top of that. $20 for 200 minutes. So that works out best and if I keep for the whole month before I switch back (i.e. buy $10 refill) that would be most economical too. Now I have to get using the minutes I have built up with my refills over the months because that accumulation will be lost when I switch.

She also very clearly explained for me (as you have on here) what I'm charged for in all those calling scenarios I threw out earlier. And sounds like Text Messaging will be a fun thing for me to try out -- it's the cheapest!

So one less thing to worry about. Hope this helps others.

 

[garytam]

Take a look at the Telus pay and talk. You don't have to pay $10.00 monthly. It works in Florida and California. I have not try the I75 yet. I believe they use Nextel for roaming.

 

[JºoºhnG]

Now that you have all this info watch out for this little trick.

If you have a roaming phone, when you cross a cell phone tower boundary in the states (not sure if it is the same in Canada) your phone will ring. A nice pleasant voice on the other end welcomes you to so and so state and this and that Phone Company.

This person will proceed to tell you all the things that make their service so great and what numbers to call in case of emergency etc. etc. Sounds very nice of the company right? WRONG!!

The whole time they are talking to you they are ringing up airtime on your phone bill and money for their phone network...

Last time I went to Florida I was warned in advance about this by my BELL representative. Sure enough while driving through different states the phone would ring when I was not expecting calls.

My advice is to only use the phone for mostly outgoing calls or try to schedule times when you expect calls. This way you don't run up huge bills back home by listening to "Welcome" calls from UN-WELCOMED phone companies. I was told depending on the states you go through this can cost you a lot of money because you are paying International Long Distance rates as well as air time rates.

Now this may have changed with all the new phone plans but I would still be careful!!!

Have a great trip!

and a Disney Day!

 

[CdnMom2]

Wow! Thanks for that info! I hadn't heard of that calling. A great heads up to everyone!

I may have been confusing on the post I made about my Fido service. I don't have to pay $10 plus $20 for the minutes. 1 plan or the other. $10 if planning on not using phone really. I will. So I'll be using the $20/200 minutes plan.

But I'll take a look at Telus. We love their commercials & have their screensaver on our computer!

 

[North7]

JohnG mentioned about receiving calls as you passed tower boundaries. This happened to us in 1996 and I believe it was just in the southern half of the US. The phone bill was huge once we returned home. On our next trip in 1999 or our last trip this past summer, we did not encouter this, so it appears that this practice is no longer happening.

Here are some examples of our calls this summer with Bell Mobility.

From To Min Airtime Long Distance Total

Ocala, FL Incoming 4 $3.74 $0.00 $3.74
Ocala, FL Incoming 1 $0.94 $0.00 $0.94
Orlando, FL Ontario 1 $1.87 $0.94 $2.81
Ocala, FL Ontario 1 $0.94 $0.47 $1.41
Bushnell, FL Incoming 3 $2.81 $0.00 $2.81
Orangeburg,SC Incoming 2 $1.87 $0.00 $1.87
Fayettevl, NC Ontario 4 $3.74 $1.87 $5.61
Harrisburg, PA Incoming 4 $3.74 $0.00 $3.74

It appears that you pay about $1 minute for air time and then add on .50 minute for long distance calls you make. The only exception I see is from the call originating from Orlando. The prices seem to be double here. The Orlando call was made 9 minutes after the call to Ocala and both were made late on a Friday night. Probably a different carrier with higher rates. Hope this helps anyone who is curious about the actual costs.
Jeff

 

[marty3d]

If you're looking for a plan/ carrier to use while you're in Orlando, Fido has the best rates. $0.25US per minute for roaming plus $0.10 minute for long distance. I travel extensively in the US (large cities) and these costs are the #1 reason I'm with Fido (they roam on Voicestream/T-Mobile's network in the states). no hidden roaming charges, no "welcome" calls.

One disadvantage - Fido only works on digital networks in the states so it only works in large metropolitan areas - it means on interstates between cities (like most of upstate NY) there's no service.

If you want almost 100% coverage if you're driving to Orlando, you'll need a dual mode (digital/analog) phone from Rogers, Bell or Telus. My wife is with Rogers and we use her phone when mines doesn't work, but as mentioned above, the cost can add up - roaming with the "Big Three" carriers is a minimum of $0.95/min (CDN) + long distance + additional roaming fees depending on where you are. Normally you don't find out these hidden costs until its too late.

My Fido phone works in 95% of the buildings at WDW - though there are rare instances where I had no service.

 

[poppedout]

garytam you posted "Take a look at the Telus pay and talk. .... It works in Florida and California."

Could you do me a favour and confirm that you have Telus Pay and Talk - and it works in Florida? The Telus website suggests that only monthly plans work in the US.

If this is true it will save me a whole bunch of trouble.

Does it work for both incoming and outgoing calls?
Do you hvae any idea how much they charge for calls when in the US?

Thanks!