By Perry Mack
The Best Cell Plans for Canadians Travelling in the USA
In the past we’ve written about the Canadian wireless provider Roammobility, the company that allows you to purchase talk/text/data plans and dual SIM phones so you can affordably stay connected with friends and family while you travel in the US.
Recently Rogers, Bell and TELUS have created plans for Canadians travelling in the US, and farther afield, which make it more affordable as well, leaving us wondering what is the best plan. Last spring (2015), my plan was finished with Rogers and I once again undertook the arduous task of choosing a new provider. As they have in the past, the big three Canadian wireless providers make it as complicated as possible, so you can't easily decipher who has the best price and the best service. One thing was clear, courtesy new government regulations you can only be bound to a two-year maximum contract (for individuals, business contracts can still run three years).
I chose to renew with Rogers, who was and is still, touting their Roam Like Home plan. The claim is that for 5$ /day (up to a max of $50/billing cycle), you can use your phone in the US just as you would at home, by drawing from the pool of talk/text/data in your existing plan. Unfortunately for me I was switching from a corporate plan to a business share plan, which no one at Rogers could seem to figure out. As a result, I ended up with $200+ worth of roaming charges on my first bill as I thought I was on the Roam Like Home plan. Two months, two 45-minute calls and several emails eventually got that sorted out and I was switched over properly.
And one more call to see my statements online, although I already had an online account. Apparently having the online account isn’t enough, there's one more step. This shouldn't dissuade you from choosing Rogers though as I feel that for me, dealing with Rogers is like owning a Ford, millions of other people have no trouble, but I always seem to own a lemon. I eventually did get a bill I could review for you, and as advertised l could use my phone like I did at home without roaming charges, free local calling in the US and free calls to Canada. Where it falls short of Roammobility is that you pay roughly $10 more per month to use your own talk/text/data plan, and you pay a premium for additional data if you use more than your Rogers plan allows (the Roammobility Snowbird plan provides 4Gb of high speed data per month and unlimited data at lower speed).
TELUS offers a similar plan for $7/day, which maxes out at $100/billing cycle (i.e. which means if your 30 day stay crosses a billing cycle you could pay more). They also offer 30 day US Combo Packages with limited 30-day talk/text/data plans at high rates with expenses overage charges (overage: $0.50 per minute, $5 per 50 MB, $0.50 per text).
Bell now offers their Roam Better plan, which is $5/day unlimited calling and unlimited sent and received text messages within the U.S. and back to Canada. Plus, you get 100 MB of dedicated data a day that doesn’t draw from your pool of minutes. But there is no billing cycle cap on this service. So if the cycle has 30 days and you’re gone a month, you pay $150. Cheaper than per use roaming charges but still the most expensive plan offered by Canadian providers.
On top of the basic guidelines I’ve described here, Rogers, Telus and Bell have a host of fine print to accompany these offers, and your existing plan with them may not qualify, so read the fine print carefully to avoid any frightening surprises. If they don’t tell you a feature/service is included, you should assume they are not.
The Bottom Line
Unless you absolutely must maintain your Canadian cell phone number, Roammobility still offers the easiest and most affordable talk/text/data plans for Canadian travellers to the US and other destinations in the world. Especially given the currently horrendous exchange rate, as it is a Canadian company and so you pay in Canadian dollars.