Cell Phone Advice....

[Cockburn Family]

We travel to FW every March and last year ended up paying a small fortune to use my phone...our rates in Canada are bad enough but once in the U.S.....well its big bucks! I really don't need the phone for much but it would be great for important calls from up north, getting in touch with friends wanting to stop by the Fort on their vacation, and using it on the way down to FW.

Sooooo...I'm thinking of getting a pay as you go from Wally Mart once we arrive. Any advice on which carrier is the best for pay as you go?


Thanks Fiends

 

[John VN]

We travel to FW every March and last year ended up paying a small fortune to use my phone...our rates in Canada are bad enough but once in the U.S.....well its big bucks! I really don't need the phone for much but it would be great for important calls from up north, getting in touch with friends wanting to stop by the Fort on their vacation, and using it on the way down to FW.

Sooooo...I'm thinking of getting a pay as you go from Wally Mart once we arrive. Any advice on which carrier is the best for pay as you go?


Thanks Fiends

Same question was asked on another Forum for RVers and IIRC, the overwhelming response was http://www.tracfone.com/ from WM.

 

[fla4fun]

Any of the prepaid carriers would work fine at WDW (I use T-Mobile myself, but have also had Verizon in the past). What you should check into is which one has the least expensive calls to Canada. Since you will have a US phone number if you buy a phone here, it may be expensive for people back home to call you. But if you work out some kind of signal system (like two rings and then they hang up) so you can return the calls and it doesn't cost you a fortune, then that's the one I'd go with.

 

[chartle]

Any of the prepaid carriers would work fine at WDW (I use T-Mobile myself, but have also had Verizon in the past). What you should check into is which one has the least expensive calls to Canada. Since you will have a US phone number if you buy a phone here, it may be expensive for people back home to call you. But if you work out some kind of signal system (like two rings and then they hang up) so you can return the calls and it doesn't cost you a fortune, then that's the one I'd go with.

That may not work with a cell phone or even with today's land line phones.

The ring that the caller hears is not the same ring as the called cell phone. In fact the called cell phone isn't really ringing, its playing a sound file from the memory of the phone (even the ones that sound like a ring).

I've called my phone many times from a land line or another cell (mostly when I can't find it) and the calling phone "hears" ringing before the the phone you are calling.

A better way would be texting, you will know the rate before hand so you can budget. I think on a trac phone, three texts equal a minute of time. Don't know if this is different texting to Canada.

 

[Cockburn Family]

Thanks for the advice....I checked the Canadian Board and apparently its a huge problem using our phones in the US (big expense)

Looks like NET10 is the best deal and most reliable based on what they are saying....

We shall see soon....countdown is on!!!

 

[SandrA9810]

I'm surprised AT&T has good canadian rates. I have a friend up there that I call on occasion (like twice a year). And I always put the international plan on the line to make the calls.

I would definatly stick to text messaging, which is usually like 25cents a text for you (if you get an american phone), and for the person sending the text.

 

[fla4fun]

That may not work with a cell phone or even with today's land line phones.

I guess it depends on how you do it. We just do the ring once and then return the call. It's never been an issue. We do that anytime we are traveling somewhere that calling is expensive on one side, but cheap on the other. It was really handy when I bought a prepaid cell in the UK - it was super expensive for the family to call me on a local UK number, but really cheap for me to call them back.

Texting is another good option, even if it's just a "call me" text. But if the person calling you is using a land line phone, they won't have that option.

 

[chartle]

I guess it depends on how you do it. We just do the ring once and then return the call. It's never been an issue. We do that anytime we are traveling somewhere that calling is expensive on one side, but cheap on the other. It was really handy when I bought a prepaid cell in the UK - it was super expensive for the family to call me on a local UK number, but really cheap for me to call them back.

Texting is another good option, even if it's just a "call me" text. But if the person calling you is using a land line phone, they won't have that option.

I was just pointing out that if it was some sort of code like one ring means this and two rings means this it would not work.

I also realized that with caller ID the "codes" we did years ago really aren't needed anymore.

I remember the old collect call routine where one name means this and another means this.

 

[North7]

Thanks for the advice....I checked the Canadian Board and apparently its a huge problem using our phones in the US (big expense)

Looks like NET10 is the best deal and most reliable based on what they are saying....

We shall see soon....countdown is on!!!

Another Ontario FW camper here and we've also used Net10 when travelling to the US for the last 4 years. $30 for 300 minutes (or 200 minutes if calling back to Canada) and no other fees. Before each trip, I just add another $30 card online and so far have always had the same phone number activated again.

The first phone cost me $30 and included 300 minutes, wall charger, car charger, mic/headphone kit, and carry case... I can't even buy a car charger up here for less than $35!!

With my Bell cellular, it costs between $4 and $5 per minute to phone back to Canada once you add the long distance, roaming charge, and taxes... doesn't take a genius to determine it's not really an option

 

[dfchelbay]

I'm surprised AT&T has good canadian rates. I have a friend up there that I call on occasion (like twice a year). And I always put the international plan on the line to make the calls.

I would definatly stick to text messaging, which is usually like 25cents a text for you (if you get an american phone), and for the person sending the text.

This is different. You have your american phone and your call is originating in the USA. She would be dealing with roaming charges if she used her Canadian phone in the USA. This would happen to you too, if you went to Canada and used your cell phone. You would have to get international travel and still pay per minute for the calls you make while in a foreign country.

 

[SandrA9810]

Well what I was saying, is if the OP gets an american phone like tracphone, at&t go phone, or what have you, sending text messages is relativly cheap. That way the person here isn't paying an arm and a leg, and the person at home isn't paying an arm and a leg trying to get in contact.

When I add the international plan to my phone, it's 4.99$ for the plan, 9cents a min to call canada, and like 59cents a minute to call from canada (if i was to go there). And I can add the plan when I want to use it, and cancel it when I don't want it. I have the option to prepay for 100 texts to canada for 10$ or pay 25cents per message without it. The person I send the message to only pays 25cents per message as well (but I don't know what plan he has).

 

[fla4fun]

I was just pointing out that if it was some sort of code like one ring means this and two rings means this it would not work.

I also realized that with caller ID the "codes" we did years ago really aren't needed anymore.

I remember the old collect call routine where one name means this and another means this.

I remember the days of the collect call as well. It's nice not to have to do that any more!

I agree that it would be more difficult to use a number of rings to mean different things. I was just thinking about a call and return - we try to keep it simple.

I'm glad the OP has found a phone that will work well for them. There are so many phone companies out there, that you really have to do your homework, especially if international calling is involved.