Cell phone and data coverage in Canada

[Jrn56]

My husband and I will be traveling in Canada in September after picking up our Escape. We have iPhones with AT&T at home. Does anyone have any recommendations for getting service in Canada at a reasonable cost. We would want data and phone coverage.

Thanks,
Brenda

[Jim Bennett]

Depending on how long your are here, but you could likely get a roaming package through AT&T. I am with TELUS here and for a 16 day trip down to the US last year I paid $40 for each of our phones for a data package that expires after 30 days. It includes 50 minutes of calling, 50 texts and 25MB of data. All incoming calls are free. Additional minutes and time is way cheaper than without the package too. We used our phones at least as often as usual, with even more data usage, and stayed within the package coverage.

This has worked good for us. TELUS has lots of other travel options too. I know some people just pick up a SIM card for the area for their phones, though not sure how this works.

[santacruzer]

I'd contact AT&T as soon as you know your travel plans. They have a couple of programs depending on your usage and your present plan(s). You'll need to do it in 30 day increments, and they'll want to start the billing on your regular cycle. I made the mistake of waiting until a day or two after I was in Victoria before contacting them, and ended up having to pay more than I would have otherwise.

[Vermilye]

The voice roaming package from AT&T isn't too bad if you use the phone a lot, but I couldn't add it without loosing my unlimited data. They did have a reduced per call plan I could use, but for the limited amount of phone calls I make paying per call was less expensive.

As to data, I never found a solution. Even AT&T's per paid data plan was expensive. I was told I needed to have a Canadian credit card to sign up for a Canadian plan, so I ended up using WiFi. Worked most of the time - I post a daily blog while traveling and was rarely more than a day late...

[Mucram]

I called ATT, asked for "retentions" then politely requested Canadian service in anticipation of osoyoos & trailer p/u. Was given Canada roaming bonus for free. She then reduced my mobile share by $5 without me asking! US folks going north w att service need to ask for this. Love att other than coverage.

[fudge_brownie]

Excellent recommendation Mucram. I spent three weeks in the Maritimes and used my free Canadian Roaming Bonus to obtain free text, voice and 1GB of data per month. This is a permanent feature once it has been applied. When you request it, also ask for the Mexican Roaming Bonus, also free. It covers the Caribbean as well.

The trick is you have to be persistent. Some of the service reps know nothing about it. It is only given after calling customer service and asking for retentions. If at first you do not succeed try again with a different rep, I have heard some will argue with you that there is no such thing. Once in retentions they will know what to do.

[dbawden]

We recently traveled across Canada and the US. We went with increasing our Verizon plan to 16GB. It allowed us to use phone and data plans in both Canada and Mexico. Worked perfectly. We also used a jet pack ($10/month). Its 4G receptivity was great and allowed all our mobiles devices to connect to it. RV sites were notoriously slow or non existence.