Cell phone use at WDW

[PrincessNED]

Hi all,

My Virgin phones were shipped to the resort and I picked them up when we arrived by plane.

Activated the phones on their 1-800 # -

Paid for the transaction using paypal - this avoided them cross referencing my address as Canadian.

I treated the transaction as a cheap way to have cel service - We used less than $5.00 of talk time on each phone while there for a week! depending on your usage the K10 deal would work as well - the phones we got are actually the K10.

My original intent was to not worry about the phones after they expired - I was treating them as "disposable" - guessed I could also reactivate with virgin again in the future if need be.

As chance would have it - one of my coworkers is presently in Hawaii with family - He gave me cash and I topped up each phone ( paid with my paypal account again) for him and he is using them right now as we speak - no problems at all ( still orlando ph #'s and no long distance charges in Hawaii - I can log in to the phone usage on the web site) - so My 90 day window is extended and I'll have some more minutes ( if he doen not use them all) for if we pop over to so some shopping.

by the way - when activating you can pick any area code you like in the states - does not matter really for the cel to cel usage and local calls.

You do need to ship the phone to a US address.

 

[PrincessNED]

I have some questions ...

Upon Activation (I assume you are doing it by phone) - do you have to give them your credit card information?


Nope! Pay when you order and use Paypal


When the 19.99 airtime used up, do they automatically charge your credit card per minute, or the phone just expired (i.e. you can't make any further calls until you buy more airtime)?

There is an option on the website that allows you to top up automatically - you can debit Papal - don't know about after the expiry date - You also can check your minutes and get a top up card at the virgin mega store - I actually chose virgin because I knew if needed I could find a topup at the store without having to go off property


I browsed www.virginmobileusa.com and it seems phone number is assigned UPON ACTIVATION? In other words, I could have the phone mailed to New York, while when I activate the phone online, I can enter Orlando address to get a (407) area code?

Yes - that would work - my area code actually is 321 which is also used for Orlando and Cape Canaveral

 

[nonzerosum]

We're on a Telus family plan and the cost for US coverage for 1 month is about $70, however they will prorate it for a week if that's what 's needed. This is what we'll do as I can't get my head around the tracphone stuff.

 

[Northstar]

Just a heads up on the Aliant US add-on plan: weird, weird, weird! It does not cover toll-free numbers you call from the US! I was charged major roaming fees for the long phone calls to Continental from the airport, keeping on top of weather delays and what that was going to do to our itinerary.

Aliant's comment: well, you should have used the regular airline number, not the toll-free! Thanks for telling me that NOW, guys.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Rogers charges a small fee for toll free numbers as well.. but it's only about 25c per call

What were you charged from Aliant?

 

[Allegro]

Just back from a week at Disney. We had Virgin Mobile K10 phones shipped to the resort. 2 phones cost us 21.98 incl. tax and they came with $12.50 each in airtime. We were basically only using them to call each other so that left us with 125 minutes of airtime each. It was $.28 to call Canada. In the end we had so much airtime just sitting there that we would call Canada for no particular reason.

They REALLY came in handy when we got caught in a snowstorm in Chicago. It was a ready way to keep in touch with family back home and for us to get help from friends in booking us a hotel room in Toronto where we expected to get stuck again.

We didn't come near to exhausting our time.

It was easy and in the end cheap. I think there was about $5.00 left on my phone when we crossed the border and it stopped working.

Worked very well for us.

 

[Northstar]

Just a heads up on the Aliant US add-on plan: weird, weird, weird! It does not cover toll-free numbers you call from the US! I was charged major roaming fees for the long phone calls to Continental from the airport, keeping on top of weather delays and what that was going to do to our itinerary.

Aliant's comment: well, you should have used the regular airline number, not the toll-free! Thanks for telling me that NOW, guys.

Canadianguy asked how much I was charged, and I see that I should have put that in. I was charged straight roaming access, just as if I didn't have the add-on. One call was $14.95! Second call, over $9... don't have my bill in front of me but I remember the amounts more or less because of my outrage.

With the Aliant U.S. add-on plans, you pay a flat monthly fee to buy a certain number of roaming minutes in the U.S. Then, if you go over that number of minutes, you pay standard roaming fees. My beef with Aliant is that I think excluding toll-free numbers from the plan makes it pretty useless. After all, there are a lot of toll-free numbers you need for traveling... rental car companies, hotel chain reservations, airlines... and who has a phone book handy to look up the local numbers for the place you want?

Going Tracphone next trip.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Northstar:

That's a HUGE exception for them not to mention.

I'd continue complaining till I got that credited as a 'courtesy credit' if I were you..

I'd bet you can get that credited. Talk to a supervisor. Maybe drop that Rogers doesn't do that and maybe you'll switch or something..

That's NUTS.

 

[The Shamus]

Hi Folks:

It's a difficult paradigm to get your head around, but forget that you even own a Canadian Cell phone. The Canadian cell phone carrier solutions for US travel range from "awful" to "unthinkable".

The cheapest solution for a cell phone for Canadians travelling in the US is going to be a US carrier which does not require a contract. The cell phone itself is virtually free or costs very little (often "talk time" is added to the phone to offset the purchase price of the phone). There is usually no long distance rates within the continental US. It sounds like Virgin Mobile or Tracphone are good contenders.

In our case, we are travelling to Disney by car in April. Since we are travelling with another car, we will pick up the phones in Detroit and keep in contact throughout our trip. As we split at the Disney Parks, we plan to use it. Also, they are staying at Fort Wilderness, and we are stayout outside the park this time -- so we can keep in touch over our 10 cent a minute phone.

Think about the phone as disposable. Your Canadian cell phone carrier can not possibly match these rates or flexibility.

It may be cheaper to purchase a long distance plan if you don't mind calling from a land line back to Canada ... otherwise, those rates are cheap from your cell phone as well.

/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\

 

[CanadianGuy]

That all works - unless you need your current phone number for a long list of people to reach you..

For me to notify everyone of the new temporary Orlando # in my line of work - is somewhere between impractical and impossible. So.. I pay a little more (roughly 60$ per trip) for the knowledge that I can take my existing phone, it's 250+ numbers & contacts stored in it and my current phone number and roam freely.

If that's not an issue -- and for many it is not -- yeah.. absolutely the Tracfone/Virgin phone is completely the way to go.

Knox

 

[csmei]

Just back from a week at Disney. We had Virgin Mobile K10 phones shipped to the resort. 2 phones cost us 21.98 incl. tax and they came with $12.50 each in airtime. We were basically only using them to call each other so that left us with 125 minutes of airtime each. It was $.28 to call Canada. In the end we had so much airtime just sitting there that we would call Canada for no particular reason.

They REALLY came in handy when we got caught in a snowstorm in Chicago. It was a ready way to keep in touch with family back home and for us to get help from friends in booking us a hotel room in Toronto where we expected to get stuck again.

We didn't come near to exhausting our time.

It was easy and in the end cheap. I think there was about $5.00 left on my phone when we crossed the border and it stopped working.

Worked very well for us.

I am interest in the way you did. We will arrive WDW on Feb. 29, when do you think I need to order the phones? Here are some more questions, thank you in advance if you can share your experience.
1. Did you order on-line?
2. What address or information do you provide?
3. How do you pay for it?
4. Did you get your phone in the resort front desk?
5. When did you activate it?
6. Did you get the phone no. when you activate?
7. After using up the airtime, will it charge your credit card automatically?

I am still not sure how it work as I know only a little about it. So, I am so excited to look forward for your experience sharing. Thanks.

 

[Allegro]

I am interest in the way you did. We will arrive WDW on Feb. 29, when do you think I need to order the phones? Here are some more questions, thank you in advance if you can share your experience.
1. Did you order on-line?
2. What address or information do you provide?
3. How do you pay for it?
4. Did you get your phone in the resort front desk?
5. When did you activate it?
6. Did you get the phone no. when you activate?
7. After using up the airtime, will it charge your credit card automatically?

I am still not sure how it work as I know only a little about it. So, I am so excited to look forward for your experience sharing. Thanks.

1. I ordered from www.virginmobileusa.com
2. I gave the address of the hotel. In Address line #2 I put my name and "guest arr. xx/xx/xx."
3. I paid using paypal.
4. The CM handed me my phones when I checked in.
5. I activated it the morning (early!) after we arrived. Needed to charge the phones before activation and didn't get around to putting them on charge until late on the evening we arrived.
6. Yup.
7. No. They had/have no banking information on me whatsoever. BUT I had to argue a bit with the customer rep. when activating the phones. The 9.99 free airtime is an ONLINE offer only (if you buy the phones in a store no free airtime). Once we had established that I had bought my phones online he credited me my 9.99 free air-time PLUS at $2.50 bonus for activating the phones.

We used the phones freely the entire time we were there and still had airtime on the return home. It was something like .28/minute to call Canada and I was doing that JUST to burn airtime because I could. We'll probably gift the phones to BIL for his trip in March.

No need to top up until 90 days have passed and only if we want to keep the phones active. We'll probably just toss them. The phones themselves are pretty cheap but served their purpose just fine.

 

[csmei]

1. I ordered from www.virginmobileusa.com
2. I gave the address of the hotel. In Address line #2 I put my name and "guest arr. xx/xx/xx."
3. I paid using paypal.
4. The CM handed me my phones when I checked in.
5. I activated it the morning (early!) after we arrived. Needed to charge the phones before activation and didn't get around to putting them on charge until late on the evening we arrived.
6. Yup.
7. No. They had/have no banking information on me whatsoever. BUT I had to argue a bit with the customer rep. when activating the phones. The 9.99 free airtime is an ONLINE offer only (if you buy the phones in a store no free airtime). Once we had established that I had bought my phones online he credited me my 9.99 free air-time PLUS at $2.50 bonus for activating the phones.

We used the phones freely the entire time we were there and still had airtime on the return home. It was something like .28/minute to call Canada and I was doing that JUST to burn airtime because I could. We'll probably gift the phones to BIL for his trip in March.

No need to top up until 90 days have passed and only if we want to keep the phones active. We'll probably just toss them. The phones themselves are pretty cheap but served their purpose just fine.

Thanks, Allegro.
It is very clear. Did you give any instruction to Disney Resort before you order the phone? For my case, I will be at the resort on Feb. 29, when do you think I should place the order? Thanks.

 

[Allegro]

Thanks, Allegro.
It is very clear. Did you give any instruction to Disney Resort before you order the phone? For my case, I will be at the resort on Feb. 29, when do you think I should place the order? Thanks.

None whatsoever.

I think I ordered the phone 1 full-week (weekend incl) before we travelled. They said 3 - 5 days for delivery and I didn't want the package sitting at the resort for too long.

 

[disneyred]

None whatsoever.

I think I ordered the phone 1 full-week (weekend incl) before we travelled. They said 3 - 5 days for delivery and I didn't want the package sitting at the resort for too long.

Just wondering how do go about getting these phones if I have no paypal??
as I know on the website they will not accept a canadian CC.

 

[csmei]

None whatsoever.

I think I ordered the phone 1 full-week (weekend incl) before we travelled. They said 3 - 5 days for delivery and I didn't want the package sitting at the resort for too long.

Hi Allegro,

I more question about ordering. In the "First name" and "Last name", what did you fill up? Do you need to fill in "the resort name" somewhere?
Thanks.

 

[Allegro]

I put my name. The only place I put the resort name was the address line.

 

[biggroofy]

I put my name. The only place I put the resort name was the address line.

Hello, we will be at WDW next Sat (Mar 1) and planning to order the phone today. Some questions.

1). There are only two address lines, if I do the following, I do not have space for Resort address, is that fine?
Address Line 1: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
Address Line 2: Guest Arrv. Mar 1, 2008
City: Lake Buena Vista
ZIP code: FL 32830

So do I need to put (if yes, where?) GF's full address: 4401 Grand Floridian Way?

2). Phone number: shall I give my Canadian phone number, or the resort phone number?

3). I am ordering two phones (the 2nd phone is for my parents). Can I activate both phones in one call, or is it easier to activate from their web site?

Thanks!!!!

 

[encinc]

Am I getting this right?: Virgin Mobile has a free phone with $9.99 airtime purchase. Free shipping and free activation. If I were to order two phones, it would cost me about $20, and we could call back and forth for 100 minutes on the 20/10 plan.

What am I missing? Sounds like too good a deal to pass up.

 

[Kurby]

check the delivery - the tracfone wont be sold in canada and canadians can't use their cc to purchase minutes so we can't top up unless we buy a card in the states.