Cell phone plan in the US

[SFailla]

We are driving to Disney in just under 2 weeks and will be in the US for 3 weeks. I have inquired with Telus and since I am on a corporate plan, they don't have a roam like home option. Their cheapest option for me is $85 for 1GB of data. They suggested unlocking my phone and putting a US sim card in instead. Has anyone done this and if so, which US carrier should I look into for the month? Thanks!

 

[pigletto]

I used Roam mobility. https://roammobility.com/plans.
They have a variety of plans, and we went with the text and data one because we don't generally call home for anything. If we needed to we would just use Google Hangouts free wifi calling.

Anyway, I found Roam to be adequate and plan to use again this month. My phone has a dual SIM option so I don't even need to take my regular Telus sim out, but it's not hard to just switch the SIM cards when you get to your destination if you only have one SIM slot. When you sign up you have the Roam SIM card shipped to your home. You can set the time you want the plan to begin and end on the Roam website. We had some trouble getting a signal in our hotel room, which can happen with any carrier I guess. I had no issues in the parks, or even once I stepped out of the room.

 

[ottawamom]

I second the Roam Sim option. You can also pick up the sim card at Staples and Best Buy. I had trouble with my first phone that I used (getting a signal on property) but once I unlocked my good phone from home and used it all was fine (even in our hotel room).

Given that you are driving check out the coverage map to make certain you are covered on your route. Most of the US interstates have good coverage.

With Roam you get a phone # and can keep it so long as you purchase a days worth of usage once per year. Great service. It suits our needs.

 

[alohamom]

@ottawamom and @pigletto

Thanks for the link and info about roammobility. I want to make sure I understand this as I am sooo tech challenged and if I can come at my family with this option for our upcoming NYC trip their jaws will drop (or they will tell me they already know about -duh mom!) LOL, anyway, what I see is that I can purchase the SIM card for 4.97 and then purchase a plan for 4.95 (all USD of course) per day - is this correct? And it doesnt matter what my carrier is (Rogers, Bell whatever) because I am taking out that SIM card anyway as long as the device is unlocked?
Seems almost too simple, tell me what I am missing?

 

[SFailla]

@ottawamom and @pigletto

Thanks for the link and info about roammobility. I want to make sure I understand this as I am sooo tech challenged and if I can come at my family with this option for our upcoming NYC trip their jaws will drop (or they will tell me they already know about -duh mom!) LOL, anyway, what I see is that I can purchase the SIM card for 4.97 and then purchase a plan for 4.95 (all USD of course) per day - is this correct? And it doesnt matter what my carrier is (Rogers, Bell whatever) because I am taking out that SIM card anyway as long as the device is unlocked?
Seems almost too simple, tell me what I am missing?

Yes thanks for the link @ottawamom and @pigletto. How did you find the coverage? I was just looking at the website @alohamom and it says that all pricing is in CDN.

 

[ottawamom]

Caution! You definitely want to be on the site where they quote things in Canadian $ (you want the site with the Golden Gate bridge). There is also a site for Americans (and others) traveling to Canada.

I am tech challenged also and I have managed to figure out how to get the sim out of and into my cell phone. The whole process is really easy once you've done it once. Your carrier at home doesn't matter once your phone is unlocked.

The entire process with Roam is easy. If I can do it you can. SFailla, coverage is in a drop down menu at the top of the main page (Golden Gate picture page). Just zoom in so that you can see your route coverage.

alohamom that is a great deal on the sim card I paid $10 for mine a few years ago. Prices if I remember correctly are Canadian $ because I always charge it to my Canadian CC.

 

[SFailla]

Caution! You definitely want to be on the site where they quote things in Canadian $ (you want the site with the Golden Gate bridge). There is also a site for Americans (and others) traveling to Canada.

I am tech challenged also and I have managed to figure out how to get the sim out of and into my cell phone. The whole process is really easy once you've done it once. Your carrier at home doesn't matter once your phone is unlocked.

The entire process with Roam is easy. If I can do it you can. SFailla, coverage is in a drop down menu at the top of the main page (Golden Gate picture page). Just zoom in so that you can see your route coverage.

alohamom that is a great deal on the sim card I paid $10 for mine a few years ago. Prices if I remember correctly are Canadian $ because I always charge it to my Canadian CC.

Awesome. Thanks again. I just ordered the 2 pack of SIM cards from Staples because we are leaving in 9 days and I wanted to make sure I got them right away.

 

[alohamom]

Caution! You definitely want to be on the site where they quote things in Canadian $ (you want the site with the Golden Gate bridge). There is also a site for Americans (and others) traveling to Canada.

I am tech challenged also and I have managed to figure out how to get the sim out of and into my cell phone. The whole process is really easy once you've done it once. Your carrier at home doesn't matter once your phone is unlocked.

The entire process with Roam is easy. If I can do it you can. SFailla, coverage is in a drop down menu at the top of the main page (Golden Gate picture page). Just zoom in so that you can see your route coverage.

alohamom that is a great deal on the sim card I paid $10 for mine a few years ago. Prices if I remember correctly are Canadian $ because I always charge it to my Canadian CC.

Looks like the SIM cards are on sale and I just assumed it was in USD so that is even better, thanks everyone!

 

[starvenger]

I did a price comparison earlier in the year just to see what is out there. Roam has one of the better rates out there for both short-term (i.e. 1-4 days) and 30 day plans. From a personal standpoint I'll be trying this for the first time in August as I'll be in Fort Lauderdale prior to my cruise, and later during a port day in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

T-Mobile has a 21-day travelers plan for $30 USD (roughly $38CAD at current rates). It seems pretty good for what it gets you vs. Roam's 30-day - 1GB extra LTE data, but less talk and text time, and of course it runs for a shorter term.

 

[youngdeb12]

We have a corporate plan with Telus and have been able to add the $7/day option via the My Account app.

 

[ottawamom]

alohamom there is an extra step you may need to do if you plan on using data. I don't use data so I can't help you out but it is well explained on the website.

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

We are driving to Disney in just under 2 weeks and will be in the US for 3 weeks. I have inquired with Telus and since I am on a corporate plan, they don't have a roam like home option. Their cheapest option for me is $85 for 1GB of data. They suggested unlocking my phone and putting a US sim card in instead. Has anyone done this and if so, which US carrier should I look into for the month? Thanks!

Hi ... I also agree with the others who recommend Roam Mobility. We just used them and was happy with the service.

Please note the following:

* you will need to UNLOCK your phone (which you already know that you will need to use an UNLOCKED phone)

* You can purchase the SIM card online or buy the SIM card at a retail outlet. Price in CDN funds.

* The plans online are charged in CDN funds. You set your activation date.

* There are daily and monthly plans. We used the monthly plan since we had a long visit and it was cheaper for us to buy the monthly plan.

* We only used data to check wait times and the 1 GB that came with our monthly plan was more than sufficient for our needs. If you use MaxPass I'm not sure how much more data you will use.

* The service in the LA and Anaheim area was good. No problems with service in the parks except service would be lost on some rides like Soaring and in some buildings (assume it has to do with the concrete buildings). If service was lost outside it was quickly fixed by turning the phone on and off.

* Our plan also included calls made to Canada (ie. a Canadian number) which I believe some other providers will charge for

* In order to keep your SIM card active (and not have to re-buy another SIM card for future use) and to keep your assigned USA cell number, you will need to have a plan on your account. Others have reported that they kept a plan on their account and kept "moving forward" their activation date until they were ready to use the plan

Good luck!


Edit to add: Since you are visiting USA for 3 weeks, the monthly plan might be more economical for you. There is a cheaper monthly plan with less data and one that is more expensive which gives you more data.

Also, you might want to crunch some numbers. Others have reported that they purchased the daily plan because they got more data that way (eg. "x amount" GB of data prorated daily over a 30 day period provided more "cumulative" data than the monthly plan ... but it probably cost more than the monthly plan)

 

[starvenger]

It would cost $35/week to use the daily plan... but you would get 3.5GB/week of data. Expensive but I could see where a case could be made for doing it.

 

[Sue M]

I have a Rogers Corp plan and get the $5/day Roam Like Home. This is the first time I'll be using it.
I was on Telus before. I would phone the Telus Customer retention and tell them I didn't want to pay $85. I've gotten them down to $50 for the Roaming US pass.

 

[xlxo]

Love Telus, love Roam when I'm in the USA. As mentioned.... make sure your phone is unlocked.

 

[Mike2023]

We always used Roam Mobility until we switched to Freedom mobile as they have a plan that includes US roaming.

Depending how long you are in the US you may even want to consider signing up for Freedom just for a month.

 

[DavidL]

Awesome. Thanks again. I just ordered the 2 pack of SIM cards from Staples because we are leaving in 9 days and I wanted to make sure I got them right away.

We've been using Roam Mobility for a few years now for our US vacations. We are very happy with the service. It is comforting knowing that there won't be any surprise bills for data overages.. We drive from London Ontario to Orlando each March (using the I75) and have had great service each trip. (Note: there is pretty good WiFi in the parks too. Be sure to connect to the WiFi to reduce the amount of cellular data you consume..)