Virgin Mobile or Tracfone?

[dancin Disney style]

Does anyone know if it is true that they will work in Canada if you live in a border city? I would like to know before I add some air time to try it out?

I tried mine once while I was, at most, 1km away from the falls and it did work. Beyond that I have no idea but my guess would be that the phone will only work while you are right at or near the border.

I can tell you that my Telus pre-paid has service in the US but it will not work because they have no way of confirming that there are funds to pay for the roaming. I was told this by Telus and once before by Bell. I would guess that Tracfone is similar.

 

[ddawg]

So I would have 2 phone numbers for each phone??? One local and one an 800 number for people in Canada to use to call me?

I don't think I can order it on line in advance because I don't have paypal and they don't take Canadian credit cards , or do they? I know Virgin Mobile doesn't take Canadian credit cards

 

[ddawg]

Oops.

 

[ddawg]

It looks like Virgin Mobile costs 10 cents a minute if you buy a $20.00 phone card and Tracfone cost 25 cent a minute if you buy a $30.00 card or 20 Cents a minute if your buy a $40.00 card. Does this seem right?

 

[SaskDisNut]

We used our Tracfone a lot last year and it worked like a charm. Does anyone know if it is true that they will work in Canada if you live in a border city? I would like to know before I add some air time to try it out?

I tried our Tracfones here in Regina and they worked! I was able to call to the phone and make a call from the phone. I was suprised that they worked. We are a long way from the border too. I haven't tried them outside the city yet but I will sometime.

We used 2 Tracfones in Dec. in WDW and they worked great. DW and I were able to call each other whenever we needed. I also went down for a conference in January and added some minutes from the Tracfone website. I found a bonus code online that gave me bonus minutes on top of the minutes I paid for. I think it worked out to about .15/minutes to send and receive calls from home. Of course the more minutes you buy the cheaper the per minutes cost is.

 

[dancin Disney style]

So I would have 2 phone numbers for each phone??? One local and one an 800 number for people in Canada to use to call me?

I don't think I can order it on line in advance because I don't have paypal and they don't take Canadian credit cards , or do they? I know Virgin Mobile doesn't take Canadian credit cards

Yes...your phone will have number assigned to it just like anyother phone. The numbers that you can get for Canadians to call are not 800#. They are local numbers. When you set it up online they ask you for your nearest city and you select from a list. In some cases the number might result in local long distance charges to the Canadian caller. For example, if you live in Mississauga and select a Hamilton #.

You can get more than one number for the folks at home to call you. Say you have one for the kids in Hamilton and another for your mom in Toronto. There is a limit to how many you can attach to one phone.

Also, not sure if I mentioned that Tracfone has a 1-800 # that you can call on the Tracfone that lets you call long distance without being charged extra.

 

[dancin Disney style]

It looks like Virgin Mobile costs 10 cents a minute if you buy a $20.00 phone card and Tracfone cost 25 cent a minute if you buy a $30.00 card or 20 Cents a minute if your buy a $40.00 card. Does this seem right?

With Tracfone the least expensive card you can buy is $20 that gives you 60 minutes. However, you can get codes that will double your minutes for free. If you google it, they are plentiful. There are lots of different codes so have a few on hand because if one doesn't work you just try another one.


Someone mentioned that Tracfone doesn't take Canadian credit cards. That is true. I've never tried paypal though, so I don't know if they take it. You can very easily set up a paypal account.

 

[DundasDad]

I'm still here in Florida - we purchased a Tracfone at Walmart (got the phone for $20, with car charger, ac charger and carrying case. It also has a "2 for 1" for the minutes for the life of the phone.)
We got 60 mins for $20 - so altogether we paid about $40 US and got all the above with 130 mins of airtime (60 x 2 + the free 10 with the phone).

It has worked fine - we needed an address in the states to activate it - so I used the address for POR (in order to get a local FLA #). To call back to Canada you do use a 1-800 # first (just program it into your phone).

We're on our 2nd week here and are down to about 55 mins - which I'm sure we will put a dent into on our drive home tomorrow.

 

[SaskDisNut]

Someone mentioned that Tracfone doesn't take Canadian credit cards. That is true. I've never tried paypal though, so I don't know if they take it. You can very easily set up a paypal account.

I used my Canadian credit card to add minutes to my phone. It worked with no problem.

 

[Ham Ham]

Just picked up a Virgin TNT while in NYC. Activated it with a local NYC number.
$16.03 taxes in. Came with 10 free minutes, 10 texts and 5 days of free web browsing. Also purchased a $20 air card. Still have $10 left on it

Minutes are good until June 13.

When we head to WDW in August we'll change the number to a local Orlando number.


Click for more info on our trip to NYC this past week.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I used my Canadian credit card to add minutes to my phone. It worked with no problem.

Interesting.....I've tried with my Visa and it wouldn't go through. I was instructed to call customer service which I did and they pulled up the transaction and then told me that I could not pay with a Canadian CC.

Recently, I tried with my Amex and still wouldn't go through.

Have you done this recently and which CC ?

 

[SaskDisNut]

Interesting.....I've tried with my Visa and it wouldn't go through. I was instructed to call customer service which I did and they pulled up the transaction and then told me that I could not pay with a Canadian CC.

Recently, I tried with my Amex and still wouldn't go through.

Have you done this recently and which CC ?

Yes, I did this in January right before I went down for my conference. I have set up an account on the Tracfone website and registered both of our phones. So I went to the phone I wanted to add minutes too, clicked buy minutes, selected the amount of minutes I wanted and it brought me to this payment screen. As you can see, it lets you specify your mailing address for your credit card, including Canada. I used our PC Financial cc and had no problems. Is this how you were buying minutes?

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Just picked up a Virgin TNT while in NYC. Activated it with a local NYC number.
$16.03 taxes in. Came with 10 free minutes, 10 texts and 5 days of free web browsing. Also purchased a $20 air card. Still have $10 left on it

Minutes are good until June 13.

When we head to WDW in August we'll change the number to a local Orlando number.


Click for more info on our trip to NYC this past week.

Ham Ham, bookmarking this post, we want to take a trip to NYC within the year. TIA for what I'm sure is great info!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Yes, I did this in January right before I went down for my conference. I have set up an account on the Tracfone website and registered both of our phones. So I went to the phone I wanted to add minutes too, clicked buy minutes, selected the amount of minutes I wanted and it brought me to this payment screen. As you can see, it lets you specify your mailing address for your credit card, including Canada. I used our PC Financial cc and had no problems. Is this how you were buying minutes?

I have only tried to buy through the website. Never on the phone.

I'll have to go back on the site and look at it again because the last time it did not look like your pic.

Did you set up your phone with a Canadian address? When I did mine that was not allowed, it had to be American. I've had the phone for a few years.

 

[disneyred]

I would also love to know.. i have a very old phone and thought
I could only open acct and register my phone on thier website if I had an american address !

 

[Ham Ham]

Ham Ham, bookmarking this post, we want to take a trip to NYC within the year. TIA for what I'm sure is great info!

We stayed at a great hotel. Average for each of three nights was $175 taxes in with a hot breakfast buffet included. Parking 2 1/2 blocks away was only $24 per 25 hours.

Hotel was built 2 years ago staff is excellent.

Holiday Inn Express - NYC Madison Square Garden - New York City, NY
232 West 29th Street, New York City, NY 10001-5201
Phone: 212-695-7200 Fax: 212-695-7209


Click for more info

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

That's very helpful Ham Ham, thanks! It's on our must do list, so much to see there. Thanks again.