Abroad, phones are now a necessity. Travellers need their phones to check an itinerary on a road trip with friends, to check flight status after leaving a business meeting, or to check a table in a restaurant during a family vacation. Canadians need their phones abroad, and they expect to use them as easily as they do at home. Providers try to meet their expectations with different options, daily or monthly, pay-per-use, the best ones depend on the usage. Without further delay, here are the best option roaming plans:
Data Roaming Options
If you want to use your phone as if you are in Canada while abroad, there are plenty of data roaming options from the country’s major providers. Currently, Rogers and Fido offer this possibility for a daily fee. In fact, Fido Roam and Roam like home offer Rogers and Fido customers the ability to use their rate plan abroad. For example, a Fido customer who leaves France for a week, and who has a $47 unlimited Pulse Plan and 1 GB, will be able to use what is included in his plan for $1 per day. It’s the same thing with Rogers. If a traveler goes to the US, they sell $5. At the end of the month, our traveler will have a bill of $117 (plus taxes): $70 Fido Roam + $47 Price Plan.
These offers seem expensive, but they have to be compared to the pay-per-use; at Fido, a customer would pay between $7.99 and $9.99 for 50 MB abroad, or over $150 for 1 GB, plus minute charges and SMS. In addition, Rogers and Fido would not build more than 10 days of roaming in one zone per billing cycle. Let’s say our traveler decides to stay in France for a month, his Fido Roam fee would not be $100.
TELUS offers the same thing, but only for the U.S. and for $7 per day. Bell also has a daily offer, but it’s a little different. For $5 a day in the U.S. or $10 in 100 countries, Bell customers can have unlimited SMS and calls, and 100MB, 20 days billed per billing cycle.
These daily options are mostly for those who would use their phones both abroad and in Canada, those who do not want to limit their usage. But also for those who usually travel to the US several days a month. Also for those who do not want to pay for a day, they just have to turn off their roaming before midnight. Finally, the user of these daily options can still make calls in Canada without being charged long distance. They would be charged international fees if they make phone calls to destinations other than the countries they are or Canada. For example, our traveler can call to France and Canada, but if he calls to the United States, he will pay long distance charges. This is the big difference with the monthly plans.
Cellular Data Options Roaming
There are plenty of cellular data options roaming clients should consider. If you’re going to be travelling for over a month, consider one of these monthly option roaming plans. At Bell, a $60 pass to Mexico includes 100 minutes of airtime, 200 text ads, 200 not. These packages can be expensive, especially on the African continent, for example, at TELUS, a travel package to Morocco costs $ 150 for 25mo, 50 minutes and 50 texts. In this case, would a local prepaid card be a better solution?
Prepaid card
A prepaid card is probably the cheapest roaming option for travellers. For example, a TELUS customer can have 10gb, 2 hours of airtime and 1000 SMS for $14 (100 dirhams) with a Telecom prepaid card in Morocco. The only condition to benefit from these prepaid cards is to have an unlocked phone, and to be ready to get a new number. Having a prepaid card is as well for an occasional traveler as for a regular traveler because you can keep the card for at least 6 months before the phone numbers are cancelled. If you’re interested in a prepaid plan without travelling, check out our guide on the best prepaid plans in Canada.
Make your choice based on your needs
Finally, the best daily options are for those going to the US whether they are going for one day or 30 days. To accommodate these options, Videotron has launched a Canada-U.S. borderless plan. For at least $65 a day, a Videotron customer can have unlimited text and talk, 2GB in Canada and the US. With all these options, you should be able to find an ideal plan throughout your travels. Make sure you find something that fits your needs, and don’t end up overpaying! Similarly, if you need a new mobile phone plan, use Planhub to avoid overpaying. Our services compare the country’s cheapest plans in order to help you find the most affordable options that fit your exact needs!
