Chris, (My fiance) is contemplating doing some driving into Canada. (Most of you know he's an OTR truck driver.) I was wondering, what is the best plan for us to use to keep in contact while he's up there? Is it best to add something to our current plan? (Which is a 1400 Minute Family Talk Plan) or should he get a prepaid phone for use while he's up there? Is it better to seperate him from the Family Plan, or to leave it all together? Thanks guys & gals, Ash
To the best of my knowledge, AT&T's Go Phone (prepaid service) will not roam in Canada. If he is on a regular monthly (postpaid) plan, it should allow roaming without any issues in Canada. It will likely roam on Rogers up there.
At&t does offer a North America plan that includes roaming and long distance in Canada. If he is going to be there a while, that would be the best option, other than getting a Canadian carrier.
That's interesting, since the AT&T Go Phone web site indicated the phones can now roam in Mexico... Why not Canada?
AT&T has a roaming agreement at favorable rates with TELCEL, one of the Mexican carriers. The $0.25 per minute is lower than the postpaid roaming rates. I would guess that there are more people with GoPhones who travel to Mexico than travel to Canada.
It will probably depend on how long/often he will be in Canada. Remember, you have both roaming and long distance rates to consider. Long distance would include your calls to him as well if he opted for a pre-paid Canadian phone. The simplest thing would probably to change your current plan to the North American plan, but that might not be the cheapest.
I travel to Canada frequently and have done two things to stay in touch while I'm away from the States. I purchased and activated a prepay cell phone in Canada that I use while I'm there. I also use Vonage Companion service on the laptop I take with me. It acts like an extension of my home phone, using the same number, no matter where I am. The only difference is that I can call home using the Companion, even though I'm calling the same number. Between the two, I manage to stay in touch fairly well, as long as I have internet connection sometimes and I'm not in an area of a province with no wirelss coverage..
There is a feature called AT&T Canda that is $4.99 and provides a discounted roaming rate while traveling in Canada... Normal rate is .99 with AT&T Canada it is .59. If he will be spending a period of time up there (1+ months) Nation with Canada would be a good choice. If you guys want to stay on your current rate plan with no changes then AT&T Canda would be the best choice, feature wise on the account.
take it only when needed then cancel, prorated charge,no since in paying monthly for something you use once in a while
