topic Switching to Telus and back in Get Support

Switching to Telus and back

Gor154 — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:45:47 GMT

I'll be in the US for a couple of weeks in December, and it would be cheaper for me to just get a Telus US-Canada plan for next month. Ideally I would want to keep my phone number through all this, and I was wondering if it would be feasible for me to switch back to public mobile at the end of the month and if I would need to order a new SIM card.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

GR — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:04:49 GMT

@Gor154 yes if you port out it will close your public mobile account so you'll lose any available funds and rewards. Then you'll need to buy a new Sim and open a new account with a different email address

Re: Switching to Telus and back

dabr — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:18:44 GMT

@Gor154 wrote:
I'll be in the US for a couple of weeks in December, and it would be cheaper for me to just get a Telus US-Canada plan for next month. Ideally I would want to keep my phone number through all this, and I was wondering if it would be feasible for me to switch back to public mobile at the end of the month and if I would need to order a new SIM card.

As noted by @GR you would need to port out and then get a new sim and different email in order to port back in to PM.

If you are only going for a couple of weeks, couldn't you make the US roaming add-ons work for you? You could buy one of the US roaming add-ons for 10 days, and then on day 9 purchase a different US add-on to get you to the end of your trip.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

will13am — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:21:28 GMT

It would probably be cheapest to simply get a US plan for the month. The cost of starting and stopping a service twice in a month cannot be cost effective by any measure.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

srlawren — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:23:56 GMT

@dabr wrote:
If you are only going for a couple of weeks, couldn't you make the US roaming add-ons work for you? You could buy one of the US roaming add-ons for 10 days, and then on day 9 purchase a different US add-on to get you to the end of your trip.

@Gor154 or maybe Roam Mobility?

Re: Switching to Telus and back

dabr — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:31:36 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@dabr wrote:
If you are only going for a couple of weeks, couldn't you make the US roaming add-ons work for you? You could buy one of the US roaming add-ons for 10 days, and then on day 9 purchase a different US add-on to get you to the end of your trip.
@Gor154 or maybe Roam Mobility?

@srlawren Agree, although I haven't used RM, I've heard they can be quite inexpensive and would be worth considering for OP.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

geopublic — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:31:51 GMT

@Gor154 Here is another option:

https://www.amazon.ca/Lycamobile-Included-Triple-Unlimited-Countries/dp/B073Z1SFHT/ref=sr_1_39?keywords=us+prepaid+to+us&qid=1574108145&sr=8-39

Re: Switching to Telus and back

THEnewfie — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:35:04 GMT

If a buttload of data is needed (or more trips will occur in the not too distant future) there's a company called mint mobile that offers a pretty snazzy deal. 45$ ..but it's 3mths of service and 12gb of data each month. I'd gladly take unlimited talk n text + 12 gigs for 15 a month 👌👌👌👌👌 lol

Re: Switching to Telus and back

PAULRANG18 — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:43:45 GMT

Best to buy roaming plans in the US instead of closing your account and then deal with more activation charges to restore your service when you get back.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

srlawren — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:45:13 GMT

@dabr wrote:
@srlawren wrote:
@Gor154 or maybe Roam Mobility?
@srlawren Agree, although I haven't used RM, I've heard they can be quite inexpensive and would be worth considering for OP.

@dabr I used them before PM lauched the US Roaming add-ons, and a few times after. Works well. They have per-day plans that I think are $5 for unlimited talk and text and half a gig or so of data (per day, with rollover within the same trip). They have some longer-term plans as well, but this is a pretty good fit for many. They have just talk and just talk+text plans for a bit less as well. Runs on T-Mobile network, I never had any trouble with it. Downside is you end up with a US phone number while you're using that SIM, so similar to getting a local pre-paid SIM (like Mint as @THEnewfie suggested, and many others).

Re: Switching to Telus and back

dabr — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:53:50 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@dabr wrote:
@srlawren wrote:
@Gor154 or maybe Roam Mobility?
@srlawren Agree, although I haven't used RM, I've heard they can be quite inexpensive and would be worth considering for OP.
@dabr I used them before PM lauched the US Roaming add-ons, and a few times after. Works well. They have per-day plans that I think are $5 for unlimited talk and text and half a gig or so of data (per day, with rollover within the same trip). They have some longer-term plans as well, but this is a pretty good fit for many. They have just talk and just talk+text plans for a bit less as well. Runs on T-Mobile network, I never had any trouble with it. Downside is you end up with a US phone number while you're using that SIM, so similar to getting a local pre-paid SIM (like Mint as @THEnewfie suggested, and many others).

Thanks for the info @srlawren It's good to know that they work well and those rates are definitely good. Are you able to use the same RM SIM or have to purchase a new one for each trip down south?

Re: Switching to Telus and back

srlawren — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 21:46:07 GMT

@dabr wrote:
Thanks for the info @srlawren It's good to know that they work well and those rates are definitely good. Are you able to use the same RM SIM or have to purchase a new one for each trip down south?

@dabr I only ever had the one, but it has since expired. I forget the window you get, but if unused for a certain period of time they do expire.

Re: Switching to Telus and back

dabr — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 19:49:12 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@dabr wrote:
Thanks for the info @srlawren It's good to know that they work well and those rates are definitely good. Are you able to use the same RM SIM or have to purchase a new one for each trip down south?
@dabr I only ever had the one, but it has since expired. I forget the window you get, but if unused for a certain period of time they do expire.

@srlawren Looked into a bit more, the SIMs seem to be reusable for upto a year. RM allows a roaming plan to be scheduled upto 6 months in advance. I do like that they offer really good value plans too, but does require an American number.

Sounds quite affordable and practical IMO:)

Re: Switching to Telus and back

srlawren — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 20:55:48 GMT

@dabr wrote:
@srlawren Looked into a bit more, the SIMs seem to be reusable for upto a year. RM allows a roaming plan to be scheduled upto 6 months in advance. I do like that they offer really good value plans too, but does require an American number.

Sounds quite affordable and practical IMO:)

@dabr cool 🙂

The American number is annoying. You can work around it to some extent with all the standard things we suggest to travellers. (Forward calls to Fongo before leaving Canada; use Hangouts with pre-verified phone number for outbound calls if you don't want people to wonder who's calling them from a US number; leave your SIM in Canada with a friend or family member, in a spare Android phone plugged into a charger, running an app to forward your incoming SMS; move as many conversations as possible away from SMS to data-based services like WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Discord, Slack, etc.)

Re: Switching to Telus and back

dabr — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 21:01:31 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@dabr wrote:
@srlawren Looked into a bit more, the SIMs seem to be reusable for upto a year. RM allows a roaming plan to be scheduled upto 6 months in advance. I do like that they offer really good value plans too, but does require an American number.

Sounds quite affordable and practical IMO:)
@dabr cool 🙂

The American number is annoying. You can work around it to some extent with all the standard things we suggest to travellers. (Forward calls to Fongo before leaving Canada; use Hangouts with pre-verified phone number for outbound calls if you don't want people to wonder who's calling them from a US number; leave your SIM in Canada with a friend or family member, in a spare Android phone plugged into a charger, running an app to forward your incoming SMS; move as many conversations as possible away from SMS to data-based services like WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Discord, Slack, etc.)

There always are a quite a few workarounds, but still annoying that we need to do that. It would be nice (though unlikely!) for PM to upgrade their US roaming packages for a longer timeline at least, but I won't hold my breath for that to happen anytime soon:)