topic Re: Moving Abroad in Get Support

Moving Abroad

espanol599 — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 08:26:31 GMT

I will be moving abroad to Europe in 2 weeks for the next 8 months and I was wondering if there is anyway I can keep my phone number once I get back and possibly my plan and rewards.

Thank you

Re: Moving Abroad

JK8 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 04:37:20 GMT

@espanol599 wrote:
I will be moving abroad to Europe in 2 weeks for the next 8 months and I was wondering if there is anyway I can keep my phone number once I get back and possibly my plan and rewards.

Thank you

Yes you can. You have 90 days from your renewal date to make a payment to keep your account active. If you do not renew within 90 days your account will be closed and number lost. It is best to pay on the 85th day in case something goes wrong with your payment and you have some time to resolve it. Take your credit card off autopay and make a manual payment and reactivate your services within 90 days from each renewal date.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/reactivate-a-suspended-plan

Re: Moving Abroad

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 04:39:15 GMT

@espanol599 : There are several options to keep your number. But the only way to keep your current plan and rewards is to renew every ~4 months. You get 30 days of service (useless when out of country). Then it suspends (with autopay off and no available funds). Then you have 90 days to reactivate. But as mentioned, make sure to do that reactivate a day or three before in case of any hiccups.

Re: Moving Abroad

JK8 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 04:43:22 GMT

@espanol599

611 will not work on your phone for PM in Europe so you will have to do everything in self service while you are there.

Re: Moving Abroad

darlicious — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 11:52:46 GMT

@espanol599

Here are your options for keeping your account/plan/rewards while travelling abroad. If you just have a current in market plan with no special promotions tied to it then last suggestion may be an option to consider.....but if you have a grandfathered plan with certain features you want to keep (like full speed 4G LTE data) then changing to a cheaper plan is not possible without losing that plan forever.

The same applies to plans w/certain promotions like this summer's promocode 2GBBONUS additional renewable 2gb bonus plan data.

You can turn off autopay and allow the account to suspend at the of your current 30 day cycle but this is your least advantageous option. Pay and reactivate by day 85 or so.
If you have an account balance that exceeds your plan amount then you need to suspend via the lost/stolen feature in your account before midnight eastern on the evening of your renewal. Then on day 85 or so resume your service to pay and reactivate.
Suspending via lost/stolen before midnight eastern will keep your voicemail active allowing you retrieve voicemail and any verification sent by phone calls. However your rewards will not be applied to your account. CSA contact after paying and reactivating is necessary to have the rewards applied manually.
Voicemail can be accessed by calling your pm number from a different phone by calling your phone # and pressing * once connected and entering your 4 digit voicemail pin #.
If you don't have an account balance or enough balance to cover your plan amount you can suspend via lost/stolen after midnight but before 2 am eastern on the day of your renewal. Once your rewards have been applied (usually by 12:15 am et) then suspend your account.Voicemail access will be lost.
Switching to the $15 plan with rewards helping to cover a partial or full amount of your plan allows you to call forward your pm number to your fongo number. Make sure you do this with your pm sim card in your phone before you leave Canada. Now any incoming calling to your pm number will ring thru to your fongo number while on wifi or mobile data (w/a local or global sim card) You can access your fongo voicemail for all voicemail messages.

Most important mark on your calendar day 85 of your suspension and day 88/89. Do not forget when you must unsuspend your account via lost/stolen and/or pay and reactivate your service so you don't lose your phone number and account.

Sometimes pm will send a reminder email to reactivate but they are very YMMV so do not rely on them to remind you to reactivate your service.

Perhaps pre-arranging with a friend or family member an emergency back up plan to check for active service on day 88 and contact you or they can have a pm voucher on hand to pay for your service just in case..... by calling 1-855-4PUBLIC and entering your 10 digit phone # (only works for accounts suspended for non-payment.)

Don't forget you must top up your available funds with enough to cover your plan amount and reactivate your services before 90 days.....the 90th day gives approximately 6 hours of leeway between midnight and 6am eastern before an account is cancelled and deactivated permanently resulting in the loss of your phone number and it released back to the original provider.

https://toomanyadapters.com/international-sim-card-comparison/

https://toomanyadapters.com/buying-local-sim-cards/

Happy travels and Stay--Safe!!

Re: Moving Abroad

Triguy — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:51:30 GMT

You can port your phone number over to Fongo but you would be charged $25.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Using-Your-Service/How-to-keep-phone-number-while-liv...

Here is an article:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Paying-for-your-service/Extended-Absence/m-p/142735#M...

Re: Moving Abroad

darlicious — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:16:10 GMT

@Triguy

Porting out kind of defeats the OP's purpose to keep their plan and rewards? 🤔

Re: Moving Abroad

Triguy — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:33:22 GMT

@darlicious It is an option for them to consider to keep their phone number.

When they are back in Canada, they can port their number out to any other provider, porting out is free if they have stayed with Fongo for over 3 months.

Re: Moving Abroad

darlicious — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:37:04 GMT

@Triguy

I guess if you are going for 1/3......

Re: Moving Abroad

espanol599 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 20:40:10 GMT

would that be only a 25$ charge

Re: Moving Abroad

darlicious — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 01:38:36 GMT

@espanol599

You have been here over 3 years so the minimum rewards you have is $5+ any referrals. You may be on a grandfathered plan but if you don't mind losing your plan and switch to the $15 plan suspending your plan would cost....approximately :

Suspend on Sept 20th if renewal is the 21st and you want to keep voicemail active :

Sept 20>>Oct 20>>Nov 19>>reactivate before Dec 19th. Let's say you do it at 12:01 am eastern on Dec 17th giving you 2 days to deal with any issues ( currently it is 48 hours for customer support.) You would pay $15-$5=$10 for the next 30 days of service.

Then suspend before midnight eastern on January 15th>>February 14>>March 16>>reactivate before April 15th and pay $15-$5=$10 for April 13th/14th>>May 13th which is 8 months so with autopay on you can renew for your arrival home or suspend for another 88/89 days if you stay away longer.....total cost for 8 to 11 months around a maximum 325 to 330 days $20 or less depending on rewards.

Don't forget to check in December when you reactivate if there are any "more the merrier" free add on gifts from pm and load them onto your account thru your self serve.

If you want to continue your service and call forward to fongo it will cost 4×$15 - $20(4×$5)=$40 + 4×$15=$60 - $24(4×$6)=$36+$40=$76 for 8 months of pm service forwarded to fongo (or less depending on rewards).

Or if you want to keep your grandfathered plan pay that plan cost minus rewards ×2 and suspend for 88/89 days in between to bring you to your 12th month where you have to pay and reactivate again to keep your service.

Re: Moving Abroad

espanol599 — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 05:29:39 GMT

If i were to forward my plan to Fongo would that only be available to people calling me from canada or would I be able to use that in spain.

Re: Moving Abroad

computergeek541 — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 05:43:03 GMT

@espanol599 wrote:
If i were to forward my plan to Fongo would that only be available to people calling me from canada or would I be able to use that in spain.

Whether someone can call you and the cost to them depends on the phone nubmer that you have and the plan that they have.

As for you being able to use Fongo, the app requires an internet connection, whether that's provided by a carrier while you're in Spain or by a Wi-Fi connection.