I live in BC Canada and am doing a road trip to the US for 1.5 months in March. I work from a laptop and would like internet on the road so I'm looking for an unlimited data plan to hotspot to my laptop, I also need it to actually work when I'm in the US as last time I bought a US Roaming plan (can't remember the name), and it barely worked. It would let me have 30 second phone calls ONLY. Never brought this issue up
But My main question is about the unlimited data plan that works in both Canada and US, please let me know, thanks so much!
I would agree with @darlicious that Mint Mobile is one of the best low cost plans in USA. Another plan is Tello Mobile if you just need 1gb data, unlimited talk and unlimited text for $10/month.
Your best bet would be a mint mobile plan while you are in the US. Their 90 day plans start at US $15/4gb to $30/unlimited data(throttled after 35gb)per month. You can then choose from the following options for your pm service. A text forwarding app will require your pm sim card to remain in Canada in a phone that is left on and plugged in for forwarding texts to work.
Edit:
A mint mobile sim card can be preordered and delivered to you thru B&H Photo.
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. Moderator/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 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 90. 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. Happy travels!
Sorry, no such things with PM. You cannot customize any plan. I wish PM had such option, too.
You have to select plan which suits you the most and if you are running of data or need US service (while in US) you will have to buy proper add-on. Consider well if add-ons will work for you as they might become expensive over time...
@Silasmclean : For that time frame you'd be far better off with service from any one of the providers there. Here, they're in blocks of 10 days. You could get up to 2gb with stacking data add-ons but then you'd have to wait out the 10 days for each one. Even staggering them. Seems to be a big hassle.
