Deciding which plan to get

[CanadianPerson0]

I just switched to Public Mobile yesterday and went with the $25 one as it seemed better initially, however, I'm just wanting to double check.

$25 plan:

• Save $2 and get a 500MB data bonus each month on AutoPay
• 30-day plan
• 500 MB of data at 3G speed4
• Unlimited Canada-wide minutes
• Unlimited International Text and Picture Messaging3
• Voicemail and Call Display5

$15 plan:

• Save $2 and get a 250MB data bonus each month on AutoPay
• 30-day plan
• 250MB of data at 3G speed4
• 100 Canada-wide minutes
• Unlimited International Text and Picture Messaging3
• Unlimited Incoming Calls
• Voicemail and Call Display5

For the 'unlimited incoming calls' on the $15 plan, is that incoming calls from anywhere in the world?
If a friend in Ireland called me and the call lasted 3 hours (180 mins) I'd be good? Because I'd have used 180/"unlimited"?

Basically, I'm able to pickup any calls from anywhere and I'll be good, but if I want to phone people I can only call others in Canada and use 100mins worth.

Therefore, I'm wondering if it'd make much more sense to switch to the $15 plan, and get $5 or $10 worth of Canada-wide add-ons which would be 1000minutes. Because I generally never use 100 minutes worth in a month, and even less if it only counts when I iniate the call.

Thanks

[HALIMACS]

@CanadianPerson0 

Would definitely recommend moving to the $15 plan on the next renewal.

The great thing re public mobile is you can always switch back to the $25 plan if you determine you want more data.

And also other reasons for staying on the $15 plan is the $5 add-on for 500  minutes carries over from cycle to cycle until it is consumed PLUS once or twice a year public mobile gives away one time add ons of free data and/or minutes, so that's an added reason for being on the $15 plan.

[darlicious]

@CanadianPerson0 

Judging by your average usage before you came to public mobile then the $15 plan w/ 100 outgoing minutes is probably your best choice given you are a low data user. Using all of your phone's data saver options (turn off background data, wifi assist, use your warning and limiter etc....) will further keep your usage within the 250mb plan limit. 

After this cycle is over and you renew with your new $15 plan then consider purchasing the $5/500min add on to back up your usage of outgoing minutes. It's cheap and will just remain on your account until you need them....and you will want them if you are on an important call and you hit you 100 outgoing minutes limit so you don't get cut off. But you will still get a text from pm saying you have 10 minutes remaining of your plan minutes. 

The $15/1gb data add on is another great addition just in case as it will roll over each 30 day cycle but if you are good with your usage I would hold off on purchasing it. You never know when you might get freebies or win an add on in the occasional pm contest or as a community feedback thank you (although there are much fewer of them nowadays). But we will most likely get "more the merrier" holiday gifts at Christmas like the last 2 years so a free 1 or 2gb data add on and an international long distance minutes add on will likely come our way at the end of the year again this year.

Activating on the higher $25 plan and switching to the $15 plan is common practice at pm giving you the extra $10 to use towards your second renewal at $15 which means the $35 total in credits in your account + your autopay rewards will mean you can purchase the $5/500min add on and not actually have to fork out to pay for your plan til your fourth 30 day cycle ( your third renewal) . Not bad for your $25 upfront cost of purchasing your plan and activating your sim card.

[hairbag1]

@CanadianPerson0...

welcome to PM. If you find you need to call your friend in Ireland, you'd require the following add-on as well.

300 International Long Distance Minutes

Included countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France,Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Venezuela....$15

Those 300 add-on minutes stay on your active account...even if that takes several months or longer.

[Triguy]

It is recommended to change your plan on next renewal so you don't lose any unused minutes, texts, or data.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/change-your-plan

[CanadianPerson0]

Alright, thanks for the help. I scheduled it to switch to the $15 for the next cycle. Definitely better value for my usage.

[dabr]

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@CanadianPerson0 wrote:

Alright, I'll switch to the $15 and get $5 or $10 worth of additional Canada-wide minutes. Would it make sense to change my plan today or wait until next cycle or something?

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@CanadianPerson0   Whenever changing plans it's always (usually) a good idea to scheduel the change for next renewal as PM doesn't prorate or refund for unused portions of the current plan.

[Yummy]

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@CanadianPerson0 wrote:

Alright, I'll switch to the $15 and get $5 or $10 worth of additional Canada-wide minutes. Would it make sense to change my plan today or wait until next cycle or something?

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I would suggest to SCHEDULE plan change on the next billing cycle. It is really easy and

works well.

[Meow]

I do not see anybody mentioned 500 outgoing calls????

$15 plan is what I would call emergency mobile plan; you get unlimited texting and 100 outgoing minutes.

$25 plan gives you unlimited incoming/outgoing calls plus 500MB of data instead of 250MB.

You have to decide based on how much you stay on the phone doing outgoing calls per month. As for data, amount is too small for any 'serious' browsing but it might be useful to you.

If you are already on any plan, you can schedule plan change (upgrade/downgrade) at any time and it will change on next billing cycle. Do not change plan in the middle of the cycle. You will Not lose your add-ons nor accumulated credit.

[CanadianPerson0]

Alright, I'll switch to the $15 and get $5 or $10 worth of additional Canada-wide minutes. Would it make sense to change my plan today or wait until next cycle or something?

[dabr]

@CanadianPerson0   That was a typo and I edit and corrected to 100 outgoing mins available for the $15 plan.  However, if you do get that plan then absolutely buy one or more of the 500 mins add-ons as they're a great back up for the odd time you might go over the 100 mins available in the plan.  Plus they don't expire.  Just a reminder that retrieving voicemail calls use up your available mins (and get rounded up to nearest min) plus any outgoing call is rounded up too.

[CanadianPerson0]

500 outgoing calls? I don't see that mentioned anywhere?
Is that just a protection sort of thing for Public Mobile so people don't just make a bazillion calls that last for 10 seconds?
Also, yeah I'll need to double check the data usage, but with my old cell plan my average was 100MB/month, so 500 is plenty, and if need be I'm pretty sure it'd be cheaper to just get add-ons that give additional data. Thanks for the info.
Also, would I be able to switch my plan to the $15 one right now? Or would that mess something up?
I currently have a $10 credit for next cycle and also next cycle free so ...

[dabr · Accepted solution]

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@CanadianPerson0 wrote:

I just switched to Public Mobile yesterday and went with the $25 one as it seemed better initially, however, I'm just wanting to double check.

$25 plan:

• Save $2 and get a 500MB data bonus each month on AutoPay
• 30-day plan
• 500 MB of data at 3G speed4
• Unlimited Canada-wide minutes
• Unlimited International Text and Picture Messaging3
• Voicemail and Call Display5

$15 plan:

• Save $2 and get a 250MB data bonus each month on AutoPay
• 30-day plan
• 250MB of data at 3G speed4
• 100 Canada-wide minutes
• Unlimited International Text and Picture Messaging3
• Unlimited Incoming Calls
• Voicemail and Call Display5

For the 'unlimited incoming calls' on the $15 plan, is that incoming calls from anywhere in the world?
If a friend in Ireland called me and the call lasted 3 hours (180 mins) I'd be good? Because I'd have used 180/"unlimited"?

Basically, I'm able to pickup any calls from anywhere and I'll be good, but if I want to phone people I can only call others in Canada and use 100mins worth.

Therefore, I'm wondering if it'd make much more sense to switch to the $15 plan, and get $5 or $10 worth of Canada-wide add-ons which would be 1000minutes. Because I generally never use 100 minutes worth in a month, and even less if it only counts when I iniate the call.

Thanks

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@CanadianPerson0   Yes unlimited incoming from anywhere in the world.  If you rarely make more than 100 outgoing calls per month then the $15 plan would save you money, however, you also only get 250MB data on the $15 plan so would need to take into account your data usage as to the cost savings per month too.