I want to have/add, internet, and texting when at a, 4 day music festival in the US (I'm in BC)

[3Dee]

I want to be able to have/add, internet, and texting to my existing plan,  when I'm at a music festival in the US,  (Aug. 26th to 29th)

I'm in Vancouver BC, and the Festival is in Port Townsend, Washington State, at the end of August.

What do I need to add to my existing plan?  When should I add it?  

An (Internet/Wifi = Data plan) allows me to text through messaging apps,  (Facebook / what's app) without adding a talk/text add on as well, correct?  So, a data plan would be okay for everything but actual calls?

Is there an add on that will allow me to do everything for the 5 days I'm in the States.  

I need to be able to keep in touch with family in Vancouver in case of emergencies.

My monthly plan renews on the July 3rd, and then again 30 days later for August.  

So my question is what add on should I get, when and how do I add it.

We will be going to the Festival on the Thursday Aug. 25th and coming back on Monday, Aug, 29th (so 5 days).  

Thanks in advance

[softech]

@3Dee if you are on the new point system,  it is cheaper to redeem roaming using points.  But it takes 2 to 3 days , so you will have to redeem it couple days before your trip.  The Roaming has a 10 days expiry and will kick in immediately.   Luckily you only go on the trip for 4 days and redeeming earlier to assure the roaming addon is ready when you yiu need it should not be  an issue.

But if you are in old reward system, then stay on Old system and pay for the addon, you are better to stick with the old system 

[dust2dust]

If you signed up before late January then you will have been on the rewards system. After that then on the points. After that if you had switched over to points from rewards then there's no going back.

Log in to the rewards page and look for listing of points or lists of dollar amounts. If you see the $2 autopay for example then you're on rewards.

[3Dee]

Okay, I  think I understand.  I will take a look at my points.  Thanks

[dust2dust]

You mentioned 15 reward points earlier. If you're on rewards then points aren't applicable. If you're on points then you can redeem the points for the add-on. Or buy the add-on at their normal price in either case.

[3Dee]

oops

[3Dee]

Yes,  I am on rewards.  Thanks for pointing that out.  $5 savings is great1

[JL9 · Accepted solution]

Are you on new rewards or old? If new definitely take advantage of the points if you have enough as you will save $5

[3Dee]

Thank you,   Yes, I have an iPhone 8 Plus 🙂

It will be nice to have the festivals back in Vancouver as well as everywhere else.

[BKNS27]

@3Dee 

To manually connect to AT&T or T-Mobile, go to your Cellular>Network Selection>turn off Automatic>click on T-Mobile or AT&T if you have an iPhone.
What make and model?

Enjoy the Vancouver International Jazz Festival coming up!

[3Dee]

Thanks for the info.  I think I will go with the 1GB Data add on. Cheers!

[3Dee]

Thanks for the input.  I am trying to find out if there is wifi around the grounds.  We went to the 1st Thing Festival three years ago after it replaced Sasquatch.  Sasquatch was in quite a remote location at the Gorge.  They had wifi that you could pay for.  The Port Townsend location is not that remote and has a cafe, or two, I think, If I remember correctly.  Maybe there is actually wifi there!  I will write the festival people and see.  If I could find free wifi I wouldn't need any extra plan 🙂

[3Dee]

Thanks for the input.  I will just do the 1gb of data I think.  Really won't be using it that much,  it's more for emergencies.  Thanks for the advice.

[dust2dust]

Get your friends to pitch in on the cost so that they're motivated to conserve data. Otherwise, I'd be conserving it anyway and they can get whatever service on their own. If you were to let them hotspot then you want to be certain that the connection knows it's "metered" so as not to suck down craploads of data for sync'd stuff to respective clouds or OS and app updates.

[3Dee]

Thanks,  I think I will get the Data - US Roaming - 1 GB Data (10-day) - $20.00 (15 Reward points)

Then my other Vancouver friends can also use it.  I'll start it the day before like you said just to be safe.  
As long as I have the Data I can use a Voip app (Facebook, What's app) for sending messages.   

I don't know how to manually connect to T Mobile or ATT?  Will I just be prompted on the steps from these companies as soon as I'm in the States?

[Meow]

If you are going to use VOIP app for calls/SMS, data is all you need. Ideally, free WiFi will be the best choice.

U.S. Data Only for 10 day packages

250MB = $10

500MB = $15

1GB = $20

[hairbag1]

On the day you leave for USA, log in to your account and deposit enogh $$ in to Available Funds to cover cost of the particular add-ons you want. Then click Purchase Add-ons...and make selection. Should be good to go for 240 hours from time you buy it. Add-on will only work while in USA.

[dust2dust]

10 day (240 hour) roaming add-ons are available and they start the moment you buy them.

There are bundles and there are standalone. Maybe you'd like to get the 1gb data and the texting. If you don't need talk then that would work. Or use a voip app for talk while on that data. The problem would be if you run out of data. You could buy a smaller bucket of data. Or ask the support people to re-buy the larger one. You won't be going past 10 days so it's not about waiting out the 10 days that the system has.

[softech]

@3Dee  You will  need the  US roaming add-on,  one of these:

Bundle - US Roaming - Talk Text (10-day) - $15.00 (10 Reward points)
Bundle - US Roaming - Talk Text 250 Data (10-day) - $20.00 (15 Reward points)
Data - US Roaming - 1 GB Data (10-day) - $20.00 (15 Reward points)
Data - US Roaming - 250 MB Data (10-day) - $10.00 (5 Reward points)
Data - US Roaming - 500 MB Data (10-day) - $15.00 (10 Reward points)
Text - US Roaming - Unlimited Text (10-day) - $8.00 (5 Reward points)
Talk - US Roaming - Unlimited Talk (10-day) - $8.00 (5 Reward points)

They are all 10 days add-ons, so, you will buy it when you need it.  Since you are going for 5 days, maybe buy it on the night before

And you will need to manually connect to either TMobile or ATT when you are there