If I switch to the Canada US plan for a month can I switch back to my $21/mo plan?

[LoraleeH]

This summer I switched my mother's plan for a month, like I do for her every summer, and then found out they had changed their policy & I could only upgrade a plan, not downgrade. I'm travelling to the US for a month for 2 weeks. The 10 day add on won't be enough, but I'm scared I'll lose my $21/mo plan (well, really $19 because I pay for 90 days). Do I need to buy a simcard from another company? I'd obviously prefer to keep my own number & swap out plans, but I don't want to be stuck with a $45/mo plan or more in the future.

[Nezgar]

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@LoraleeH wrote:

I only have one sim spot & my phone is older & doesn't have esim capability. I was hoping that I would still be able to keep my phone active, or not have to bring a second phone with me. But, I'll figure something out.

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Check out FlexiRoam - they offer worldwide roaming eSIM's, and if you have a phone that doesn't support eSIM, they can mail you a SIM before you travel to swap into your phone to use while you're away.

Also, if you happen to have certain eligible Mastercards, you get discounts and a few free days/GB's depending on on the card. Theres a spot in the app to check your card(s) to see if they're eligible for anything. For example, the free Triangle World Elite mastercard gives 3x1GB 5 day plans, which could be used back to back resulting in 15 days of service...

Then you can leave your public mobile plan untouched with your current plan for when you return. Also - even without a roaming add-on, you can always still receive SMS and maybe voicemail notifications while in the US, so you can put your PM SIM back in once in a while to check for incoming SMS if you want (ie bank 2FA), then put the roaming SIM back in.

[DennyCrane]

They don't want customers temporarily changing to cheap roaming plans for one off trips, only to switch back to their old plan as soon a they return. The whole idea with these Can/US plans for such a good deal is the ongoing revenue they get. For one off trips they would prefer you spend more on the 15 day roaming add-on's. It's unfortunate for the consumer, but it makes sense from a business perspective.

And yes it's legal to change their plan offers at any time. They can also boot you off your current plan with 30 days' notice if they want; they don't generally do this in practice, but they could if they wanted to. Remember you're not locked into a long term contract, which goes both ways.

If all you need is data, the travel esim option would have been a great option for you. Your phone must be quite old if it isn't esim compatible. That is definitely another hurdle for you.

[Handy1]

@LoraleeH  Even though you only have one physical sim slot if your not using public mobile while there to buy local pre paid sim in your destination. Just take the public mobile SIM card out of phone and put in the temp local one for your trip and put the PM SIM card away in safe place to put back in phone when you come home 

[LoraleeH]

I only have one sim spot & my phone is older & doesn't have esim capability. I was hoping that I would still be able to keep my phone active, or not have to bring a second phone with me. But, I'll figure something out.

I've been a customer since 2013, and agree, the changes are very, very disappointing to me as well. 

[LoraleeH]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

in terms of legal or not, of course it is legal.  PM has the right to offer you selected plans at any given time. 

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I can't speak to the legality of it, but I can't think of another company that doesn't allow you to switch to another plan, unless it's offered to new customers only. Whether you're under contract for a year, or monthly, you can make a choice to buy plans for existing customers at the end of your term.

Can you think of any that run their business model this way?

I'll be away 15 days and without wifi where I'm staying I will be relying solely on cell data. I probably won't need more than 1GB/day, but would obviously run out pretty quick on a 3GB plan.

[Handy1]

@LoraleeH  yes many of us are dissatisfied with this new change in policy , but You could buy  a pre paid SIM card in the U.S. for your trip instead , then you don’t have to worry about changing plans and be stuck with higher priced plan then what you need when back home 

[hTideGnow]

hi @LoraleeH how much data you need?  look like you will need travel esim or local data sim

in terms of legal or not, of course it is legal.  PM has the right to offer you selected plans at any given time.  They are right to offer you your current plan as long as you dont move away.  Once you changed plan, no carrier has no obligation to let you go back to previous plans

[LoraleeH]

oh, this is a very good point. thank you for mentioning it. 

[LoraleeH]

thanks! unfortunately it's not even close to enough data for this trip. We're going to have crummy wifi where we're staying. It doesn't make sense to pay $21 + 30 (plus taxes) for 3GB data (since I won't be using my existing plan while in the US) when there's a $30 plan with 20GB US/Can data. 

I just can't wrap my head around the change they made to plan switching. I can get behind something if I understand the reasoning, but this one makes no sense to me.

[Handy1]

@LoraleeH  The other thing to note is if your phone not in the PM voLTE whitelist you won’t be able to make phone calls 

VoLTE white list

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte

[LoraleeH]

Thanks! Unfortunately we're staying at a place that apparently has very poor wifi, so I will need to rely on cellular data. The $30 add on won't be enough. 

I actually don't think it's legal for them to do this. I mentioned it in a thread in September, but now all of my community thread comments are gone (my user name was deleted as well, super strange). When I click on the terms & conditions to upgrade my plan there is no mention of not being able to go back to the plan I was currently on, or not being able to access a plan with less data or minutes in the future. If it did, I wouldn't be making a fuss, obviously. 

[Handy1]

@LoraleeH  Most likely no you won’t be able to , public mobile has  made it harder to downgrade plans since taking away the old legacy rewards , instead it would be safer to just buy IS roaming add in for the time your away so you can ensure you get to keep your plan when your back from your trip 

[BKNS27]

@LoraleeH 

Unfortunately, PM changed their policy. Once your change your plan. You can’t switch back to your old plan.

Just login to your account and go to Subscription tab>Manage Subscription>Change Subscription and it will list all the plans you are eligible for to switch back.

Your only option is to purchase a USA Roaming Add-on and also use WhatsApp app or TextNow app through local wifi if you don’t want to lose your old plan.