New Points System...

[Griffyn1]

...I hate it!

Hello, I've been a PM member for 5 years now and I rarely needed to log in to my account or the Community Forum.  I used to get texts telling me when my subscription was due for renewal and a thank you for my payment.  At the beginning of the next year, I got a text congratulating me on reducing my monthly bill by $1.  That's all I needed.  On the rare occasion when a situation came up and I needed help, I came here and received friendly and speedy advise and for that, I thank you all!

Now, with the points system, I have to log in to see how many points I have in order to get a reduction on my next month's bill and I no longer get the Loyalty $1 off each year. 

I, personally don't find this site easy to navigate and the pages are slow to load so I'm constantly waiting (even as I type this, I'm waiting for the page to catch up).

So, those are my thoughts on this new points system 😏!

Now, I have some questions with regard to the Redemption of points...

If I cross the border into the US, I can redeem 15 points for 1GB for 15 days roaming...not sure what this gives me.  Does this mean I can text and/or talk from the US back to Canada?  Or just text? Or something else?

Again, if I cross the border, I can redeem 10 points for unlimited talk/text for 15 days.  It seems that this bundle gives me more bang for my buck, so to speak, than the option above where I have to redeem 15 points.  I'm not very tech savvy so please explain what I'm not getting.

As an aside, when I click on the Mobile Klinik link and want to find a store near me, I get looped back to the Make an Appointment/Learn More button.  How do I get to the screen where I can enter my PC or whatever info they require (I already consented to the site using my location in order to give me the information I was requesting)?

Thanks in advance for your help!

(If I try to Post this and I get a message saying my session has timed out, this computer is going to be thrown across the room 🙂...just sayin')

[Griffyn1]

…yet another screen shot 🙂…thank you balaca!

[balaca · Accepted solution]

Glad you found it funny 🙂

So with the redemption of 10 points, if I find myself across the border, I can get unlimited text and talk for 15 days?

You are right. For ~15 day trip in US, you gotta spend 10 points for Talk + Text, and spend another 15 points for 1 GB data. If you have sufficient points, and need all Talk + Text + Data, then the better option is to pick the 3rd US Roaming add-on for 25 points, which gives you 3 GB data.

If you are short on points, I'd suggest going with Airalo eSIM route for data, if your phone has dual SIM option.

As for your recent comment '$15 3G plan' , please note Telus decommissioning 3G network shouldn't affect the plan as Public Mobile is already latching onto 5G network, but capped to 3G speeds. 

If Telus/PM explicitly decides to sabotage the plan, it is a different story.

[Griffyn1]

Thanks for the information, hTideGnow…I appreciate your feedback 🙂.

[Griffyn1]

Thanks for your response, RavingRaven…I rarely cross over to the US (even though I live in a border city) so I would only need US roaming once in a blue moon. In December, I did ask the PM community about the best way to go about getting coverage for one or two days and the information I received was exactly what you said in your response.  It all sounded too complicated 😏 so I ended up using my friend’s phone for the (as it turned out) single day I needed US roaming.  I took a screen shot of your response for future reference 🙂… next time I need to take one of my (now aging) pets across the border to Oakland Veterinary Referral Services.  Thanks again.

[Griffyn1]

Thanks Phil_Adelphus…the $15 plan suits me perfectly.  Although I do use my cell phone quite frequently, I’m also a senior citizen so I wasn’t born with a cell phone attached to the end of my arm 😏!  I appreciate the information wrt the $19 plan.   I would only consider switching to it if, some reason, I was no longer able to continue with my $15 3G plan (ie. if PM decided to phase out 3G in favour of the 4G and 5G now available).

[Griffyn1]

Balaca…you are too funny 🙂!  Thank you for responding and for clarifying what the 1GB of data gives me.  So with the redemption of 10 points, if I find myself across the border, I can get unlimited text and talk for 15 days?

[RavingRaven]

@Griffyn1 

Since admittedly you are not tech savvy there are a few issues you need to be made aware of for US Roaming that may affect your choice and what is of best value.

What brand and model of phone do you have? If it isn't VOLTE compatible you will only get voice service on T-Mobile's 2G network which is hit and miss and will be decommissioned soon. This would make the US Roaming talk+text add on poor value.

If you download the textnow app and choose a Canadian phone # you can call and text both to, from, in and out of Canada and the US while on wifi or on mobile data. Purchasing or redeeming for a US Roaming add on will allow you to use your textnow app for these services as well as have access to data during your trip. You will still recieve incoming Public Mobile SMS/MMS texts and you can send MMS texts from your Public Mobile phone # (MMS in the US requires a roaming data add on). Textnow will about 0.5mb/min for calls and less for text when not on wifi.

Depending on your current plan opting for one of the new US Roaming plans is often the best value but if you currently have "legacy" plan that has been grandfathered you will not be able to switch back to it. Public Mobile recently eliminated the $15 plan for existing customers so if you have it and want to keep it don't change or switch plans.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Griffyn1   If you don't log in regularly perhaps there is a newer plan that would suit you since they are changing all the time.  For example there is a $34 50GB Canada-US plan for which you would not need an add on.  Compare to the $30 (25 points) US roaming talk text and data add on that only lasts 15 days.  If you're on a $25 plan then you could switch to the new $19 1GB 4G plan which is not advertised but available in your account when logged in.  Of course if you're on the $15 then there's nothing to drop down to.

[hTideGnow]

@balaca 

we can always get roaming add-on that  include talk text if calls are needed.

or we can use TextNow to make calls using wifi or mobile data 

[balaca]

Thanks for summarizing our concerns. I hope I won't get signed out before I finish this response 🙂

"US Roaming - 1 GB Data (15-day)" goes for $20.00 (or 15 Reward Points). It'll only offer you data in US, for 15 days period.  You can't call or text when in US (assuming your base plan covers only CA talktime) and they just won't go thro.

You'll be better off buying packs from sites like Airalo for data, if you have extra SIM slot in your phone (even eSIM). 

EDIT: Corrected $ value vs Reward point mistake.