Options while traveling in Europe?

[Deagle]

I'm traveling to Europe (Spain and France) later this month and was wondering what my best options are for mobile phone use while there. I have an account with Public Mobile but don't see any roaming add-ons for Europe. I will want voice, text, and data. Any suggestions? 

[WendyHey]

Hello, I recently travelled to the UK and then on to Spain.  I did two things for each of our two iPhones, to be on the safe side.  I ordered a free UK - GiffGaff sim card on their website.  A very similar cell phone plan as Public Mobile. (All self serve)  It came in the mail within a week or so.  This sim card must be activated in the UK, so it you're not traveling through the UK then don't bother.  Once I arrived in London, I inserted the sim card and purchased an 8.60 pound plan which covered us for the UK and  in Spain. (you get a UK phone number, so let your freinds and family know back home)  It worked perfect, for inter-net, texting, google maps etc.,  except I could not make international calls, which wasn't a big deal, as we could FaceTime.   I also purchased through Amazon, for $32.00 CAD, a sim card called Dataroam - Cellhire Europe.  It gave us 4GB of data for 60 days, but no top-up options.   It too worked perfect for our trip.  We never once were without data of some sort.  So many hotels and restaurants offer free WiFi, so we didn't come close to using all the data. Way cheaper than the daily roaming charges that the big Canadian cell phone companies charge.

[stonechucker]

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@mathilde17 wrote:

@stonechucker Yes my renewal would happen while I am away.... awesome so all I need to do is turn off autopay and so it will just assume I am not renewing, and then I will sign up again when I return and my plan and all should stay the same. Thanks so much!

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Yes, as long as your 'available balance' is not equal to, or greater than your plan cost.  If you have a $15 plan (for example) and have $15 or more balance, even with autopay turned off, you'll still renew unless you also 'suspend' under the lost/stolen tab.

[mathilde17]

@stonechucker Yes my renewal would happen while I am away.... awesome so all I need to do is turn off autopay and so it will just assume I am not renewing, and then I will sign up again when I return and my plan and all should stay the same. Thanks so much!

[stonechucker]

@mathilde17, does your plan come up for renewal before, during, or after your trip?

If before, you can suspend your plan and disable (enabled) autopay while you're away, and reactivate when you come back by renewing your plan.

If during your time away, simply turn off autoplay, and turn it back on when you return, and if required, pay to resume your service.

If your plan renews after you return, it doesn't matter what you do, the plan is already paid for, and you'll pay again when you come back within a week.

In all cases described, you will not lose your $25 plan.

[GinYVR]

@mathilde17 Whether it is better or not is up to you to make the value judgement. As for the plan you should be okay. It also depends on how convenient it is you want things, say when you arrive back at the airport and need to find a hotspot, login, unsuspend, probably need to wait, reboot the phone etc. Knowing PM it could be an adventure in itself. $25 on the scale of things is not much, I prefer convenience especially when I just got off a long flight from Europe.

[mathilde17]

Thanks all. So it is better to suspend my service then?

I am on a special 25 promo plan so am scared of losing the deal... and if I suspend then I won't need to pay the month I'm away?

This sounds more complicated than I thought, I thought there would be an easier way to suspend for a month.

[RossN]

Yes your absolutley right but I would rather be safe then sorry, again depending of course how the billing cycle lines up

[Anonymous]

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@RossN wrote:

@mathilde17  just for your info if you suspend your plan the clock keeps ticking on the balance of the month you have already paid for so depending upon the date you are going away you will lose that money anyway even if you suspend your plan that being said when reactivating your plan you open yourself up to a bunch of possible issues, so another option is going with the cheapest plan 10 bucks or 8 with autopay and at least you have service on your return just my opinion .Have a good trip

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They're only gone for 3 weeks. They may not even need to do anything. Depends on the timing of departure/arrival. But you're right...there's no pausing the clock on an active term.

[RossN]

@mathilde17  just for your info if you suspend your plan the clock keeps ticking on the balance of the month you have already paid for so depending upon the date you are going away you will lose that money anyway even if you suspend your plan that being said when reactivating your plan you open yourself up to a bunch of possible issues, so another option is going with the cheapest plan 10 bucks or 8 with autopay and at least you have service on your return just my opinion .Have a good trip

[Anonymous]

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@Lieux wrote:

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@dabr wrote:

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@Lieux wrote:

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@mathilde17 wrote:

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

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Ok do you mean the lost/stolen trick...

 In your self-serve account tab PLAN/ADD-ONS, report your phone lost/stolen. And you will be able to reactivate when you will come back. BUT if you have a plan which doesn't exist anymore or credits for example 10$ for 6 months...you will loose them.

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I thought that I had read in other posts that using the lost/suspend option would allow OP to resume whatever plan he was current on at time of suspension once he reactivates even if it's no longer offered.  But if he changes to another plan, then OP would need to select from the options available.  Unless I'm mistaken of course:)

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That's a good question....I don't know for sure what will happen with the lost/stolen trick...my mind is mixed now... @Anonymous can you answer?

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 @Lieux: I think you're right with things like the $10 promo credit but iirc the base plan itself can be renewed during suspension. You don't lose that just because you're suspended.

[Lieux]

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@dabr wrote:

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@Lieux wrote:

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@mathilde17 wrote:

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

---

Ok do you mean the lost/stolen trick...

 In your self-serve account tab PLAN/ADD-ONS, report your phone lost/stolen. And you will be able to reactivate when you will come back. BUT if you have a plan which doesn't exist anymore or credits for example 10$ for 6 months...you will loose them.

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I thought that I had read in other posts that using the lost/suspend option would allow OP to resume whatever plan he was current on at time of suspension once he reactivates even if it's no longer offered.  But if he changes to another plan, then OP would need to select from the options available.  Unless I'm mistaken of course:)

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That's a good question....I don't know for sure what will happen with the lost/stolen trick...my mind is mixed now... @Anonymous can you answer?

[dabr]

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@Lieux wrote:

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@mathilde17 wrote:

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

---

Ok do you mean the lost/stolen trick...

 In your self-serve account tab PLAN/ADD-ONS, report your phone lost/stolen. And you will be able to reactivate when you will come back. BUT if you have a plan which doesn't exist anymore or credits for example 10$ for 6 months...you will loose them.

---

I thought that I had read in other posts that using the lost/suspend option would allow OP to resume whatever plan he was current on at time of suspension once he reactivates even if it's no longer offered.  But if he changes to another plan, then OP would need to select from the options available.  Unless I'm mistaken of course:)

[Anonymous]

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@mathilde17 wrote:

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

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If you don't have sufficient funds in your Available Funds to cover the cost of your plan and if you have autopay turned on then you can turn off autopay and let the service suspend. Then when you get back, you top up with the card on file and click Reactivate and you're running.

If you DO have funds then you'll need to use the lost/stolen feature to suspend it yourself. Do that just before your plan renews. Then Resume service when you return and click Reactivate and you're running.

[Lieux]

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@mathilde17 wrote:

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

---

Ok do you mean the lost/stolen trick...

 In your self-serve account tab PLAN/ADD-ONS, report your phone lost/stolen. And you will be able to reactivate when you will come back. BUT if you have a plan which doesn't exist anymore or credits for example 10$ for 6 months...you will loose them.

[mathilde17]

Hi I have a semi unreated question... I will be in France for 3 weeks and want to suspend my service for a month's duration while traveling but can't seem to find how to do that on my online profile..... I'll re-activtate it the following month when I'm back. Can someone please help?

Thanks!!

[srlawren]

I used LeFrench Mobile last summer in Europe.  I forget the particulars.  I know it wasn't the cheapest option, but what appealed to me was they had customer service in English as well as French (I only speak un petit peu de francais) and they market to and are geared toward travellers/visitors.  The plan I got included roaming within the EU and I think all in it was under $40 CAD and covered me for about a week in Paris followed by about a week in London.  EDIT: I think it was this product https://www.lefrenchmobile.com/product/sim-data-europe/.  Forgot to mention, if you decide early enough before your trip, you can have the SIM delivered to your home/office in Canada before you leave, so you'll have it ready to go as soon as you step off the plane.  Based on current exchange rate, the 25 Euro asking price works out to about $38 CAD (plus probably a couple of bucks conversion surcharge on your credit card).

Had I landed in England first, I would have gone with @Luddite's recommended Giff Gaff.  They had even better pricing, but--and again I forget the particulars--they had a clause where I think it had to be used in England first before it could be used in the rest of the EU, so it wouldn't have worked for me, which is why I went with one based in France instead.  Your mileage may vary.

[Lieux]

Donc c’est la compagnie Free mobile.... et je ne travaille pas pour eux...

[ChrisL]

Je vous remercie pour ça Lieux.  

Ou avez-vous trouver quelque-chose comme ça, de quelle compagnie en Europe?

[Lieux]

Hello @ChrisL.

I am from France and I will not choose public mobile during my stay there ( for sure the add-on would be more expensive)....it's cheaper to buy a new sim card just few euros there and have a plan for 2 euros per month with calls and texts that you can use in spain and some other countries too. It's very different there..a lot of competition...

Here it's an example...

€ 2/month

Internet in 4G +
50 MB
Calls 2H
SMS, unlimited MMS
Abroad :
50MB Internet
Calls 2H (discounted from the package)
and SMS, unlimited MMS
from Europe & DOM
WITHOUT ENGAGEMENT

[srlawren]

@ChrisL I doubt there's much tecnically preventing them offering more flexibility such as what you laid out.  I also have no idea what's involved in the roaming agreements, but I would guess (purely a guess) that Telus intentionally excludes PM customers from international roaming as a way of differentiating the less expensive PM product and to entice users that need global roaming to move up-tier to Koodo or Telus, where the customer typically generates more annual revenue than they do as a PM customer (I'm sure there are exceptions to this generality).  

As to why they don't offer more options for duration for the existing US Roaming, again I suspect this is probably more of a marketing decision than anything.  A lot of people that live near the border tend to take frequent shorter trips to the US (day trip, overnighter, long weekend type of thing), so forcing them to pay for 10 days when they only plan to use a few is better for revenue than allowing more flexibility.  Similarly, a lot of people might go for a 2 week holiday to the US, and then need to purchase two sets of 10 days. 

100% of this posting is speculation and I have no actual knowledge of how things are run at PM, but the theory fits the observable facts.  But again, it may be 100% wrong.

[ChrisL]

I'm resurrecting this older question that was already answered.

I'm wondering if there may be any desire or longer term plans to introduce roaming add-ons for Europe.  I'm a very frequent traveller to both the US and Europe, for both short and longer trips, and so there's two things I'd love to see if possible - these are just ideas for consideration:

1) For US roaming, a choice of shorter term talk/text/data bundle for shorter trips (one to five days).  A la ten day bundle, but for five days/$10, or even just a text add-on for five days/$5.00.  That would be helpful

2) For European roaming, a five day and a ten day talk/text/data or just text/date bundle.

Think any of this may be feasible or likely?

I'll admit, I'm pretty ignorant about the reciprocal arrangements between carriers to enable roaming.  I have no idea what the complexities or challenges would be.  I'm just a very loyal PM customer, and have loved the self-serve convenience as I travel and roam.

[bryclops]

If you still want to receive calls on your phone number you can setup call forwarding to an app like Fongo where you will still get calls while on wifi or data.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

Public Mobile only offers a roaming option via add-ons for the US.  For the EU, I strongly suggest buying a local service.  Generally, the locally purchased services work in all EU nations.  The price is also a pleasant surprise from what we have to pay here.