US Roaming

[verrmaja]

Hello, I'm planning to travel to the USA next month.  I need to know which addon plan i need to purchase to use my plan.  Can I buy an addon to use my plans unlimited text, talk and data?  Or is the addon just for the amounts what the addon offers?  I should be able to use all my data plan unlimited offers as i won't be using the data plans offers when I'm in the US unless i have us roaming, yes or no?  Please anyone explain to me the details of us roaming.  Thank you.

[darlicious]

@verrmaja 

Really it depends on how long you are going to be there? Less than 30 days then you are probably best with US Roaming add ons. Any longer the pen a local sim card is best like tello. Closer to 3 months then look at mint mobile. Here's info on US Roaming add ons....

Spoiler

1. While you have to have an active plan to purchase and use US roaming add ons the type of plan you have does not affect the roaming add ons features.
2. US roaming add ons start the moment you confirm and submit your purchase in your self serve account and expire 240 hours later (10 days×24 hours).
3. You can pre-load the funds needed to purchase the add ons in your self serve account so you only have to log in, select the US roaming add on and then confirm and submit your purchase.
4. Wait til late as possible to purchase since they are immediately valid so on free wifi at the destination airport or stopping shortly before the border at mcd's or timmy's to buy the add on while on free wifi.
5. If you are staying longer than 10 days you must wait a minimum of 24 hours to purchase the same US roaming add on or contact the CSA's to add it before the waiting period ends.
6. If you have two US roaming add ons with a talk feature that overlap the talk feature basically gets disabled. Avoid this....but you will have to get one removed by a CSA to get your calling feature back if this happens.
7. After purchase reboot your phone and manually select either at&t or T-mobile to get better reception. Some areas have better coverage by either provider so when travelling around the US you will be better served by choosing the provider with better signal strength by locale.
8. You will recieve incoming texts without any US roaming add ons. Adding the fongo app and textnow app for use on wifi are good to use for a back up plan or you could call forward your pm phone # to your fongo # before you leave Canada and use it with mobile data on a locali sim card or WiFi.
9. All US roaming add ons have either unlimted text, talk or both. Only data has limits depending on your purchase 250mb/500mb/1gb. Once the data is consumed it will just stop you could then purchase different roaming add on, wait 24 hr to buy or contact the moderator to buy the same US roaming add on again. (* except talk as previously mentioned.)

Happy travels and Stay--Safe!

Please note currently due to the decommissioning of the 3G network in the US by pm's roaming partners at&t has already begun this process but as of March 3rd 2022 still has some areas that are still served by the 3G network. T-Mobile has an end date of July 1st 2022. This will affect the ability of pm customers to send and receive voice calls and emergency service such as 911 while in the US and using pm's US roaming add ons. The current work around is to download a voip app such as textnow or fongo for use while on wifi or mobile data for voice calls when in areas no longer served by the 3G network which will eventually include all areas served by at&t and T-Mobile.

Or for international travel which can apply. Just keep in mind the call forwarding options require your 30pm sim card to never connect with a US tower or they will be cancelled back to the default settings.

Spoiler

1. You can turn off autopay and allow the account to suspend at the of your current 30 day cycle but this is your least advantageous option. Pay and reactivate by day 85 or so.
2. If you have an account balance that exceeds your plan amount then you need to suspend via the lost/stolen feature in your account before midnight eastern on the evening of your renewal. Then on day 85 or so resume your service to pay and reactivate.
3. Suspending via lost/stolen before midnight eastern will keep your voicemail active allowing you retrieve voicemail and any verification sent by phone calls. However your rewards* will not be applied to your account. CSA contact after paying and reactivating is necessary to have the rewards applied manually.(*unless you are on the points program as we have not seen the results of suspension.)
4. Voicemail can be accessed by calling your pm number from a different phone by calling your phone # and pressing * once connected and entering your 4 digit voicemail pin #.
5. If you don't have an account balance or enough balance to cover your plan amount you can suspend via lost/stolen after midnight but before 2 am eastern on the day of your renewal. Once your rewards have been applied (usually by 12:15 am et) then suspend your account. Voicemail access will be lost.
6. Switching to the $15 plan with rewards helping to cover a partial or full amount of your plan allows you to call forward your pm number to your voip** number  before you leave Canada.. Now any incoming calling to your pm number will ring thru to your voip number while on wifi or mobile data (w/a local or global sim card) You can access your fongo voicemail for all voicemail messages.

**Download a voip provider app such as textnow or fongo for free calling and texting.

Most important mark on your calendar day 85 of your suspension and day 90. Do not forget when you must unsuspend your account via lost/stolen and/or pay and reactivate your service so you don't lose your phone number and account. Happy travels and Stay--Safe!

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[JL9]

Yes if it is a long trip, this is a good suggestion as a local option will more cost effective. Also on top of your regular data even your bonus data that you were referring to will not work in the US (only in Canada)

[hTideGnow]

Hi @verrmaja   Also,if you want a lot of data or if you are in US for longer than 10 days, you should get local prepaid data.  It is cheaper that way and you have more data

[BKNS27]

@verrmaja 

As noted by @hTideGnow for the Add-one,

once you are in the US connect on your Cellular Network to AT&T or T-Mobile.

[hTideGnow · Accepted solution]

HI @verrmaja   When you are in US, you need to buy US Roaming add-on.  

For Text and Talk, the US roaming are unlimited but not data

US data roaming has specific amount and you are only entitled to that amount.  (Your monthly  dat in your current plan cannot be used in US)

These are the available US roaming

 Talk Text (10-day) - $15.00 
Talk Text 250 Data (10-day) - $20.00 
1 GB Data (10-day) - $20.00 
250 MB Data (10-day) - $10.00 
500 MB Data (10-day) - $15.00 
Unlimited Text (10-day) - $8.00 
 Unlimited Talk (10-day) - $8.00