Public Mobile's $50 $60 $70 plans include "Unlimited Canada & USA Talk".
Does this mean calls from anywhere in Canada & USA to anywhere in Canada & USA?
No. None of those include roaming. You can only use them in Canada unless you buy a U.S. roaming add-on. There was a different $60 plan that included roaming but you can't get that any more.
With these numbers, I'd rather get 'data only' eSim (multiple providers offer it) and use voip.ms (or some other voip provider) for calling/texting when needed. Depending on data usage, that could be fairly cheap option.
Ideally having a dual SIM phone would be better but not necessary. Depending on how much data you think you would use one of the plans from mint mobile would suit your needs. They offer 90 day plans starting at US$15/4gb(+) per month up to US$30/35gb(+unlimited throttled data) that includes unlimited calling/texting in the US and to Canada+Mexico and very reasonable roaming rates in those 2 countries.($0.06/min, $0.02/text, $0.06mb)
Mint mobile sim cards can be ordered from B&H photo and shipped to Canadian addresses. Or you can pick one up once you are stateside.
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.
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.
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. Moderator/CSA contact after paying and reactivating is necessary to have the rewards applied manually.
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 #.
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.
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 fongo number before you leave Canada.. Now any incoming calling to your pm number will ring thru to your fongo number while on wifi or mobile data (w/a local or global sim card) You can access your fongo voicemail for all voicemail messages.
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. Stay--Safe!
If you were thinking about a dual sim phone here are two great deals on dual sim phones. The pixel 3xl has a nano sim and an e-sim for $249+gst(factory sealed new) and the samsung A32 is dual sim stand by for $299+gst (open box) at swiftronics.
@93 : Yeah it depends on your needs. There's wifi everywhere of course. Another option is any of the voip apps that do talk and text. A popular one around here seems to be TextNow. They also offer a US SIM service.
not have plan include USA roaming, you need to purchase U.S. Roaming for 10 day package.
@93 : Not sure what the above means but no, nothing longer than 10 days. Lots of really good local service providers down there though starting in the low single-digits per month.
