travelling to the states

[dystatic]

hello!  i am going to the states in a few weeks and i have some questions about if/how my phone will work when i am down there, as well as about the add on plans that are available.  I have tried looking up some of this info, but i am still unclear.  Also, i just got my first cell phone this past november, so i am still kinda new to figuring out how everything works, so please keep that in mind!

ok, first of all, the plan i have now which has talk in my province + global text & data..  if i were to NOT get the add ons for the states, what i understand is that i would NOT be able to make any calls.  is that correct?

would i be able to recieve calls?  local calls from where i am in the states?  calls from people back home in canada?

what about texts?   would i be able to still send texts?  i am thinking not because there is an option to buy add ons for that..   .. what about recieving texts?  would i still recieve them without the add on?

and the data would not work.  but i could still get wifi if it was available.. 

ok..

now if i were to buy the additional add on options for the states..

i think the data and the texting is pretty straight forward, that i would be able to use the data and send and recieve texts right?

but i have questions about the phone option..

if i were to get that..  what sort of phone calls could i make?

when trying to look up information i came across some confusing information about travelling and the calls being related to where you live, so for instance if you travel to another province you can still make calls to your home province..  and, well, i dont know..

so if i were to get the add on for talk in the states, would it be to make local, in the states, calls?   or could i call to canada?  or would that be long distance? 

and i still want to know about recieving calls?  do i need that add on to recieve calls?

i think that's everything..

pretty much what good is my phone down there with nothing, and where can i call with talk add on?

thanks so much!

[srlawren]

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@Triguy wrote:

@srlawren I did specify it was for US talk in my posting.

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@Triguy looks like I misread that--my apologies sir!

[Triguy]

@srlawren I did specify it was for US talk in my posting.

[srlawren]

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@cds wrote:

In addition to the US Roaming add on, do you need a long distance plan as well to make and receive calls?

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@cds one final clarification beyond what @Triguy already posted:  it depends on what you mean by "the US Roaming add on".  If you are referring to the 10-day US Roaming Talk add-on, then the answer given by @Triguy is correct.  If you are talking about the 10-Day US Roaming Texting or any of the three available 10-day US Roaming Data options, then do note that they do not enable calling.

[Triguy]

No, if you have US talk then you can call within the US.

US Roaming is with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide you with fantastic coverage. Your U.S. coverage will include all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

[cds]

In addition to the US Roaming add on, do you need a long distance plan as well to make and receive calls?

[nockiboo]

I've also used Roam mobility instead as well.  PM's rates aren't that good and not that flexible.  Roam piggybacks on T-mobile which has good coverage in the US.

[RogerI]

Yes, PM feels customers need to search and read this forum to get basic information on their phone plans. I don't know who thought that was a good idea, but it is just dumb.

Information on the various plans must be clearly provided on the main web site. Surely they realise that by now. 

[shawnie_boy]

I would recommend getting roam mobility for USA. $5 /day for unlimited calling/txt and data. Just buy their sim and forward your current number to a voip service like fongo. 

The only thing you wont be able to get is texts from your public number since those cannot be forwarded and also no auto reply.

hopefully in the future PM will compete with services like roam so you don't need to change sims. 

[dystatic]

thanks!

i wish i had found that chart in my searching, it would have cleared a lot of things up!

[dystatic]

thanks!

[Someone_here]

@SD08

Thanks for linking my chart! I had almost forgotten it was there!

[SD08 · Accepted solution]

Here's a chart showing what calling you can do with the various add-ons:
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Province-wide-Canada-wide-and-Long-Dis...

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@dystatic wrote:

My answers in bold:
ok, first of all, the plan i have now which has talk in my province + global text & data.. if i were to NOT get the add ons for the states, what i understand is that i would NOT be able to make any calls. is that correct?  Yes
would i be able to recieve calls?  No  local calls from where i am in the states? No  calls from people back home in canada?  No
what about texts? would i be able to still send texts? Not without the roaming add-on  i am thinking not because there is an option to buy add ons for that.. .. what about recieving texts?  would i still recieve them without the add on?  No
and the data would not work. but i could still get wifi if it was available..
ok..
now if i were to buy the additional add on options for the states..
i think the data and the texting is pretty straight forward, that i would be able to use the data and send and recieve texts right?  Yes
but i have questions about the phone option..  For the remaining questions about calling, see chart I linked
if i were to get that.. what sort of phone calls could i make?
when trying to look up information i came across some confusing information about travelling and the calls being related to where you live, so for instance if you travel to another province you can still make calls to your home province.. and, well, i dont know..
so if i were to get the add on for talk in the states, would it be to make local, in the states, calls? or could i call to canada? or would that be long distance?
and i still want to know about recieving calls? do i need that add on to recieve calls?

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[NDesai]

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@dystatic wrote:

if i were to NOT get the add ons for the states, what i understand is that i would NOT be able to make any calls.  is that correct?

would i be able to recieve calls?  local calls from where i am in the states?  calls from people back home in canada?

what about texts?   would i be able to still send texts?  i am thinking not because there is an option to buy add ons for that..   .. what about recieving texts?  would i still recieve them without the add on?

and the data would not work.  but i could still get wifi if it was available.. 

ok..

now if i were to buy the additional add on options for the states..

i think the data and the texting is pretty straight forward, that i would be able to use the data and send and recieve texts right?

but i have questions about the phone option..

if i were to get that..  what sort of phone calls could i make?

when trying to look up information i came across some confusing information about travelling and the calls being related to where you live, so for instance if you travel to another province you can still make calls to your home province..  and, well, i dont know..

so if i were to get the add on for talk in the states, would it be to make local, in the states, calls?   or could i call to canada?  or would that be long distance? 

and i still want to know about recieving calls?  do i need that add on to recieve calls?

i think that's everything..

pretty much what good is my phone down there with nothing, and where can i call with talk add on?

thanks so much!

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Without US add-ons, nothing on your phone will work. You will not get any signal. 

When you buy US add-on, whatever package is included will work. If you buy data and text add-on, data and text will work. If you buy US talk add-on, you will be able to receive and make calls to US and Canada. 

To summarize, you will need US add-on to make and receive calls. Select the add-on depending on what services you want.