Bank Accounts

you might want to change companies because you would get nailed with roaming charges if you stay with Rogers. I would also get an Orlando #. You could probably use your phone, just change companies.

My mom actually found a fantastic comapny that has a no contract and really good deals close to Cricket and Mobile PC. It's called Boost Mobile and has fantastic coverage in Florida. I will most likely be going with them.

 

With phones that use sim cards (ie rogers phones and hspa devices on bell and telus) you can use your phone in the US if you get the phone unlocked and find a company that used sim cards (ie gsm or hspa networks). If they use a CDMA network, like Verizon, those phones don't use sim cards and then obviously your phone would not be compatable. I work for Telus - hence the possibly complicated lingo. My suggestion is to just buy a new phone down there. Maybe bring your rogers phone for teh trip and hold onto it just in case you come across a terrific deal on a sim card and you find your phone is compatable.

 

Hey whats everyone's thoughts on t-mobile? They have plans without contracts called even more plus plans and their phones appear to be reasonable priced. I was looking at the sidekick for 200 without a contract. The plans also are quite impressive and their coverage looks decent. I just haven't heard anyone talk about t-mobile so Im concerned maybe its not a very reliable wireless provider. ???

 

OMG Finally someone interested on the Sidekick!!! I want it too but I only saw the 2yr contract which held me back, would you mind posting the link so I can check it out???
I've heard that t-mobile is more expensive and that the service is bad, but I really cannot tell.

 

I looked at t-mobile but i found their plans to be more $$$ then the other plans. They don't seem to have the unlimited that other offered. And I'm looking for international calling and texting which they didn't really offer a decent rate for that.

 

I was thinking about Virgin... they seem to have pretty decent international rates! T-Mobile and AT&T seemed to be super expensive, so I just passed those ones by. Plus Virgin's phones are pretty well priced.

 

When I was there for ICP, I went with T-mobile pay and go - it wasn't too bad for international calling, esp if someone called you back. Hope this helps
It's also cheap to call other T-mobile people (and free after 7).
xx

 

Heres the website for t-mobile plans - I just like that they have month to month plans without contracts!

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Cell-Phone-Plans-Overview.aspx?WT.z_HP=shop_plans_DL

I'm going to check out virgin too, my only concern with prepaid is if I forgot to top it up and that sort of thing. I like not having to worry about my balance. Luckily I don't arrive until May 4th so I'll have lots of other's experiences to use in making my decision.

 

ooooo virgin looks alright too. Its loads cheaper. But does anyone know the deal with international texting? I can't find it on the site. Thanks!

 

Buzz kill... I just called Virgin and even if you have a texting feature on your plan, it costs $0.25 for every sent or received text internationally, including Canada. The lady I spoke to wasn't very helpful either. Oh and there are additional fees charged to your account but she couldn't tell me how much it would be because she says it would depend on where you are. I told her Florida and she still couldn't give me an answer. I'm not overly impressed

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the international texting too... and that seems kind of harsh. But I'm not sure how much international texting I'll be doing, since I'm going to try to talk to people mostly on MSN/Skype. I used to be really big on texting, but not so much anymore. So we'll see...

I like the looks of their international calling rates, though. That doesn't seem too bad. But again, I'm going to try to mostly talk to people on Skype, so... ugh. Too many things to think about!

 

These companies have unlimited international texting and calling and no contract:
http://plans.boostmobile.com/monthlyunlimited.aspx [Its just $10 extra to add the international text] {seems to have really good coverage}
http://www.metropcs.com/plans/default.aspx {plans = good, coverage is okay}
http://www.mycricket.com/cell-phone-plans {better coverage then metro, but plans $$$}

^^Hope this helps. I'm most likely going to be going with Boost.

 

The cricket website said there is currently no coverage at zip code 32821... its on the coverage map as premium coverage...

 

yep it wont let you if u type the florida zip code, but just text 78550 that's texas and it will let you surf though the website, you might be lucky and one of the advisors will pop out a chat window.

 

is there a plan that's really good for just texting in the US (to whatever phone company) ?

I saw Virgin's unlimited whihc sounded ok. But suggestions?

 

Yeah I know, but you can still get the plan. The link I pasted has all the plans that are available. If you talk to one of the people at cricket they will tell you the plans are available its justa glitch on their website.

 

The plans I posted above have good plans for just texting in the USA as well.

 

Ok I spoke with a representative from Cricket and she explained that Florida only has premium coverage meaning that we can't sign up with a phone there. Premium coverage is for clients that are travelling to Florida to reduce roaming charges. So ya, back to the drawing board. I'm happiest with metroPCS so far. I like that they have unlimited international calling and texting.

 

The only downer is that without a contract, all the phones I want would hurt my bank account muchly! My iPhone has spoiled me... curse you AT&T and your 2 year contracts! *shakes fist*

 

I know what you mean.... since I work for Telus, I get mad deals on phones and have had 4 different smartphones in the past 6 months... uggh. I'm thinking I'm going to just be getting the basic phone when I'm out there, Its going to be tough but I'm not fond of the prices of smartphones haha.