Canadians! How do you travel with your phone?

Hi there!

Not sure if this is helpful as we just returned from Italy. We relied solely on wifi and used whatsapp to make calls. Worked very well for us given that wifi was available almost everywhere in Italy (more than I anticipated).

I only rely on wifi when abroad. I look at it as a bit of digital detox too :)

My husband uses the 'roam like home' package from Rogers. I am assuming that Telus would have something like it.

We never call or take calls though... Do you anticipate calling that much?

We'd only phone to confirm hotels, car rentals, etc. I doubt we'd phone home. I've already emailed to confirm everything but I may still need to make a call or two. Telus has Easy Roam. It's not too hateful....

Our yearly Christmas tradition is to see TSO and of course tickets go on sale when we're away. I've got everything all set up but I'll need to access the internet to buy the tix. I'm not too crazy about doing that over wifi, I have visions of my cc info being stolen by someone over some sketchy wifi. I wanted to have a trusted friend back home do it for me, but the band changed the way that the fan club members can buy the tickets. Sigh.....

Judy,

I wasn't aware that Telus offered service in Westland, MI ;-)

I've been using the Rogers Roam Like Home package for the last few years and it's worked well, although it's not cheap. Overseas roaming is $10 per day to a maximum of $100 and roaming is limited to 30 days (although I believe it can be renewed if one is travelling longer than that). It allows full use of data according to the limit I have at home. I have to be easily accessible from home, so this is the best option for me. I've tried using European SIM's in an unlocked phone, but it was a cumbersome arrangement with call forwarding, etc.

Telus has similar plans called Easy Roam and also Discover Combo Passes for a set charge. IMO this is the easiest and most convenient option. If you're concerned about ordering tickets on Wi-Fi, you can switch that "off" and use LTE which is encrypted, so it should be safer (that's what I do when accessing my banking accounts).

Ken.... I physically live in Ontario. Telus is my provider. Westland is my go-to when I'm filling out any online profiles, as it's my mailing address. All my personal mail, bills, etc. go there. I am there so often for work plus my mom is there so it's almost like I'm on autopilot when it comes to creating a profile.

Now. Thank you for your reply, I'm thinking that Easy Roam will probably be the best. No muss no fuss. I only pay when I use it. And once I use it, I'll have 24 hours to use the hell out of it with no extra cost. So it's looking like that is how I'll order the concert tickets. At least my connection will be more secure.

I get the $50 plan for travel as I use it only for emergencies and maybe a phone call home. There are other travel plans for more. I am using 2 rentals this upcoming trip and want to be sure I have the ability to call if I am locked out or something. I used it before and it was fine. When purchaseing I chose the dates of travel. I do not use the phone much using data when traveling but rely on wifi.

Hi Judy
I did a 5 week trip to Italy and London in May. I used Telus easy roam international. I was only charged the $10/ day Canadian fee when I used it. Most of the time we used hotel wifi but there were days when we needed data and to make calls. We noted the time we turned on data and then used that 24 hour period to the max. All the calls I made were covered as part of the plan. It worked very well. Enjoy your trip.
JoAnn

Judy,

Thanks for the clarification on your location.

One other point to add. I'm not sure how Telus manages their billing, but some phones do "housekeeping" on the internet even when they're not being used. Also, the phone has to "ping" the network at periodic intervals to let the network know where it's at. Some cellular carriers may deem those types of activities to be "using the phone" overseas, and therefore will bill for that day. You'll have to check with Telus.

I often leave my cellular data "off" unless I need to use it for something, and use Wi-Fi as much as possible for routine tasks (but NOT banking or other sensitive functions).

One other rather odd occurrence to mention. I've found in some cases that I'm not able to send or receive texts unless cellular data is "on". I'm still trying to figure out why that's occurring? If you're able to use your normal monthly data allotment, it shouldn't be a problem leaving cellular data "on", but be careful about video streaming or other data-intensive tasks.

Happy travels!

Hi Judy
I'm a Telus customer and use their plan called Your Choice Canada-US as we live half the year in each country; this plan allows us to use our plan anywhere in North America using our 604 area code. It has been the perfect solution for us living in both countries.
We travel to Europe for a month each year and because we use data when we are out and about we get local SIM cards once we arrive in the country. We also purchase one of the Telus travel packages and bring an older iPhone with us. We put one of our Canadian SIM cards in that phone so we still retain our North American phone number. For instance, we are headed to Italy in a couple of weeks and have the $50 Discover Combo pass which gives us a tiny bit of data, 150 outgoing text messages and 50 minutes of phone calls. That way we can be contacted by family as well as our security system etc. In the past we have also used it to call back to Canada to cancel credit cards when we 'misplaced' a wallet. Another year, the credit card company called us to ask about suspicious charges - they were right, as the card was in a locked drawer so definitely not our charges. And, on more than one occasion our security alarm has gone off and we are able to deal with that as well. The other benefit is that we have a functioning phone when we land and get in touch with our first AirBnB without having to purchase a SIM card in the airport.
The local SIM cards usually have a lot of data which is really what is most important for us and gives us a local number so our AirBnB hosts can text us. This system has worked extremely well, is the most economical from my research and was originally recommended to us by Telus as the best option if you are going to be in a country for longer than a week.

We have Rogers, and my husband and I use Roam Like Home, which allows you to access your normal, domestic data plan. We love it -- it's been very liberating, but we do have a pretty high (11 GB) data plan. It costs $10 cdn for each device, each day it is accessed, to a maximum $ amount per month. Some days (when in a cruise port), we will only access data using one iPhone to save $10.

Cheers,
Vivian

Hi;
We use Telus at home, but I sometimes buy a local SIM card for my unlocked phone when I am in Europe.
For the last two trips, I just used WiFi; and talked to people through WhatsApp or Skype or Facebook messenger.
That worked just fine.
There are no local calls I need to make when I'm there, as I don't need to make reservations or anything like that.
Do you have an unlocked phone?

No, my phone is not unlocked!!

Judy,

If your phone is not unlocked, you'll be limited to using roaming service with Telus. If you think you might want to try a local SIM, you'll have to ask Telus what their terms are to unlock your phone.