I need some SIM card schoolin....

You can buy a prepaid phone with minutes from any of the providers- generally Verizon has the best coverage and highest cost. We're very happy with T-Mobile's coverage/ cost ratio.

If your existing phone can have the SIM card removed, you can use it with a US SIM card (which is tied to a US phone #) and that will also disconnect your CAN number when you take the SIM card out.

You'll need to look at your usage: data, text, calls within US, calls to CAN, other international calls. Then pick the provider and their plan that fits your needs. I still have a cheap flip phone that I bought in Costa Rica as part of a prepaid plan years ago. At some point I'm going to use it! ;-)

Check out Tracfone's Keep Your Phone plan.

https://www.tracfone.com/keep-your-own-phone

If all you need is talk and text, T-mobile has a prepaid plan for $3/month, that gives you one of their SIM cards in the size you need, and 30 minutes of airtime or 30 text messages included per month. You just throw some cash on the account, and they debit it US$3/month, or whatever amount your usage is over the 30 minutes/30 SMS per month. The nice part about this prepaid plan is, Canadians can "park" a US number for US$3/month, and use it the next time you're south of the 49th.
If data is your pleasure too, then T-Mobile also has some pretty good unlimited talk/text/data plans too. Not sure on pricing, as we don't do data, but they're better than our Canadian "unlimited" plans.
The down side of T-Mobile is their coverage isn't as broad as Verizon or AT&T. They were talking about merging with Sprint, but I don't know where that stands, as it might increase their coverage areas.
We have one T-Mobile number and one AT&T, to cover the coverage bases. The AT&T is a prepaid, US$100 annually, good for 365 days of whatever.

Think "dual SIM" card phones, and see if you can get one (two?) before you go. You can find them on Amazon, but be careful and read the fine print to make sure you're getting the dual SIM version. A little homework helps.
It makes life crossing the border so much easier. I have an LG H990DS that has it, and my co-pilot has an Asus Zenphone Laser, same deal. 2 SIM card slots, no hassles.

Hi Gary,

I hope you will have a fun trip!

Bell Canada has a plan that allows use of Data in USA. It is far less than $170 per month. I'd be surprized if Telus did not have a similar choice.

Here is a link to the Telus:

https://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/plans?hash=international-plans&INTCMP=VAN_canadaus

Bell Canada:

https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Cell_phone_plans/Unlimited-plans

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Gary,

I hope you will have a fun trip!

Bell Canada has a plan that allows use of Data in USA. It is far less than $170 per month. I'd be surprized if Telus did not have a similar choice.

Here is a link to the Telus:

https://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/plans?hash=international-plans&INTCMP=VAN_canadaus

Bell Canada:

https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Cell_phone_plans/Unlimited-plans

Don..we are with Rogers at the moment and I suspect that the plans are all similar. We pay 7.50 a day for any cross border usage with a 15 day per month cap. I have no idea where I got the original amount. Maybe that isn't such a terrible price, in hindsight.


Gary

Gary,

I think Rogers teams up with AT&T in the USA, which has the 2nd best coverage.

pianotuna wrote:
Gary,

I think Rogers teams up with AT&T in the USA, which has the 2nd best coverage.

So..the problem is communications...the navigator used the phone as her constant companion for info and we were at 350 for one month and 400 the next. Some of this information is only now coming to light.

Thus my searching for a better alternative.


Gary

Gary,

Both Bell and Telus no longer charge for overage--but they do throttle to the point where video may not work well. The so called "unlimited" plans for USA do the same after some number of gigabytes. But for regular web surfing, email and the dreaded FaceBook there is still enough to be usable.

Sasktel has an unlimited plan and the throttle level is 4 times larger than Telus and Bell, so video still works. However they do not have a Canada/USA plan.

We are with Rogers in Canada. They have a roam like home plan but I find it is too expensive for long term travel to the US. We have our phones suspended in Canada with a small fee to hold the numbers. We then insert a US sim card into our phones in the US. We use Tracfone which is available at Walmart.

You phone must be unlocked to be able to do this. By law in Canada all cell providers must unlock your phone at no charge. I suggest that you contact Rogers to verify that your phones are unlocked.

With Tracfone you add time for either talk or data as needed. You buy the cards at Walmart or you can add time online.

We have found that coverage is excellent. We have used Tracfone from the Northeast of the US to the bottom of Florida and across the Gulf to San Diego and LA. It has been fine in just about every spot including areas out in the desert boondocking.

If you have questions please PM me.

Something to look at are prepaid plans at Walmart if your phone is unlocked from your current carrier, straight talk has sims you can swap between att Verizon and T-Mobile if your pawn phone supports the right bands, or you can buy their cheaper phones too . Att prepaid has some pretty cheap plans and phone you can tether your phone with if you have WiFi callinng