Originally Posted by
carolinelb
We live in the US, and our kids go to university in Toronto, Canada.
We have had 2 cell phone plans - Verizon for all in the US, and Bell for the kids when in Toronto.
After too much research, it looks like we will save $80 a month consolidating by moving everyone to Verizon Nationwide plus Canada, and getting text messaging for each line.
We never have been charged for using our Verizon phones in Canada to text either Canada or the US, but Verizon says this incurs an additional charge...
Does anyone have any experience with the plan? I'm wondering whether those text charges might eventually be applied, and also whether Canadians receiving texts might incur long distance charges. Looking at Bell's site, they charge more for incoming long distance texts. Theoretically, texts made in Canada should not be long distance, but I don't trust Bell.
My kids and I are worried that their friends may be stuck with extra fees if they use Nationwide plus Canada, and that there are other disadvantages I haven't yet discovered.
I travel constantly between the US and Canada. I was about to go with Verizon's plan, until I decided to go with At&T at the same price since it is GSM (better phones, etc.). I use a BB Bold 9700. At&t runs the equivalent plans to Verizon's, and I believe it shares the same name.
I love having it. Essentially, if you look at the pricing, they are charging you an extra $20 per month to have the "North American" access, rather than just domestic. But the feeling of being able to be ANYWHERE in the US or Canada and call ANYWHERE in the US or Canada is awesome. No worry about hidden fees, etc. I have yet to encounter any with At&t.
However, when you mention texting, I take a second glance. My data plans on my BB covers US data, and I'm charged $2/MB in Canada (Verizon has an international data plan for unlimited int'l data that can be prorated whenever you are out of the US). For texting, however, I believe that you would still be charged for int't messaging rates will in Canada, even on the Nation with Canada plan. At least with At&t, I know that the "Canada" portion is referring to the minutes, rather than any texts. Check into that.
Finally, most of my talking is in the US, so it's not a problem for me. However, if your child is doing most of his/her talking in Canada, make sure you read the fine print of the plan. With At&t, I remember reading somewhere that only up to around 50% of the minutes included in your monthly rate could actually be used in Canada. Might be worth confirming...
Hope this helps! Good luck!
P.S. I would go with At&t partially because of their roaming agreements with all of the major Canadian carriers (my BB will roam on Rogers, Telus, and Bell in order to get the best service available at any given time). See if Verizon does the same -- I'm not sure.