FlexPlay
 

Thanks again for all the replies. Until I figure out which monthly plan I want, I am using AT&T Go Phone - which is terrible. I have used up $35 of credit in 6 days but at least know more about what my calling habits are.

~ 300 minutes a month in total including Canada (about 100 nights and 50 weekends + 150 regular)
~ 100 texts
~ voicemail, caller ID
~ about 100 minutes a month to Canada (75 nights and weekends + 25 regular)
~ will roam to Canada about once a month.

I think I will choose the T-Mobile plan; the clerk today told me about FlexPay but I don't really understand it. Is it just a monthly plan without a contract when you pay beforehand?

I don't mind leaving the deposit ($500 :eek:) for a monthly plan but with the way the US$ is going, when I convert the $500 back to CAD$ after 12 months I will have probably lost quite a bit of money.

Also - if I am not on a contract can I "skip" months? i.e. have my plan from Sept-Jun only?

Thanks!

bump - thanks!

The best website I found to research phones and plans is howardforums.com. Or is it howardforum.com???? If it weren't for the Canadian calls or roaming, I would recommend Sprint sero plan. Do a search at the howardforums website. Good luck. Carrie

Do the math
 

Pay-as-you-go is only beneficial if you don't use the phone. For most people, a $30 plan (with free gear) is much better than buying a few minutes at a time.

T-Mobile offers free unlimited nights and weekends and free calls to other customers, as well as a US-to-Canada rate.

If you join T-Mo at Wirefly, you can score a free $350 DASH (quad GSM/GPRS/SmartPhone) and a $50 rebate.

Obviously, if you might have to bail, a contract won't work for you. But T-MobileWeb at $5.99/mo is pretty sweet. Unlimited WAP internet access, including gmail.com/app

I ended up going with FlexPay T Mobile Basic Plus. I didn't need a contract or credit check so I can stop payments during the summer when I am travelling. I just came back from Canada and rang up $4.50 in roaming charges over 4 days (I am not sure if that is good or bad) but texts while roaming come out of my bundle which is amazing.^ The roaming rate in Canada is $0.69 a minute which is high, but lower than AT&T's $0.79 a minute.

Thanks again for all the replies :)

Cheers,