2 Cell Phone Plans in 2 Provinces - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Winsor_Pilates · 09-08-2010, 12:30 PM

Has anyone ever done this and found a good, cheep way of doing so?

I'm coming to Calgary for about 3 months and will need a cell phone, but will still need to keep my Vancouver phone active as well.
Any suggestions on the cheapest way to do this?

I'm hoping there's some sort of add on packages that can be done instead of having 2 completely separate full contracts.

thanks,

PS. I'm with Rogers

ah123 · 09-08-2010, 12:33 PM

Pick up a pre-paid cell, once you're done, you can probably sell the cell on kijiji

ken0042 · 09-08-2010, 12:42 PM

Or if you pick up a pre-paid Rogers phone, couldn't you just drop that SIM card into your current phone? Or even just buy a pre-paid Rogers SIM? I seem to recall the SIM cards were like $20 each or something.

silentsim · 09-08-2010, 12:43 PM

Use Wind Mobile or Chat-R for Calgary, I used Wind and when I signed up there was a 50% off promo so for unlimited talk per month (nationwide) and text I only paid 22.50/month.

That promo is gone now but they have 3 other promos going on.

Wind has no contracts.

blankall · 09-08-2010, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Or if you pick up a pre-paid Rogers phone, couldn't you just drop that SIM card into your current phone? Or even just buy a pre-paid Rogers SIM? I seem to recall the SIM cards were like $20 each or something.

This.

You should be able to find a sim with any of the major companies.

I'm not sure how much you need to use either phone, but it will impact your decision on what to do. Prepaid should only be used for minimal usage. You might also be able to downsize your plan in BC. However, if you have a grandfathered (ie no longer availalble) plan or special features, you might lose those with a rate change.

GreenTeaFrapp · 09-08-2010, 12:52 PM

I don't understand why you just can't use your current phone. Rogers has coverage in Calgary.

silentsim · 09-08-2010, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

I don't understand why you just can't use your current phone. Rogers has coverage in Calgary.

Well he can, but if he loses it alot any incoming call he receives will be Long distance. he can place calls to 403 numbers using local airtime.

If he doesn't have long distance minutes this could be quite costly at 35 cents a minute.

Winsor_Pilates · 09-08-2010, 02:35 PM

I will be using it a lot for incoming calls, so I'm not sure prepaid will be a good option for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

I don't understand why you just can't use your current phone. Rogers has coverage in Calgary.

I will be receiving 99% of the calls so I'd be charged LD for all of them.
Also, the people calling me would be charged LD as well, and I'm in a sales job where I want it to be as easy and convenient as possible for potential buyers to call me.

I likely will still be using my current phone for outbound local calls, so I'll be that guy with 2 cell phones.

ah123 · 09-08-2010, 03:10 PM

See if you can get a "temporary" bundle added to your existing plan. Another option is to pickup a used phone and pick up a Rogers SIM card (month to month)

yads · 09-08-2010, 03:30 PM

I'd just get a Wind phone, use it for 3 months, then just sell it. You'll probably spend less money if you're going to be using this phone a lot. $35 for unlimited province wide calling.

GreenTeaFrapp · 09-08-2010, 05:00 PM

If you have an iPhone could you install Skype and use that for your calls?

yads · 09-09-2010, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

If you have an iPhone could you install Skype and use that for your calls?

He couldn't get a call in number though with skype could he?

Winsor_Pilates · 09-09-2010, 01:47 PM

Ended up going with Chatr. For $35/month I get unlimited talk and text; almost too good to be true pricing.
An oldschool Nokia for $50 and I'm done.
Thanks for all suggestions

silentsim · 09-09-2010, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Ended up going with Chatr. For $35/month I get unlimited talk and text; almost too good to be true pricing.
An oldschool Nokia for $50 and I'm done.
Thanks for all suggestions

Good stuff. Apparently Rogers locked phones work with Chat-R as well (maybe not all, just the ones I've read about?)

Advantage Chat-R has over Wind is its piggybacking Rogers network, just zoned to the cities like wind.

yads · 09-10-2010, 11:23 AM

One thing with Chatr is that you have to pay to retrieve your voice mail messages, which is kind of strange.

STeeLy · 09-10-2010, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yads

One thing with Chatr is that you have to pay to retrieve your voice mail messages, which is kind of strange.

As in pay for the minutes you use to call the voice mail number?

That's what most companies do.

silentsim · 09-10-2010, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yads

One thing with Chatr is that you have to pay to retrieve your voice mail messages, which is kind of strange.

Only on the 35$ plan, but the 45$ plan is significantly better IMO, alongside nationwide talk it also includes unlimited text (and no voicemail surcharge)

yads · 09-10-2010, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STeeLy

As in pay for the minutes you use to call the voice mail number?

That's what most companies do.

No other company charges you 25 cents a minute to access your voicemail.

Agreed that the $45 plan is way better.

Winsor_Pilates · 09-10-2010, 05:54 PM

They have a $10 credit right now if you set up credit card billing, so I get the $45 plan with voicemail for $35 anyway.