Recommendations for provider and plan for Canada (Whistler) + US (Florida) trip

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Recommendations for provider and plan for Canada (Whistler) + US (Florida) trip

nzkc

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#306985 10-Sep-2023 20:11

Family of 4 doing a trip to Canada (specifically Whistler) and US (Florida - Orlando for Disney et al) early next year. Ideally looking for a single provider to cover both but could consider individual ones since its a week + in each country. Calling isn't as important as data. Something with hot spotting ideally I think. I recall that being paid extra years ago in that part of the world... is that still the case? Could possibly get away without if wifi is ubiquitous.

Currently with 2degrees but 4 x $8/day feels a bit extortionate to be honest.

What would the collective recommend here?

Linux

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#3125674 10-Sep-2023 20:21

Canda Rogers Wireless and US T-Mobile

l43a2

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#3125677 10-Sep-2023 20:32

Does your device support Esim?

nzkc

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#3125706 10-Sep-2023 23:48

l43a2:

Does your device support Esim?

No.

Aucklandjafa

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#3125711 11-Sep-2023 03:58

Spark provides the best value roaming: $30 for 2 weeks (300 mins, 300 texts & 2gb data), you can also add more data for $25. Surely you’ll be using wifi for data when you’re back at your accomodation too.

Having to buy 2 SIM cards would be pretty punishing, plus, Canada is known for being quite expensive in the mobile market.

If you’re currently 2d, you could port to Spark pre-pay if you’re not tied to any IFP’s.

My 2 cents.

Goosey

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#3125716 11-Sep-2023 06:18

Reminds me of when I was a kid going to Oz for a holiday..

TV was obviously different….but you got by and soon forgot (remembering it was strictly appointment viewing in the 80’s and 90’s)

I’d be telling the kids “sorry, no data on holiday unless on wifi and be done with it”.

just have the data roaming on your own phone for “google”
if you have a rental car, add the sat nav….probably cheaper than overall data cost

Kiwifan

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#3125721 11-Sep-2023 07:15

I have used Simcorner NZ several times for Canadian/US sims and they have worked well for us. We go for the dual country AT&T 15 GB which costs $NZ60 per sim. The only downside is they are only active for 30 days and can’t be topped up.

We are off to both countries this weekend so have 4 sims (2 each) as we will be off for 6 weeks.

I have used Simcorner for trips to Aus but as you need to go in to an Optus store to activate them and the hassle of explaining to the staff I won’t bother again.

Have fun on your travels.

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frankv

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#3125814 11-Sep-2023 09:13

nzkc:

Could possibly get away without if wifi is ubiquitous.

A couple of trips I did to the USA, 2 & 4 years ago, practically all hotels & motels had free wifi. I guess check before booking. Airports too. Malls sometimes too.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=disney+world+wifi&ia=web -- looks like Disney World has free wifi too.

I did buy an AT&T sim for IIRC US$35 and still had $10 credit on it when I left.

nzkc

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#3125922 11-Sep-2023 12:18

Yes we will make use of complementary wifi if available. However; these are often limited and can be restrictive. We would like a "set and forget it" solution if possible.

Also, particularly the Canada leg, we wont have access to Wifi all the time and may need to contact one another. Our children are old enough they might go off on their own a bit so saying "just dont use your devices" isnt an option for us.

nzkc

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#3125924 11-Sep-2023 12:25

Aucklandjafa: Spark provides the best value roaming: $30 for 2 weeks (300 mins, 300 texts & 2gb data), you can also add more data for $25. Surely you’ll be using wifi for data when you’re back at your accomodation too.

Having to buy 2 SIM cards would be pretty punishing, plus, Canada is known for being quite expensive in the mobile market.

If you’re currently 2d, you could port to Spark pre-pay if you’re not tied to any IFP’s.

My 2 cents.

Probably wouldnt port... but buying sims just for the trip would be fine.

polglase

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#3125981 11-Sep-2023 13:09

Prepaid verizon plans look good - https://www.verizon.com/plans/prepaid/

nzkc

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#3185277 22-Jan-2024 18:27

For those that are interested...

I ended up buying some US + Canada (combined) sims from Amazon. Specifically: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B083425N95?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Get 5GB of data in Canada and unlimited in US for ~$60 NZD. WAY better than $8/day with 2degrees. Been great so far (we're still in Canada). There's pretty good free Wifi coverage in places so if you're not too worried about contacting people immediately you _could_ get away with it. But honestly I'm glad I bought these.

Interestingly there are a few companies that do these (all more or less the same too) with T-Mobile. Some warned about using Android devices. I checked our handsets on the T-Mobile site and it said they were all fine - which they have been. Had the sims activate the day before travel (since NZ is a day ahead) to ensure they'd be working when we got here. Soon as we landed they worked at the airport immediately just fine.

TLDR: Would recommend ;-)