Canadian participation in National rally

[cnc]

Originally Posted by Ole Dawg

Norm, you guy's should look into picking up a prepaid phone after crossing the border. I think it would possibly save a few bucks.

A prepaid cell phone, How Much do they go for in the U.S?

[oledawg]

The prices vary by number of minutes purchased. John from Toronto buy's them to stay in touch with home when he comes down. If you like I could ck. prices out at Wal-Mart?

[cnc]

Originally Posted by Ole Dawg

The prices vary by number of minutes purchased. John from Toronto buy's them to stay in touch with home when he comes down. If you like I could ck. prices out at Wal-Mart?

Sure, that would be great if you wouldn't mind finding out the details when your out and about.

[oledawg]

;) I'll ck. it out tomorrow Norm and let you know!

[oledawg]

Norm I went to Wal-Mart and found that they had several deals.
They had phones from $10 on up and the minutes were purchased separately. The one they had that looked like a pretty good deal was a Verizon LG Phone for $15 and Verizon has A pretty good coverage area. The price on the minutes vary as well. The guy at the store said you could ck it out on line and here it is. http://www.walmart.com/ip/LG5600-Pre...Phone/15522302

[ringadingh]

Lloyd; How much did the minutes cost to put in the phone.
Here you can get a phone with a 100 minutes that is good for 12 months for a $100.00
Just trying to get a cost idea.

[oledawg]

Steve, I believe the minutes were much cheeper but had a shorter time limit. The other thing I firgot to ask the guy was about international calls. I may stop over there again Mon or tues and get more info.

[cnc]

Lloyd thanks so much for doing this. I can't believe pay as you go phones start at $10 down there. Here you can get phones for free, but then it's with a year or two contract, activation fee, system access fee, etc. I have never looked into pay as you go phones around here.
One of the other questions that might be worth asking is if you use up all your minutes or they expire, is there any time limit that you can leave the phone dormant before buying more minutes. I'm thinking If we come back to Canada and have no use for it till they next trip to the U.S

[ringadingh]

All those fees and contracts are why I gave up my phone here almost three years ago. I still keep a charged phone with me on the bike, but no plan or minutes on it. 911 will still work and thats who I'll call if Im in a jam. A sales rep at the phone store told me that.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

All those fees and contracts are why I gave up my phone here almost three years ago. I still keep a charged phone with me on the bike, but no plan or minutes on it. 911 will still work and thats who I'll call if Im in a jam. A sales rep at the phone store told me that.

911, I'm out of crown royal!

[ringadingh]

Isn't the motto to serve and protect? ;)
I just need the service part.

[oledawg]

OK I just got back from Wal-Mart and the Gal there spent about 1/2 hr with me going over different plans and to sum it up the best deals were with Tracfone and the offers can be seen on this link.

http://www.tracfone.com/

The phone can be used for International calls and for about $127 which includes all fees you can get phone, charger, and 1,000 min. good for 1 yr. That seemed to be the top deal but you can buy down to 120 min which is the 60 min card that is doubled as are all min after purchasing the phone for as little as $9.88 or the better phone which has a camera & is blu-tooth capable. The minutes of less than 1,000 are good for 90 day's + another 60 day's you get as a bonus when buying the Phone. So if you get a phone for $9.88 + a 60 min which gives you 120 min your good for 5 mo. But ck. out the link as there is another deal which looks even better.

[ringadingh]

Thanks Lloyd, those prices are unheard of here in Canada.

[oledawg]

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

Thanks Lloyd, those prices are unheard of here in Canada.

;) Your welcome Steve. I kind of gathered that there was quite a difference in prices as most of the Canadian guy's I know didn't use cell phones but relied on phone cards which are becoming too difficult to use as public phones are almost phased out. I told John about the cell deals when we did our Pa tour back in 09 and he was surprised at the savings and convenience they provided.

[cnc]

Yes thanks Lloyd. I will compare all the price and info you got with some things I found out today. I was just saying to the wife, wouldn't it be smart if you could buy short term U.S air time from our cell phone company. turns out you can ( who keeps stealing all my great ideas, I swear this house is bugged ).
looks like Bell Mobility whom we are with, offers this. Minimum is a month and $30 will buy 60 minutes of air time in the U.S. Not sure if their are any hidden costs or if long distance to Canada is included, I think so. Anyway food for thought.