Thread: Verizon customer, visiting canada.. suggestions??

I'm planning on heading north of the border for a week or two around christmas / new years.. last time I was there the CDMA service was pretty spotty (Telus I believe.. its been a few years)

I am wondering if there are any preperations I need to make before heading north? Do I need to do anything special to make sure the GSM connection will function? Should I look in to picking up SIM from a local pre-pay when I am there?

Also, will hybrid 5.0 OS's cause me any issues as I travel?

Thanks in advanced for the suggestions!

Originally Posted by travisn000

I'm planning on heading north of the border for a week or two around christmas / new years.. last time I was there the CDMA service was pretty spotty (Telus I believe.. its been a few years)

I am wondering if there are any preperations I need to make before heading north? Do I need to do anything special to make sure the GSM connection will function? Should I look in to picking up SIM from a local pre-pay when I am there?

Also, will hybrid 5.0 OS's cause me any issues as I travel?

Thanks in advanced for the suggestions!

I highly suggest you call and verizon and ask them to unlock your phone because you will be traveling to Italy(just trust me ) and then getting a local sim card with prepay unless you want to spend a fortune. Yes you can use canadas cdma. You should have no problem with 5.0 os. make sure your phone is set to global or GSM if that is the route you are going to go. Any other questions ask away

If you're only going for a week, I would call CS and speak to the 'International" department. They will pro-rate the plan. I was in mexico last month for 8 days, had unlimited data and email, uploaded a hundred pictures to Facebook and it only cost me an extra $20 USD...

Originally Posted by SevereDeceit

If you're only going for a week, I would call CS and speak to the 'International" department. They will pro-rate the plan. I was in mexico last month for 8 days, had unlimited data and email, uploaded a hundred pictures to Facebook and it only cost me an extra $20 USD...

I did something similar this past summer and it worked out to be around $20 for 2 weeks too.

Thanks for the Quick replies..

I may very well try both just to be safe.. (unlock / pro-rated plan)

i suggest you get a hold of me when your here and take me out for some good ole anadian beers...lol...or try a Fido prepaid if nothin else works

I am an American working for a U.S. company, but living in Canada. I have Verizon. Regarding service, no issues here at all - but I am near Montreal. I have had no issues in Toronto or in Vancouver at all.

I suggest you ask about the North American plan and see how much they will charge you for this. I have included in my same plan minutes Canada as well as the U.S., so I get no additional charge whether I call to the U.S., domestically in Canada, or receive a U.S. call.

As far as "unlocking", it IS NOT NECESSARY - don't even bother with this, as it is not necessary, you have CDMA networks here and you don't need to do anything of the sort.

Have a nice trip. Lot of nice places up here!

Yeah, cal CS make sure you're ok with the plan rate and just remember, it will be pro-rated. I would unlock my phone and maybe you can find a better deal up there :-D

Why do you keep saying that they he should UNLOCK his phone? There is no need for this.

Verizon has a North American plan -. They are the only carrier that has anything like it. You can add it as an plan change for you time in Canada and then change back when you get back. It is not like going to Europe where they use GSM exclusively - Canada has much the same choices for infrastructure as we have in the U.S. Yes, I agree that it is necessary when going to Europe and using a GSM network, but not in this case.

Call Verizon and ask them about it. I go back and forth every week, pretty much, and have no issues whatsoever. However well intentioned you guys are in recommending unlocking, you don't need this to work on the Telus network automatically -

Because using VZW in Canada is expensive lol much cheaper to unlock and get local sum if there is gsm
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A problem with unlocking and using another SIM card is that you do not get data (SMS, BBM, Browser)

Verizon roams off of Telus and Telus has nation wide coverage. Telus/Bell actually now have very impressive coverage and depending on where you are, you'll get better coverage than with Rogers/Fido (at least I do on my Telus phone - I always get greater coverage than my boyfriend who is on Rogers).

So long as you don't intend to use tons of data while you're here (avoid streaming music, downloading apps, etc.), you'll be just fine. And as others stated, Verizon has a great North American option that they can get you while you're here. When you add all of this up, it is far better than dealing with the hassle of unlocking your phone. Canada is not Europe and your CDMA Verizon phone will work just fine here.

The options I provided were because how expensive it is to use vow to roam on the telus networks.
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Originally Posted by jnepsa

The options I provided were because how expensive it is to use vow to roam on the telus networks.
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That's why you need your business to deduct it as an expense

Originally Posted by jlevy73

That's why you need your business to deduct it as an expense

LOL not all of us have that luxury ya know