Best option for travelling to Canada?

[Malkav]

also dont foget the little mvno http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/mobility/2303.aspx

the canuk equiv of BP or esso, uhh they don't do sim only kits but for a cheap nokia for $75.-- thats not bad! anyhow have fun in canadaland and remember in may its also moose shoving season eh!

[misconduct]

Originally Posted by Malkav

also dont foget the little mvno http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/mobility/2303.aspx

the canuk equiv of BP or esso, uhh they don't do sim only kits but for a cheap nokia for $75.-- thats not bad! anyhow have fun in canadaland and remember in may its also moose shoving season eh!

Any major convenience store like 7-Eleven or Macs should have pre-paid packages with phone. Just be careful which service you buy since a lot of them will be with on non-GSM providers and you'll likely be stuck with a phone that you can't use when you go home vs purchasing a GSM phone that you can have unlocked. Your best bet really is to have your phone unlocked before you come and to try to purchase a Rogers or Fido card on Ebay before you leave. While you can buy the sim card at any Rogers or Fido dealer in Canada, the ones on Ebay often give you bonus airtime. To get the free airtime from a dealer, you need to purchase a phone before they give it to you. Just make sure you're dealing with a good seller on Ebay and that you give it at least two to three weeks for shipping.

If you are looking to buy a new GSM phone that you can have unlocked, I know a few independent Fido dealers will unlock it for you but you lose any warranty protection the moment they unlock it. The last Fido dealer I purchased the phone from told me to find a little techie shop to unlock it for me because if they did it for me, the warranty was void but if I had someone else do it, then I still had full protection.

[Malkav]

well petro canada is a gsm service!

[misconduct]

Originally Posted by Malkav

well petro canada is a gsm service!

Yup but if someone is staying in an area where there is no Petro Canada, there are other plenty of other options out there. GSM phone kits can be purchased at a whole variety of Fido and Rogers retailers including the convenience stores 7-Eleven and Macs, major drug stores like London Drugs, electronics stores like Future Shop and Best Buy, or in plenty of places in shopping centres. Just go to the Fido and Rogers website and do a dealer locator search.

A lot of these places will sell prepaid kits by Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, Solo Mobile, President's Choice, or some places even have their own house brands. It's just a matter of looking for Fido or Rogers if you want the GSM service.

It's also a matter of whether people want to actually purchase a brand new phone here or pay the charge to get it unlocked at home and just buy a SIM card that has airtime included with it on Ebay. Buying it on Ebay gives you the luxury of knowing what your phone number is before you leave. I travel to Europe at least twice a year and to the US at least twice a year and it's silly for me to buy a new phone in each country I'm in. The only time that I did buy a phone while travelling was when I bought a new phone in Hong Kong that it took over a year for the technology to reach North America.

Getting your phone unlocked for a minimal fee at home is still cheaper than paying $75 to $150 plus tax for a Fido or Rogers pay as you go package with phones that the company is trying to phase out. I had my new Fido Sony Ericsson unlocked in London for 5 quid (it costs $40 to get it done in my Canadian city). Plus buying a new phone in Canada isn't worth it if you're looking for the latest models... Canada is at least 6 months behind Europe for phone models and phones are just cheaper in Europe vs North America. You can buy a cheapo phone and sim card in Canada but you'll still have to get it unlocked if you want to use it at home and it'll be an old model that Fido and Rogers are trying to phase out.