What economical cell plan do other Canadians use in USA?

[kenandterry]

Roaming charges for our cell phones are obscene for Canadians in the United States.

Buying a disposable cell phone in the States means people need to know a different number to call you. It's all my mother can do to remember the number we have today without telling her to call us at this number between this date and that date.

We only need talk and text, no data.

What carrier and package are other Canadians using while being Snowbirds? And what prices?

Thanks

[WFD]

We had a seperate US cell phone for the last 3 years, a prepaid plan with AT&T. Like you we didn't need a data plan, so we would buy a $100 prepaid card that had an expiry date of 1 year down the road. With their prepaid we chose the $2 a day option, which meant we had a $2 charge against our $100 credit, but only for the days you use it. That $2 gave you unlimited texts for that day as well as unlimited calls within USA. Now we are not snowbirds but we live within 50 miles of the border so we spend alot of time in the US, both with our trailer in summer as well as occasional trips down in winter for a few days.
In our case it was no longer worth maintaining that US plan since our Rogers plan in Canada came out with a "Roam like Home feature" that charges $5 a day whenever we use our phone in the US, and we can use it just like we would at home. No roaming charges, just the $5 a day to a maximum of $50 per billing cycle. Now I see that Bell offers that same feature, as well as Fido and others as well.
In your case as a snowbird, a prepaid plan that you pick up once you are down there may prove to be a good option.
Rogers also has an international plan that you pay more for monthly but can use it as much as you like in the US.

[gordonsick]

We unlock our phones and get a monthly T-Mobile subscription. Also get one for our iPads.

A nice feature of T-Mobile is that it works when we return to Canada. Normally, we don't have a cell subscription for our iPads, but we'll buy a month on the T-Mobile SIM for a reasonable price when we want to roam in Canada.

–Gordon

[phln]

Most cell carriers are doing cheap USA plans to tag onto your current. I believe my plan with Rodgers has a fairly good USA option. Just call the 1-800 number for your carrier and discuss with them. They will try to keep your business down south too.