Looking for a phone

In My Humble Opinion
1

Until today, I have had a phone that has the same cost to/from anywhere in North America, $15/month plus tax for 50 minutes a month. I actually used it 3 times yesterday. Today it doesn’t work. When I called the company, they claimed that they ended service from Canada a year ago and that I had been informed at the time. Both statements are lies.

Anyway, I am now in the market for new phones (one for my wife). Does anyone know of a mobile phone that offers anything like that? If not, is there any recommendation. My needs are simple; just a phone to call home in Canada or to call my kids when I am visiting them in the US and, very very occasionally, some other call. I have never texted and I am not sure I want to start now. I guess a camera would be convenient too.

2

Not denying anything you said, just observing. Sounds about right for the notice I got back in the early fall warning me that I would have to get a new phone the end of January or sooner because the CDMA network was being decommissioned. Maybe you tossed it because it looked like junk mail? As to ending service a year ago I am guessing, but maybe that’s when they stopped letting new customers get CDMA service.

3

This article from Huffington Post could be a good starting point. TracFone is supposed to be pretty good.

4

Consumer Cellular offers a 250 min talk plan for $15 a month. They sell 4G flip phones if that’s what you prefer.

My mom updated her flip phone and got that plan.

I updated my flip phone with a smart phone. I got the same talk plan and got 2GB data plan. It’s around $34 a month.

I bought my unlocked Moto X pure smartphone from Best Buy and Consumer Cellular sent me a sim card.

5

I believe Hari is in Canada, so U.S. cellphone plans are unlikely to apply to him. Also, most cut-rate plans are domestic-only. International calling is usually an additional fee over and above your domestic plan.

6

No help to offer on trans-North American plans. My wife and I are on RingPlus.net and pay $25 a month for unlimited calling and 8 gigs of 4G data a month. I used to use Tracfone, but we both need data.

7

OK, let’s think about this. Where was the last place you remember seeing the phone?

8

Last I looked, tracphone didn’t work at all in Canada.

9

This really is a puzzler - almost none of the carriers have any information on their sites about service across the border.

10

My guess is that there are few people who need to use a cell phone in the US and in Canada and want a low-cost option. So would the cheapest, simplest option be just to get two low-cost prepaid phones, one in each country?

11

You can get the rock-bottom Tracfone plan for $80 a year, by buying the 90-day/$20 renewals. No idea if it is restricted on CDN>USA calls.

I use my $50 (one time) tablet to Google-phone, free, from anywhere in the world with Wi-fi, to any North American number. But nobody can call me, its one way only.

12

As Hari Seldon pointed out, TracFone doesn’t work in Canada. They don’t offer roaming outside of the U.S.

13

You could get a cheap Android phone with a very limited service from a company like Tello for 18 a month, and use Google Voice for .01 per minute calls to Canada.

14

Watching a show about products seen at the Consumer Electronics Show, they had a SIM that would work with any unlocked GSM phone called ChatSIM. It costs $15 a year for unlimited texting, and then you buy packs of credits for calling.