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Help Traveling (Suggestions)

GasserBGB1

GasserBGB1

Member
I'm going to be going to Canada for the next week or so. I need some suggestions. I'm bringing my iPod for music purposes so I don't burn my X up in the car. Any good app suggestions though? And I mean any. I'm talking best GPS turn by turn direction apps all the way to games I can play so I don't want to blow my brains out in the car. Also any movie suggestions are good too (like if anyone can score me an R5 of Inception ;) )
 
My suggestion is to be careful. Verizon charges $0.002 per Kb ($2.05 Mb) for data roaming in Canada. Data adds up fast! Look at your monthly usage and divide it by 4.3 for a weekly average, now multiply that by $0.002 to see how much more your bill will be that month! Yea! You can turn off Data Roaming while in Canada (Settings / Data manager / Data Delivery / uncheck Data Roaming)


From Verizon website:
Verizon Wireless customers can use their PC Cards, ExpressCards, USB Modems, BlackBerry devices, and Smartphones to browse the Internet and access email and corporate intranets while roaming in Canada and Mexico and other destinations. Customers on a Nationwide plan will also receive the benefits of Wireless Data Roaming in Canada and Mexico and other destinations.

  • In the Canadian Broadband and Canadian Enhanced Services Rate and Coverage Areas, usage will be charged at a rate of $0.002 per KB or $2.05 per MB.
 
Thanks for the heads up I might not be using it then. Is there a way I can just use my apps and text (went there last year and texts were the same (Family Plan but I had to upgrade to unlimited date to get my Droid X)).
 
I'm guessing airplane mode wouldn't do me any good either? I want to use my phone but not have outrageous charges. Suggestions?
 
GasserBGB1 said:
Thanks for the heads up I might not be using it then. Is there a way I can just use my apps and text (went there last year and texts were the same (Family Plan but I had to upgrade to unlimited date to get my Droid X)).
Click to expand...

If you have data roaming turned off, you should be fine. If you open an app that uses data, it either won't work, or should warn you data is turned off. Text is separate from data, and shouldn't be an issue in Canada.

I go up there once a year (my married daughter lives in Dunnville, Ont) and I can text without incurring additional fees. She did also for about a year before she switched to a Canadian cell phone. Now she has to use a prepaid phone when she comes to the states for her texts. Guess her Canadian provider is stricter that Verizon when it comes to texting between countries.

Don't forget, you can use free WiFi anywhere you can find it! Not sure is Tim Horton's has free WiFi. They should cause they are everywhere! McDonalds does here in the states, not sure about their stores in Canada.
If you're staying in a hotel, they should. If you are staying with friends, if they do, your golden. If they don't, take your wireless router and hook them up while you are there. Just don't leave it in Canada!
 
I just checked Verizon's website, and they state texts are $0.20 each from Canada to the US, but I have NEVER incurred any text fees from Canada. You might send one or two, then check the Verizon website the next day to see if you were charged. They may have changed there policy.

Calling from Canada to the US, or anywhere, you WILL incur $0.49 per minute int'l roaming fee. So watch your voice calls too!

Of course, if you just HAVE to TEXT, and HAVE to CALL, you can always buy the cheapest prepaid Canadian phone you can find and go to town. There's a Walmart just a few minutes past Peace Bridge if you're driving.
 
Thanks a lot for your help on the roaming data. Yes last year I didn't get charged for texts but I will definitely turn off my data and use wi-fi whenever I can. Your post is greatly appreciated.
 
Thought I would post in this thread instead of starting a new one.

I'm traveling to Niagara Falls (Ontario) in a few days. I'm going to bring my phone, but will make sure data roaming is off. I'm driving to the falls from BUF airport. I was going to use my phone's GPS to navigate. Is that a bad idea, or can I use it up until it basically stops working, or how will that work? And I assume when I am in Canada, I cannot use the GPS there if data roaming is off right?

And to recap - I can leave the phone on and wifi on and send and receive texts, but turn data roaming off and I shouldn't incur any crazy charges except any voice calls I make?

Thanks
 
I'm in the same boat. I'm heading to Aruba tomorrow. So it looks like I will be turning off Data, putting it in Airplane mode and only using WiFi!
 
verdegallardo said:
Thought I would post in this thread instead of starting a new one.

I'm traveling to Niagara Falls (Ontario) in a few days. I'm going to bring my phone, but will make sure data roaming is off. I'm driving to the falls from BUF airport. I was going to use my phone's GPS to navigate. Is that a bad idea, or can I use it up until it basically stops working, or how will that work? And I assume when I am in Canada, I cannot use the GPS there if data roaming is off right?

And to recap - I can leave the phone on and wifi on and send and receive texts, but turn data roaming off and I shouldn't incur any crazy charges except any voice calls I make?

Thanks
Click to expand...

You can use the GPS, however you won't have google maps/nav to guide you because they require data to download maps as you go. The only other option is to purchase navigation apps like "Copilot" or "Telenav" with offline maps that you can store on SD card.

One thing to keep in mind, without data access, you won't be able to use aGPS. SO it might take a lot longer for your phone to get a lock on satellites.
 
Without Data serice, maps doesn't work. Google is considering a maps to sd card solution from what I see but haven't yet. (garmin phones do this today and they run android)

The bits eariler about data roaming, might try checking verizion about details on your plan. I think you can canada data roaming for a single monthly fee (like 10 dollars) instead of paying by the use. NOTE:think don't know, I haven't tried but you can with AT&T.

Otherwise voice and text are things to ask about too, plans change over all the time.
 
@verde...i live in buffalo, don't worry, you CAN'T get lost going to niagara falls. its REALLY hard to miss. there are signs everywhere and if you want i can give you directions to where you are going from the airport. if you stay in the US until you get to the falls it'll take 20 minutes to get there...MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR PASSPORT...otherwise you won't be able to cross the border.

as for using your phone in canada...it's tricky cause sometimes you pick up buffalo cell towers and sometime you don't...last summer i got hit with 50 dollars in data fees just from my phone automatically updating location data that I had no control over turning off unless my phone was in airplane mode. trust me your phone accesses data all the time and you just don't know it until you get hit with roaming fees. these fees adding up fast is the understatement of the year...i would def recommend adding the canadian data to your plan for the next month even if you are only there for a few days...it cost like 15 bucks and then you can just cancel it when you get back...that 15-20 is way better than tacking on an extra 100, plus data is spotty if you are relying on roaming data...just doesnt work that well unless you have the plan...any questions hit me up...have safe trips!
 
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