On 2023-04-05 21:36, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> [Late response. I've just caught up with most of the ~3000 articles:]

:-D

>
> Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> On 2023-03-14 18:27, sms wrote:
> [...]
>
>>> While it's less expensive to buy a foreign SIM card when you arrive in
>>> the country or region you're visiting, you can pay a little more and buy
>>> a SIM card in advance so you have service when you land, i.e.
>>> <https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RXYH2NW> which gives you 20GB for $41.99,
>>> about $2.10/GB. The eSIM data-only plans which have become popular don't
>>> give you a local phone number which can be a real annoyance. However an
>>> eSIM data plan can tide you over with Internet access, until you can buy
>>> a SIM card with a local phone number.
>>
>> What SIM would you buy when travelling from Europe to Canada?
>>
>> For example, in the past I bought this one from T-Mobile:
>>
>> https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B01MG8QHIH/
>>
>> 27? for 15 days. Now I consider https://www.amazon.es/dp/B071PC5F63,
>> which is 42? for a month. Caveat: unlimited in the USA, 5GB in Canada.
>>
>>
>> I might instead risk buying a SIM right at the Canadian airport on arrival.
>
> I have no recommendation for Canada, but AFAIK you travel somewhat
> regularly to Canada, so I'll describe what I do in a similar situation.
>
> We 'regularly' [1] travel to Australia and I use a pre-paid SIM, which
> has 1) a long (non-)expiry period, 2) no monthly cost/charge and 3)
> call/text/data packs which can be bought just before or/and during our
> visits.
>
> Due to the long (non-)expiry period - in our case 1 year - we can keep
> the same SIM and don't have to buy a new one for/on every trip. I.e. we
> don't have the hassle of trying to buy a SIM before the trip (i.e. from
> our home country (NL)) or when we arrive in Australia. And we get to
> keep the same number, which is handy for folks at home (in our case
> mainly the kids). We have our Australian SIM/number for nearly 14 years!

That's certainly interesting, but my last trip was on 2018.

> No monthly cost/charge is important, because you don't want to spend
> (too much) money on a SIM when it's not used. In our case there was
> effectively no cost (because the credit of the needed yearly recharge
> could be used during our visit(s)). Other schemes often require you to
> call/text/use_data once every 6 or 3 months or so. For example, a
> visitor using the kind of Dutch/NL SIM which I have, could send an
> 'international' SMS message every 6 months to keep the SIM/number alive.
> Such a message would cost 60 Euro cents.
>
> Having some kind of relatively inexpensive call/text/data 'packs' is
> also important, because the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) rates for these kind of
> pre-paid SIMs are often rather high. So just before we go or when we
> arrive (and during our stay), I buy one or more 'packs' to give us the
> amount of call minutes or/and 'texts' (SMS) or/and data we need. I can
> buy the 'packs' by using the provider's app.
>
> So if you like this kind of approach, maybe you could look for similar
> pre-paid plans from Canadian providers.
>
> Hope this helps.

Well, I already bought a prepaid SIM via Amazon:

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B071PC5F63

Trick: for finding amazon pages in other countries, just paste the
string "B071PC5F63" in the search box. Thus:

<https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071PC5F63>

Trick 2: amazon links can be trimmed to be like the above, and thus
remove tracking information when posting here

unlimited calls and texts, unlimited data in the USA, 5G in Canada, for
30 days. I will also have a look at the Montreal airport to see what
they have got, for another time.

> BTW, my Dutch/NL pre-paid SIM offers similar functionality to my
> Australian pre-paid SIM.
>
> BTW2, I just found out that I can use my Australian SIM during my US
> visit(s) to prevent the outrageous rates my Dutch/NL SIM has while
> roaming outside the EU. So that's a Dutchie using an Australian SIM in
> the US! :-)

:-DD

> [1] About once a year, but of course not during the pandemic. Returned
> from the last trip about a month ago.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
[...]

> Well, I already bought a prepaid SIM via Amazon:
>
> https://www.amazon.es/dp/B071PC5F63
>
> Trick: for finding amazon pages in other countries, just paste the
> string "B071PC5F63" in the search box. Thus:
>
> <https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071PC5F63>
>
> Trick 2: amazon links can be trimmed to be like the above, and thus
> remove tracking information when posting here
>
> unlimited calls and texts, unlimited data in the USA, 5G in Canada, for
> 30 days. I will also have a look at the Montreal airport to see what
> they have got, for another time.

Looks quite reasonable, pricewise.

Do you get a US number or a Canadian one? Or perhaps you do not need
to call / be called (via normal calls, i.e. not WhatsApp, VOIP, etc.)?

Can it be extended in time or is 30 days enough for you?

On 2023-04-06 21:53, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> [...]
>
>> Well, I already bought a prepaid SIM via Amazon:
>>
>> https://www.amazon.es/dp/B071PC5F63
>>
>> Trick: for finding amazon pages in other countries, just paste the
>> string "B071PC5F63" in the search box. Thus:
>>
>> <https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071PC5F63>
>>
>> Trick 2: amazon links can be trimmed to be like the above, and thus
>> remove tracking information when posting here
>>
>> unlimited calls and texts, unlimited data in the USA, 5G in Canada, for
>> 30 days. I will also have a look at the Montreal airport to see what
>> they have got, for another time.
>
> Looks quite reasonable, pricewise.
>
> Do you get a US number or a Canadian one? Or perhaps you do not need
> to call / be called (via normal calls, i.e. not WhatsApp, VOIP, etc.)?

Last time I got an USA number. A "+1 727 ...". Pinellas County, Florida,
and the western third of Pasco County.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_727

I did not need to make phone calls, but it was a certain possibility, so
I gave my "local" number to my relatives there. I think for some people
the call would be covered by their plans. Certainly SMS.

Last time I did not learn the number till I landed and inserted the
card. The instructions for this one say I can register days in advance
at some web page, but I have not read yet the detailed instructions
which will say at what instant to insert the card.

>
> Can it be extended in time or is 30 days enough for you?

I did so with the previous incumbent, no problem.

I had some problem with that one, I think I could not send SMS or
something. Support solved it by email, maybe they phoned me. Some
configuration item that wasn't right in my phone. Relatively easy for
me, not so for some people.

The first/worst hurdle was that the pin (metal pin) that opens the tiny
try for the card was not long enough. I had brought the wrong one, from
another, older, phone. I went shopping for clips in the airport, and the
clerk said I was not the only one. I seem to recall he/she lent me a
paper clip

I got a few interesting SMSs, people that obviously thought I was
somebody else that had that number previously. To some I replied that I
was somebody else, and they stopped. Also got some spam calls.
Entertaining :-D

--
Cheers, Carlos.