Is there an alternative to O2 travel when visiting Canada

[PeterSa]

I'll be in Canada for 16 days next month and using my phone for calls and texts most days whilst out and about without access to wifi. I have the O2 travel bolt-on but this is going to cost 16 x £6 = £96 which seems a lot.  Is there a cheaper alternative such as a temporary upgrade to a tariff with a more generous built-in allowance for use in Canada?

[Bambino]

@PeterSa If your calls and texts will be mainly back to the UK there is no cheaper option. If they're within Canada you might want to look into a Canadian Pay & Go sim if you're going to be there for a while. Ultimately the cheapest way is to use WhatsApp over WiFi to other WhatsApp users which is free.

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@PeterSa 

O2 Travel Inclusive will give you free use of your phone within Canada and back to the UK.

This is only available on certain tariffs and unfortunately, we can't access your account from here to check for you.

If you contact O2 directly, they can see if you are eligible.

If you message O2 on Facebook (https://o2uk.co/O2CFB) , Twitter (https://o2uk.co/O2CTW) or Instagram (https://o2uk.co/O2CIG) , they should be able to help you with this or call them on 202 from your phone.

https://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel-inclusive-zone

[garetc]

Canadian data plans are quite expensive, it's about $50-$60 for 8GB of data and Canada-wide calls which is roughly about £35 on Rogers or Bell. Alternatively you can get an eSIM from a few 'international' or traveller providers like Truphone or eSIM.net but I don't think they'll include calls, it'd just be data.

You should be able to pick up a SIM in any of the main airports.

[PeterSa]

Thanks for the advice - I'll do that.