Help needed for Fido Long Distance plans

[TRDood]

I am going to Ottawa for a 4 month co-op, so I am planning to call fido and ask for a long distance add-on.

they have 2 add-ons but they are pretty confusing...

Unlimited Canadian Long distance
Unlimited long-distance calling from anywhere in Canada on the Fido network to anywhere in Canada
$20 /month

Fido to Fido Anywhere in Canada
Unlimited local and long-distance calling and text messaging from anywhere in Canada on the Fido network to Fido numbers anywhere in Canada. $10 /month

what i want is unlimited talk AND text messaging anywhere in Canada.
i have been with fido for at least 8 years, and renewed my contract last jan for an iphone instead of asking for a retention plan.

right now i am paying ~$40 for

fido-fido unlimited
evenings at 7pm and weekend unlimited
value pack (caller id, voice mail, who's calling)

after seeing some of your plans in the retention thread, i know i am over paying... lol
so how should i approach them in asking about their long distance plans?

thanks

[terkan]

it depends on how much you plan on calling when u go to ottawa.. i suggest if you don't care about your current phone number. then go to ottawa and switch to an ottawa area code number (free of charge) that way when you are calling ppl in ottawa you don't have to pay roaming. and when you are calling back to vancouver, you are only charged long distant instead of long distant + roaming. here's how fido plans works

1) if you are on a non city fido plan, and doesn't plan on changing ur phone number. making local call in ottawa while you are in ottawa counts as local call, but receiving a call while you are in ottawa will cost you roaming. Even if you were to have the fido to fido long d or the canadian long d option. you just won't be charged Long D but you'll still be charged for roaming.

2) switch to an Ottawa area code number and get the fido to fido option (assuming most ur family/friends are on fido) for $12bux. then you keep ur existing plan and don't have to worry about paying roaming for any long distant charges. as long as you are in ottawa, anyone calling you will just use up ur plans minute and you don't have to worry about any roaming/long d charges. same thing when you call anyone else in canada that's using fido as long as you are within ottawa's local area.

i'd say go for option 2 and just switch to another 604 number when you come back. one thing i'd make sure though is ur fido to fido unlimited that you already have. MAYBE it is the same one they offer now which includes calling anyone fido within canada. in that case all u need is to change ur phone number. lol ur plan don't have any daytime minutes? D:

[TRDood]

thanks terkan!

i guess i will switch to #2 because i will just get raped for #1 for roaming

however, if i go for #2, my gf will need to add long distance fido to fido option for $10 because she will be calling my ontario number right? (i thought it was $10, you said $12?)

also, my family will have to add a telus long distance plan as well, correct?

i do have daytime minutes, i think it's 100 mins, i am not sure.

essentially what i want to do is

1. talk and text my gf who is in vancouver
2. talk to my family (telus home phone)
3. talk and text with local ontario people

btw, is the switch instant? my friend who is on telus blackberry asked to switch her number, and it was instant. they had to reverse the whole thing because she wanted it for 2 weeks later.. haha

[bcrdukes]

Hold your horses. If you switch to an Ottawa number, you risk losing your plan. Not all plans are valid/applicable in different cities. Check to make sure.

[misteranswer]

You're only charged roaming if you answer a call.

Switching numbers doesn't take long.

Unless you're going to talk a lot, I say forget long distance plans. Phone cards are a much cheaper method. Or better yet, use Skype.

[dkvby]

ask retention for 1000 Canadian long d mins for $10 or unlimited for $20, and ask for $10 credits for a year.

[terkan]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Hold your horses. If you switch to an Ottawa number, you risk losing your plan. Not all plans are valid/applicable in different cities. Check to make sure.

the only time the plans are may not be valid is if you are on a city fido plan. other than that he's good to go switching number. but ya if you been with fido for 1yr+ preferably 1.5-2yr+ then try talking to retention center. they might be able to give you free Can LD mins, in that case i guess it's a little better than fido 2 fido. coz u can call anyone. btw if you have fido dollars that you don't use. you can use that towards paying for options such as fido to fido canadian long d caller id etc. instead of buying one of their shitty ass phones

[TRDood]

i have been with fido for almost 10 years. hmmm.

i am going to call and see what they say. thanks!
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[TRDood]

just talked to them, they won't budge in terms of the prices. wtf.

i am not going to switch numbers, because he said that receiving calls are free and included in the unlimited long D plan as well.

so what i did is keep my existing 604 number,
added $15 for 2500sms, 1000mms + value pack (replaced my $10 value pack)
added $20 for unlimited long D across canada

i suck at asking for discounts =(

[dkvby]

only retention can give out discount. just tell them cancelling service cuz u are moving to ontario and they will transfer u to retention.