Super-cheap cell phone in Montreal?

July 20, 2010 10:48 PM

Super-cheap pre-paid cell phone in Montreal, Canada?

I'm visiting Montreal for a few days and need a super cheap pre-paid cell phone. I'll probably spend less than 60 mins talking on it, and send a few texts.

I've checked several sites, but no one sells a $10 or $20 phone like Virgin Mobile does in the states. There are some phone rental outlets, but they're a little pricey.

My U.S. Virgin Mobile pre-paid phone won't work in Canada. Any ideas? Thanks.

posted by 4midori to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I'm in hamilton here and the cheapest I could find was bell pay as you go. They charge me, I think, 30 cents a minute for the first 2 minutes of each phone call and only 5 cents thereafter. They had a cheap phone for $60 I think but that's all. The cheapest phone I found was I think one from seven eleven when they had a promotion on with a free phone when you bought a $100 phone card. The next cheapest would probably be the one for I think it was $40 from PC mobile.

BTW fido was the runner up in the price category with the $0.2 per minute flat rate plan.

I wasn't shopping for text though so YMMV.

To compare between different plans I came up with the idea of checking my calls history and then seeing what I would have paid in the last 2 months for my current cell phone usage pattern, and bell turned out to be cheaper, even though I only use about an hour a month.
posted by Nish ton at 11:36 PM on July 20, 2010

Check cellphones.ca to see what plans are cheapest in your area.
posted by thatdawnperson at 5:42 AM on July 21, 2010

I live in Canada six months out of every year, and this has been one of my ongoing frustrations for the past ten years ... cell phone service in Canada (while improving) is substantially more expensive with less features than in the U.S. Especially cheap pre-paid options.

I would recommend using a computer and Skype ($3 a month to call mobile phones and landlines), or look on freecycle or Craig's list for a used pre-paid phone -- but be aware that service start-up if it has lapsed will be $20 or more. My experience is not in Quebec, though, so YMMV.
posted by batikrose at 6:54 AM on July 21, 2010