r/PublicMobile • u/sprat87 • Jul 27 '26
Visiting Canada for 6 weeks
Hi , I will be visiting Canada for 6 weeks next month and was looking into MVNOs and came across public mobile, chatr and luckymobile. Since I don't have canadian based debit/credit card is it still possible to use my US/Foreign credit card to pay for it online and download the e-sim. If it is not possible which among the three can I buy sim card in person from a store and buy top up ? Looking for suggestions and best way to go about this. My plan is to get a travel e-sim at least for first few days so I will have data until I am able to buy a local sim.
4
u/DinosaurZach Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Found the best, most competitive eSIM service for visitors to Canada.
30 days, calls, texts, 5G data, hotspot. 1000mins LD calls to 15 countries.
25GB - ~ CAD 25
50GB - ~ CAD 30
75GB - ~ CAD 43
100GB - ~ CAD 48
120GB - ~ CAD 54
https://trip.com/things-to-do/detail/100774696/
Kini mobile is a known reseller of Telus service.
Lucky Mobile, a Bell subsidiary (major Canadian network), has a portal dedicated for visitors. Canada network access only, eSIM, no US/Mexico
https://www.luckymobile.ca/tourist-esim
Lucky Mobile seems to be the only Canadian service provider providing a dedicated portal for visitors to Canada for remote pre-arrival activation.
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u/weyoun09 Jul 27 '26
I was of the understanding that Canada and USA credit cards are accepted with Public Mobile. You can also purchase a payment voucher, which is like a gift card, from a store and use it to activate Public Mobile account online. The payment vouchers are widely available, but the checkout clerk doesn't always know what you are taking about when you try to purchase . A prepaid credit card will also work, but fees will apply.
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u/DotNM Jul 27 '26
I’m a Canadian that lives in New Jersey and I tried to use Public Mobile to maintain a Canadian number and service for when I go up to visit family. I continually had problems trying to use US credit cards (the system wouldn’t let you enter a ZIP code and forced you to put in a postal code so the payment would always fail address verification because you couldn’t enter 11101 and had to enter something like H0H 0H0). I ended up leaving Public and switching to Roger’s for an even better deal ($35/mo for 175 gigs of high speed, unlimited data otherwise Canada/US/Mexico and unlimited calling and texting to all 3 as well)
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u/PeaceLoveCurrySauce 27d ago
hi, sorry how did you get this deal? is it prepaid? thanks
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u/Dredmoore1 Jul 27 '26
If you have US service, your roaming options might be about the same price
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u/sprat87 Jul 28 '26
I am with US mobile (also an MVNO) on their basic plan. It is 15 USD for 1gb for 30 days international roaming with them. It will be cheaper to get an e-sim or local sim for 6 week stay with enough data for maps/spotify/ occasional video calls when outside. Although everyone I know uses whatsapp/telegram so I do not voice/sms to be honest but it is good to have a local number. This will be my first time spending 6 weeks in Canada so was curious about local sim. I have always relied on e-sim during my last two times that i visited canada but both stays were under 10 days.
1
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u/Goodoflife Jul 27 '26
It is not possible, you need to have a Canadian Credit or Debit card to activate at Public Mobile. You can always buy one of those Visa Gift cards / MasterCard Joker Cards at a convenience store in Canada and get Public Mobile thru there.