What do other frequent travellers do for cell phone/plans?
Currently have a BB DTEK50 about 4.5 years old which I bought from Blackberry as I had a friend working there at the time. Anyways the battery is starting to go, 8 hours of light use is doing very good, closer to 6 hours is average even with battery saver on.
So I need to buy a new phone. I'm reminded of the same headaches that I encountered years ago, and how truly backwards the system is here. Walmart said they had all of *two* phones they could sell me, Superstore only had flip style phones, and Best buy only had 2 google pixle phones to buy normally. Everyone wants to lock me into a 2 year plan, and "finance" an overpriced phone compared to online vendors.
While obviously less now, I've travelled and moved around a lot in the past, would like to again in the future and don't want to be constrained by silly cell phone rules. Accordingly buying a phone, and going with public mobile has given me the most freedom in that regard. I just didn't think it would be this bloody difficult to buy a new phone when the time came.
Basically I'm just looking for a phone/plan that say lets me up and leave on a days notice, suspend service, fly to Australia or Cape Town, stay there for two months, pop a sim card in, and not get dicked around with silly fees or compatibility/locking issues. What do other frequent travellers do? Buy a phone from eBay or Amazon? A lot of the ones I've seen there say "US warranty" so would that be an issue here? A lot are also refurbished, so that raises more questions. I genuinely don't understand why Canada is one of the few places in the world where it's so hard to buy a phone normally. It's like not being able to buy a car unless you also commit to buying 10 years worth of gas from Esso.
So I need to buy a new phone. I'm reminded of the same headaches that I encountered years ago, and how truly backwards the system is here. Walmart said they had all of *two* phones they could sell me, Superstore only had flip style phones, and Best buy only had 2 google pixle phones to buy normally. Everyone wants to lock me into a 2 year plan, and "finance" an overpriced phone compared to online vendors.
While obviously less now, I've travelled and moved around a lot in the past, would like to again in the future and don't want to be constrained by silly cell phone rules. Accordingly buying a phone, and going with public mobile has given me the most freedom in that regard. I just didn't think it would be this bloody difficult to buy a new phone when the time came.
Basically I'm just looking for a phone/plan that say lets me up and leave on a days notice, suspend service, fly to Australia or Cape Town, stay there for two months, pop a sim card in, and not get dicked around with silly fees or compatibility/locking issues. What do other frequent travellers do? Buy a phone from eBay or Amazon? A lot of the ones I've seen there say "US warranty" so would that be an issue here? A lot are also refurbished, so that raises more questions. I genuinely don't understand why Canada is one of the few places in the world where it's so hard to buy a phone normally. It's like not being able to buy a car unless you also commit to buying 10 years worth of gas from Esso.