Hey guys.....after a little help please...!!

I've been looking through pay as you go sim cards but theres so many to choose from! From what I can see the budget companies are 7/11, Fido and Koodo.

Could you tell me do you get charged extra for texting the UK? If so would it be best to get a internet plan and use whatsapp? I can see the option to add on international calling but its not clear about texting!

Any help would be appreciated

I use 7/11 pay as you go.

Then lots of places offer free wireless. Viber is better, it's like whatsapp on steroids and has voice as well plus you can send pics and doodles. You both need a strong wireless signal to get the voice toi work really well. download wifianalyser to find where your wireless signal is strongest.

yes, cell phones plans are shockingly expensive. It certainly changed cell phone my behavour which was a good thing

Thanks for your advice. I have Viber, just need to get all family and friends to download the app.

So how much are you charged for a text back to the UK on 7/11 sim??

+1 for Viber. OH and I use it all the time between UK and Ab

I'm on Koodo and get unlimited worldwide texting (SMS & MMS) - I think it's $5 a month.

I also prefer viber or there is also Skype which does text, voice & Video.

No idea as I didn't/don't need overseas texts that I need to pay for. The only family without smarts phones were my parents. I bought them a Chinese knock off of a note2 off amazon for £100 and set up viber/Skype/whatsapp with wireless for them.

job done

I use koodo and free texts in and outgoing to UK. I don't pay any extra for the service either

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Looks like Koodo is the way forward! I don't think our parents would have a smartphone!!

Do you mind if I ask you how much you pay every month? Also are you on a monthly plan or pay as you go??

Whatsapp for the win when it comes to sending messages & picture messages!

I'm on Koodo, love them.

I'm just on pay as you go right now. $15/month for unlimited texting, international SMS and MMS.

I then paid one-off fees of $25 for 500 minutes, and $30 for 1GB data. They don't expire as long as your account is active, you just run down the balance. Obviously that will then last as long as it takes you to use it!

Voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding all included in the $15/month fee as well.

I'll probably switch to a monthly plan at some point, I'm hoping they'll have some deals coming up to Christmas or in the New Year. https://shop.koodomobile.com/plans/plans/index.html (When my brother signe up in the summer, they had a promotion on for double data and double minutes on each of those plans, so he's on the $50/month plan but with 1000 minutes and 1GB of data, which is more than enough for him for the month!)