You can use your Eastlink phone number all over the world, but travelling outside of Canada will result in additional costs if you use your Eastlink plan for data, calls, or texts.
Depending on how long you’ll be travelling, you can choose from an easyTravel plan (where you pay a daily rate to use your current phone plan from home) or a Travel Pack (where you’re charged a flat rate for a specific number of days).
The Eastlink easyTravel plan is designed to make it easy to travel internationally. You simply pay a flat daily rate (which will depend on your destination) and then you’re allowed to use your regular phone plan.
According to Eastlink, the easyTravel plan is only recommended if you’re “travelling for a short period of time or need to only use your phone occasionally,” since it’s typically $13-$16 per day.
This daily rate is automatically triggered if you’re in another country and you make a call, answer a call, use mobile data, activate call forwarding, send a text, send a call to voicemail, or receive a photo/video message.
An Eastlink Travel Pack is when you choose a destination and a length of time (7 days, 30 days), and then you get a specific amount of calling minutes, texts, and mobile data to use while you travel.
If you’re choosing an Eastlink Travel Pack, carefully read the details to see what’s included. Some Travel Packs do not include any data, and others include only a tiny amount (50 MB or 100 MB).
If you go over what’s included in your Eastlink Travel Pack, the additional usage rates can be very expensive.
If you decide not to use an Eastlink Travel Pack or Eastlink easyTravel plan, Eastlink will charge you pay-per-use rates for calls, texts, and mobile data usage when you’re outside of Canada.
Eastlink posts the most up-to-date rates on their website, but it’s typically between $1.45 and $3.50 per minute for phone calls, and between $0.50 and $0.75 per text. (iMessages won’t count because we show you how to make them work over Wi-Fi or data.)
Eastlink’s roaming rates between $5 and $10 per MB of data. (For reference, there are 1,024 MB of data in a 1 GB prepaid data package from aloSIM.)
If you’d prefer to temporarily disable your Eastlink SIM card, there are plenty of ways to talk and text while you’re travelling internationally.
Over either Wi-Fi or your eSIM data, iPhone users can rely on iMessage and FaceTime. There are also social media apps with messaging and calling, like Messenger and WhatsApp.
Anyone can get a temporary phone number from Hushed for calling and texting over the internet on a private number.
1. Disable Data Roaming on your Eastlink SIM card, so it can’t use data (and you won’t be charged roaming fees).
2. Make sure you’re not enrolled in an Eastlink Travel Pack or Eastlink easyTravel plan.
3. Download an eSIM (digital SIM card) for your destination, and use prepaid data for aloSIM. It starts at $4.50/week for most destinations.
4. Call and text sparingly while you’re on vacation, knowing that Eastlink will charge you their pay-per-use rates for each call and text.
1. Make sure you have a device that supports eSIM
2. Download the free aloSIM app
3. Buy and install an eSIM (digital SIM)
4. Make sure you are NOT already enrolled in a travel plan
5. Activate your prepaid data package
During activation, we’ll show you how to set your device to keep your phone number active, while preventing roaming on your Eastlink plan. Then you’ll only pay Eastlink for individual calls and texts, not data!
aloSIM has data package for 175+ countries
Questions about using eSIM for international data?
Contact aloSIM Support (available 24/7)