how to avoid roaming charges telus

If you are travelling, you may be looking for how to avoid roaming charges TELUS.

TELUS offers several options that can help you prevent roaming charges both abroad and in Canada. 

Yes, you may actually get charged roaming rates even when you are in Canada. This is one reason why you must find the best way to cut down roaming rates on TELUS.

To cut roaming charges on TELUS, activate Easy Roam Pass from your TELUS account. 

Easy Roam allows you to communicate at discounted rates when on partner networks. You also have to turn off roaming when close to the US border.

Whether you will be travelling across the globe or within the continent, you must try to cut your costs. 

Keep on reading to find out ways to cut your roaming expenses.

How to Avoid Roaming Charges TELUS When Traveling Abroad

avoid roaming charges

If you will be travelling abroad, chances are that you will be roaming. This simply means that your TELUS carrier will have to convert to a partner network. 

When this happens, your data, call and text charges can be very high.

There are two options when it comes to roaming on TELUS. The options include

  • Travelling close to the US border roaming
  • Travelling outside Canada roaming

If you are travelling far south, chances are that you may come to regions where the TELUS signal is poor.

In such regions, your carrier may automatically switch to a US carrier. If this happens, you will be charged roaming fees.

There are several solutions you can apply to prevent these charges. Here are your solutions.

Solution #1 Enable Easy Roam When Traveling Abroad

enable roam when traveling abroad

The first step you should take before doing anything is to enable Easy Roam. Easy Roam is a feature that reduces your roaming fees. 

The TELUS Easy Roam feature covers over 200 destinations. In these destinations, you will be able to use data from your monthly plan. 

In other words, you will not be charged directly on your credit card for data, talk or text.

How to activate Easy Roam on TELUS

  1. Go to My TELUS account and log in with your TELUS ID
  2. Visit the Travel section
  3. Click on Easy Pass to activate or confirm if it is active 
  4. If Easy Roam is enabled, search destinations to see if your travel destination is covered.
  5. If it is not enabled, search your destination and follow the instructions to enable it.
Note: If you enable Easy Roam, you can only top up your account from the My TELUS platform and not by calling the TELUS agent.

Solution #2 Turn Off Roaming When Traveling Close to the US Border

turn off roaming when close to us border

For most TELUS users, Easy Roam is activated even without knowing. Your device should automatically activate Easy Roam when you switch to another carrier. 

While this is a good thing when travelling abroad, it is not good if you are within Canada.

Easy Roam may be affordable for international travellers but is quite expensive compared to using your monthly local plan in Canada.

If you will be travelling close to the border with the USA, you must turn off roaming to avoid turning on Easy Roam automatically. 

How to turn off data roaming on iPhone

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Select Cellular
  3. Tap on Cellular Data
  4. Turn on Cellular Data 
  5. Tap on Cellular Data Options
  6. Select Turn off Data Roaming

Turn off roaming on android

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Scroll down and choose Mobile Networks or Connections
  3. Choose Mobile Data
  4. Scroll down and Select Data Roaming
  5. Uncheck roaming to Stop using Easy Roam in Canada.

Solution #3 Manually Select TELUS Mobile Operator 

manually select on telus mobile

If you are close to the US border, and even sometimes when across the border, you may still be able to use TELUS. 

The reason why your phone switches to the US network is that it is set to automatically select the stronger network. 

If you are still within Canada, you can prevent this by selecting TELUS manually.

How to select TELUS carrier manually on android

  1. Go to Settings 
  2. Select Mobile Networks
  3. If you use a Dual SIM card phone select a SIM card
  4. Tap on Advanced
  5. Toggle Automatically Select Network to disable
  6. Then tap on Network
  7. Select TELUS
Note: Once you select TELUS, your phone will perform a search to find the TELUS signal. If there is no coverage, you will be out of service.

You may turn on automatic selection if you have run out of TELUS coverage completely.

Solution #4 Use Wifi Appropriately Instead of Data Whenever Possible

using wifi whenever possible

Whenever you travel abroad on TELUS or any other network, use Wifi where possible. This may sound like something you already know but there is a catch. 

If you will be using Wifi ensure that roaming is turned off.

While using Wifi will help cut down roaming charges, you may encounter more charges without knowing. 

Most smartphones are designed to automatically drop poor wifi and reconnect to mobile data. If this happens without your knowledge, you may undergo excess charges.

To prevent roaming while on Wifi, you must turn off data roaming.

Turn off data roaming on Wifi abroad

  1. Follow the steps in Solution #2 above to turn data roaming off
  2. If you are on Easy Roam, you will not be charged daily fees
  3. Any data or minutes included in your Easy Roam pass will not be used.

Solution #5 Turn Off SMS Messaging on iMessenger

turning off imessenger

Most people prefer switching to internet messaging apps such as WhatsApp, iMessenger and others. This helps cut the texting cost while abroad. 

If you are an iPhone user, you should be more careful when using iMessenger for texting.

The messenger app is designed to text online but can turn to SMS when there is no connection. To prevent this from happening, you should turn off SMS texting on messenger. 

In case you have poor internet, your messenger won’t text using your credit.

How to Turn SMS Messaging off:

  1. Go to your Settings
  2. Select Messages
  3. Select iMessenger
  4. Toggle Send SMS Off
Note: You have to turn SMS on when you travel back home if you want to send messages without the internet. 

Solution #6 Do Not Call Numbers That Are Not Included in Your Roaming Package

To avoid incurring extra charges, avoid calling numbers that are not included in your package. All the roaming packages provided by TELUS are clearly described. 

Whenever you choose a package, you should know what it includes. There are many numbers that are not included in Easy Roam packages. 

If you call any of these numbers, you will be charged normal roaming charges which can be quite expensive.

Numbers that are not included in roaming packages are

  • All toll-free numbers for North America including, 411, 511, and the premium subscription numbers.
  • Sanger (559-726-XXXX) 
  • Carroll (712-775-XXXX) 
  • Lake Park (712-432-XXXX) 
  • Oglala (605-562-XXXX) 
  • Redfield (605-475-XXXX)

Solution #7 Avoid Roaming on Cruise Ships and Flights

avoid roaming on cruise ships

One thing that most people do not know is that roaming does not apply to cruise ships or planes. This is where people lose plenty of their credit.

If you will be using your phone, either choose internet calls and texts or get ready for high charges.

The good news is that you can always use Wifi on your cruise ship.

Note: All data usage will be blocked when on a plane or a cruise ship. In other words, you will have to either use Wifi or stay offline.

The good news is that you will not be charged any amount either.

Summary

The above steps clearly explain how to avoid roaming charges. 

TELUS has provided so many options you may tap into to avoid getting charged high fees when abroad.

It is your responsibility to put in place control measures to prevent these expenses. If you do not institute the right measures, you may come back home to an ambiguous bill.

Read Next: Do I Want Data Roaming On Or Off? – Fool-Proof Guide