Tag: Virgin Plus

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Bell, Virgin Plus will increase roaming rate by $1/day on March 9

Montreal-based carrier Bell will increase the cost of its Roam Better add-on starting March 9th, 2023.

Bell’s Roam Better offers two prices, one for U.S. travel and one for international travel. The U.S. Roam Better package will increase from $12/day to $13/day, while the international version will go from $15/day to $16/day.

Price increase for Bell’s Roam Better U.S. plans.

Bell also still offers two variants of Roam Better for U.S. and international travel. The first and, arguably, better option is Roam Better with home data, which gives users access to unlimited talk, text, and the data on their account (with a speed cap after 1GB of usage). The other option is identical, save that it gives users 500MB of data for the day instead of access to their account data. Both Roam Better plans have the same price, and both will increase in March.

Price increase for Bell’s Roam Better international plans.

Bell flanker brand Virgin Mobile will also increase the costs of its Roam Sweet Roam add-on starting March 9th, 2023.

Notice from Virgin Mobile’s website about the incoming price increase.

Roam Better, for those unfamiliar with the add-on, gives customers access to roaming at a daily rate, up to a maximum of 20 days per line per billing period. You can learn more about it on Bell’s FAQ page.

It’s also worth noting that Bell offers Canada-U.S. plans, which could be a good way for frequent travellers to save on roaming costs. Bell’s Canada-U.S. plans start at $95/mo for 60GB of data.

At the time of writing, neither Rogers nor Telus had similar price increases listed on their websites. However, when one of the Big Three increases a price, the others tend to follow, so keep your eyes out.

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Koodo, Virgin offer $10/mo discount for 12 months for Lunar New Year

Koodo and Virgin Plus have joined Fido in offering a $10/mo discount for 12 months on select plans to celebrate Lunar New Year.

Rogers flanker brand Fido first rolled out the discount on January 13th, and the other providers added similar discounts over the weekend.

Telus flanker brand Koodo will apply the $10/mo credit on plans $55/mo or higher. Koodo’s website also advertises that it will waive the $50 connection fee, although it’s worth noting that Koodo (as well as most other wireless providers in Canada) waive the connection fee for online orders already.

Koodo’s Lunar New Year plans as of January 16th, 2023.

Koodo plans are as follows:

  • $55/mo 8GB ($45/mo with the discount)
  • $60/mo 10GB ($50/mo with the discount)
  • $65/mo 15GB ($55/mo with the discount)

It’s worth noting that Koodo only offers the discount on bring-your-own-phone (BYOP) plans, so if you want to get a phone, you can’t benefit from the deal.

Virgin’s Lunar New Year plans as of January 16th, 2023.

As for Bell flanker brand Virgin Plus, it also offers the $10/mo credit for 12 months on $55/mo+ plans:

  • $55/mo 8GB ($45/mo with the discount)
  • $60/mo 10GB ($50/mo with the discount)
  • $65/mo 15GB ($55/mo with the discount)

Likewise, Virgin only offers the discounted price for BYOP plans, and it also specifies on its website that the discounted plans are available for “new activations only.”

You can check out Koodo’s plans here, Virgin’s plans here, or learn more about the Fido offer here.

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Last chance for $50/40GB Boxing Week plan at Fido, Koodo, Virgin

Today looks to be the last day for the $45/20GB and $50/40GB Boxing Week plans at Fido, Koodo, and Virgin Plus. Both Fido and Koodo now list the plan as ending on January 9th — Virgin Plus didn’t have a similar label at the time of writing, but it likely will follow the other two.

Koodo first launched the plans on December 13th, and Fido and Virgin launched their versions of the plans the following day. The plans have been available since then, but they were limited-time promotional offers, so it’s no surprise the plans are going away.

At all three providers, the plans actually cost $60/20GB and $65/40GB, but come with a $15/mo credit for 15 months. The downside is that anyone who signs up will need to be ready to switch carriers in 15 months’ time unless they’re okay with paying a higher monthly price. That said, Black Friday and Boxing Week 2023 will happen within that time frame, which means customers could potentially switch to a different promotional plan before the credit expires.

The deal isn’t as good for those looking to get a phone with one of these providers, as the phone contracts are 24 months long, so customers will be stuck paying the higher cost for the last nine months of their contract.

Aside from the large data buckets, these plans also include unlimited Canada-wide text messaging, unlimited Canada-wide calling, and other features that vary from provider to provider, such as voicemail, call display, international texting, and more.

If you’re in the market for a new plan, you may want to pick up one of these deals before they go away — it’s unclear what plan options will be available tomorrow, but they’ll likely cost more and have less data. Before the flanker providers added the Boxing Week plans, they had $60/10GB and $65/20GB plans.

You can check out Fido’s plans here, Koodo’s plans here, and Virgin’s plans here.

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Virgin Plus rolls out holiday deals with discounts on Pixel, Galaxy

Bell’s Virgin Plus has started rolling out smartphone deals to match its $50/40GB and $45/20GB promo plans. Check out some of the highlights below:

Virgin also has several “certified pre-loved” devices available too:

Aside from the online deals, some RedFlagDeals users were able to get a deal on the iPhone 14, nabbing it plus the 40GB plan for $75/mo total. Based on the details shared on RFD, it seems like Virgin is offering some bill credit or other discount since online the iPhone 14 costs $47.12/mo financing. The deal does seem to be in-store only, however, so your mileage may vary.

You can check out all of Virgin Plus’ deals here. You can also learn more about the $50/40GB plan here, or about other carrier offers here.

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Best Canadian carrier Boxing Week 2022 deals so far

Boxing Day Week is nearly upon us and already some Canadian carriers and wireless providers are rolling out the deals. We’ve gathered some of the best offers to emerge so far and listed them below. However, make sure to check back as we’ll be updating this page over the next few weeks with new offers.

And, if you’re curious to see how some of these deals stack up to what was available on Black Friday, you can find our old roundup here.

Koodo, Fido, Virgin Plus $50/40GB, $45/20GB

First up, the Big Three flanker brands are offering $50/mo 40GB and $45/mo 20GB plans.

Telus’ Koodo launched the plan first, then Rogers’ Fido and Bell’s Virgin Plus followed soon after. With all three, the deal involves a $15/mo bill credit that lasts 15 months:

  • $65/mo 40GB plan + $15/mo bill credit = $50/mo for 15 months
  • $60/mo 20GB + $15/mo bill credit = $45/m0 for 15 months

This isn’t quite as good as the $45/50GB plan offered during Black Friday, but we’re still early in the Boxing Week deal season, so we’ll see what happens.

Bell

Bell also bumped up the data included on some of its plans:

  • Essential – $85/mo 50GB (250Mbps), normally 25GB
  • Ultimate 100 – $90/mo 100GB (“fastest available 5G+ speeds”), normally $95/45GB or $105/60GB
  • Ultimate 100 with Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data – $95/mo 100GB (“fastest available 5G+ speeds”), normally $125/mo

Check out all of Bell’s offers here.

Telus

Telus dropped a few plan offers for Boxing Week and is giving out $10/mo bill credits for 24 months when customers shop phones online or bring their own device:

  • Unlimited 50 5G – $85/mo 50GB of data (250Mbps) | previously: $85/25GB
  • Unlimited 100 5G+ – $90/mo 100GB (1Gbps) | previously: $95/50GB
  • Unlimited CAN-US 100 5G+ – $95/mo 100GB (1Gbps) plus unlimited data, talk, and text in Canada and the U.S. | previously: $125/100GB

And phone deals:

  • Save $100 when you buy online ($50 one-time bill credit + Telus waives the $50 connection fee)
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max – $0 down, $30/mo financing with Bring-It-Back (plus get three months of free Apple TV+)
  • iPhone 14 – $0 down, $30/mo financing with Bring-It-Back (plus get three months of free Apple TV+)
  • Motorola Edge 2022 – $0 down, $0 financing with Bring-It-Back
  • Samsung Galaxy S22 – $0 down, $30/mo financing with Bring-It-Back

Check out all of Telus’ deals here.

Rogers

Rogers is offering some plan deals, including $85/mo 50GB and $90/mo 100GB plans (normally 25GB and 40GB, respectively). The Toronto-based carrier also has some deals on smartphones:

  • iPhone 14 – $0 down, $0/mo financing with iPhone 12 trade-in (in-store only)
  • Samsung Galaxy S22 – $0 down, $15/mo financing with trade-in (in-store only), or $30/mo financing online
  • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – $0 down, $20/mo financing with trade-in (in-store only), or $35/mo financing online
  • Pixel 7 – $0 down, $23.70/mo financing with Upfront Edge

You can view more Rogers deals here.

We’ll be updating this page through the Boxing Week sale period with more deals. Notice something’s missing? Let us know by tweeting us @MobileSyrup or in the comment section below.

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Fido, Virgin Plus match Koodo’s $50/40GB plan

Rogers flanker brand Fido and Bell flanker brand Virgin Plus both rolled out $50/mo 40GB plans to match the offer Koodo dropped yesterday.

Like Koodo, Fido and Virgin both offer a $65/mo 40GB plan with a $15/mo bill credit for 15 months, making it $50. There’s also a $60/20GB plan that can get the $15/mo bill credit, making it $45/mo for 15 months.

The plans are only available for new activations.

Fido is a little different than the others, however, because it requires customers to put in promo code ‘YAYFIDO15’ to get the discounted price.

While the deals are better than either provider’s typical plans, they’re not quite as good as the $45/50GB plan offered during Black Friday. Here’s hoping providers bring out a better deal as we get closer to Boxing Day.

You can check out Fido’s plans here and Virgin’s plans here.

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Canadian carriers end the year with plans a little pricier than before

At the beginning of this year, I wrote about the cost of plans offered by Canada’s Big Three carriers, Rogers, Bell and Telus. Now that we’re approaching the end of 2022, I thought it’d be worth looking at where plans are roughly one year later.

Barring any crazy Boxing Day offers, the current prices are likely what we’ll have to close out the year. That said, the carriers’ Black Friday offers surprised me with some excellent deals — like $45/50GB — so who knows what to expect on Boxing Day. Whatever happens, it’ll likely be the last reprieve from high prices until later in the new year.

We’ll also look at the flanker brands, although they weren’t included in the January 2022 coverage cited above. Regional carriers, on the other hand, won’t be included.

One significant change that happened this year is the introduction of speed caps. All of the Big Three carriers added speed caps to their primary and flanker brands, although the speeds vary from provider to provider.

Additionally, while not new, it’s worth noting that Rogers, Bell, and Telus all offer “unlimited” data. However, what that actually means is once customers use up their allotted monthly data, additional usage will be throttled at a maximum speed of up to 512Kbps.

Finally, before we get into it, all these prices are accurate as of December 12th, 2022. They may change after publication (and as mentioned above, likely will with temporary Boxing Day deals).

Rogers

Rogers started 2022 by offering the following plans:

  • $80/mo 20GB
  • $90/mo 40GB
  • $100/mo 60GB
  • $175/mo 100GB

Since then, the carrier added speed caps of 250Mbps or 1Gbps, depending on the plan (it was actually the last of the Big Three to do so), alongside the rollout of 5G+ branding for areas of its network running on 3,500MHz spectrum. It also changed up some of its plans and now offers:

Click/tap to enlarge

  • Infinite Essential – $85/mo 25GB (250Mbps)
  • Infinite Extra – $95/mo 40GB (1Gbps)
  • Infinite Lite (additional lines only) – $55/mo 5GB 25GB (250Mbps)
  • Infinite Advanced – $105/mo 60GB (1Gbps and Unlimited Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data)
  • Infinite Premium (listed as a limited-time offer) – $125/mo 100GB (1Gbps and Unlimited Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data)

Rogers also added two 4G LTE plans with non-shareable data: $50/mo 5GB (150Mbps) and $60/mo 15GB (150Mbps). Both those plans have an overage rate of $20 per gigabyte, and they’re listed as limited-time offers, so it’s not clear how long they’ll stick around.

For most of Rogers’ plans, it looks like the monthly cost went up by $5 with minimal changes, although the $85/mo plan does come with an extra 5GB of data compared to the earlier version of the plan. The 100GB plan did go down in price from $175/mo to $125/mo, but I feel like most Canadian are looking for better value on the lower end.

You can check out Rogers’ plans here.

Bell

Next up, Bell. The Montreal-based national telecom started 2022 with the following plans:

  • $90/mo 40GB
  • $100/mo 50GB (includes Canada-U.S. roaming)
  • $175/mo 100GB

Throughout the year, it added speed caps in April and launched 5G+ branding for its 3,500MHz network in June. As of December 12th, 2022, Bell’s plans are:

  • Essential 20 (Exclusive for internet and TV customers) – $55/mo 20GB (250Mbps)
  • Essential – $85/mo 25GB (250Mbps)
  • Ultimate 45 – $95/mo 45GB (at “fastest available 5G+ speeds”)
  • Ultimate 60 – $105/mo 60GB (at “fastest available 5G+ speeds”) plus unlimited Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data
  • Ultimate 100 – $125/mo 100GB (at “fastest available 5G+ speeds”) plus unlimited Canada-U.S. calling, texting, and data
  • Lite (only available for additional lines) – $55/mo 25GB (4G at 150Mbps)

Again, Bell’s plans are generally $5 more per month than they were at the beginning of the year but offer additional data as well. The exception, again, is the 100GB plan, which now costs $125/mo instead of $175. I also find the trend of adding slightly lower-cost plans with other limitations, like lower speeds or 4G-only access, interesting.

You can view Bell’s plans here.

Telus

Back in January, Telus offered the following plans:

  • $80/mo 20GB (limit of two connected devices)
  • $90/mo 40GB (includes unlimited international messaging and ‘visual voicemail 25’)
  • $100/mo 50GB (includes everything in the $90 plan plus Canada-U.S. roaming)

Telus led the way in adding speed caps, which it did back in February 2022. It also rolled out 3,500MHz spectrum but already used 5G+ branding in its plans. Now, on December 12th, 2022, the company offers the following plans:

  • Unlimited 25 5G – $85/mo 25GB (250Mbps)
  • Unlimited 50 5G+ – $95/mo 50GB (1Gbps)
  • Unlimited CAN-US 60 5G+ – $105/mo 60GB (1Gbps)
  • Unlimited CAN-US 100 5G+ $125/mo 100GB (1Gbps)

As indicated by the plan names, the Unlimited CAN-US plans include access to data, talk, and text in the U.S. as well as Canada.

Telus also bucks the trend with some plans that are a little cheaper than before. Sure, the base plan is $5 more and comes with an extra 5GB of data, but those who want 50GB actually save $5/mo compared to last year. For $5 more per month, you get an extra 10GB of data.

You can check out Telus’ plans here.

Flanker brands

Unfortunately for the flanker brands, they were not included in the original January 2022 plan round-up. That said, coverage from around that time suggests that most offered the following options:

  • $30 talk and text
    $52/mo 8GB
  • $58/mo 15GB (promo)

It’s a little tricky to nail down exactly what was on offer since in January, the three flanker brands were dancing around the $58/15GB promo plan.

Moreover, keep in mind that all the flankers offer ‘Starter’ plans as mandated by the CRTC. These plans don’t change often and are mostly the same across the flanker brands, so I’ll leave them out of this analysis.

Below are the current offerings from each:

Fido

Rogers flanker brand Fido added speed caps of 150Mbps to its plans in June, so all of the following max out at that speed:

  • $32/mo talk and text
  • $55/mo 8GB
  • $60/mo 10GB
  • $65/mo 20GB

Notably, Fido’s talk and text plan has gone up in price by $2/mo. Doubly frustrating about this is that Fido, Virgin, and Koodo lowered the talk and text plan to $27/mo in August. Beyond that, prices are up slightly — the 8GB plan has increased by $3/mo over 2022. While there currently isn’t a 15GB plan to compare to the $58/mo one available in January 2022, both the 10GB and 20GB options currently available are more expensive.

Check out Fido’s plans here.

Virgin Plus

Virgin Plus added speed caps of 150Mbps to its plans at the same time that parent company Bell added speed caps to its plans. The plans are as follows:

  • $32/mo talk and text
  • $55/mo 8GB
  • $60/mo 10GB
  • $65/mo 20GB

Much of the analysis that can be said here mirror’s what was said about Fido given the similar pricing between it and Virgin.

Check out Virgin’s plans here.

Koodo

Finally, Telus flanker brand Koodo was the first to add speed caps to its plans. In February 2022, Koodo capped speeds at 100Mbps, notably slower than Virgin and Fido. However, Koodo has since launched ‘Pick Your Perk’ plans that let customers select a free add-on perk. Options include things like international texting (which used to be included in several Koodo plans), rollover data and a speed boost that increases Koodo’s speed cap to 200Mbps. Koodo’s current plans are:

  • $32/mo talk and text
  • $45/mo 6GB (promo)
  • $55/mo 8GB
  • $60/mo 10GB
  • $65/mo 20GB

On the surface, Koodo’s $45/mo 6GB plan stands out as a notable stopgap between the $32/mo talk and text and $55/8GB plan. However, both Fido and Virgin offer a similar plan under the ‘Starter plan’ banner. It’s not entirely clear why Koodo chose to offer the $45/6GB as a promotional plan rather than as a Starter option.

You can view Koodo’s plans here.

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Fido, Koodo, Virgin end Black Fridays deals and roll out new plans

Fido, Koodo, and Virgin Plus removed their promotional plans, and the new plans on offer are… not so great. Of course, it’s hard to compare to the excellent $45/mo 50GB and $30/mo 20GB plans on offer over Black Friday. Still, I expected there might be something better.

You can find the new plans listed below, divided by carrier. One thing worth keeping in mind is all the plans with data include unlimited talk and text.

Fido

  • $20/mo talk and text
  • $50/mo 12GB
  • $55/mo 20GB
  • $60/mo 25GB

You can check out Fido’s plans here.

Koodo

  • $25/mo unlimited talk and text (Listed as a promo plan that ends on… January 12th, 2022?)
  • $45/mo 6GB plan (Also listed as a promotional plan, but with no end date)
  • $55/mo 10GB (8GB plan with bonus 2GB of data)
  • $60/mo 20GB (10GB plan with bonus 10GB of data)
  • $65/mo 25GB (15GB plan with bonus 10GB of data)

It’s worth noting all of Koodo’s data plans include Koodo’s new perk options like international texting, rollover data, and more.

You can check out Koodo’s plans here.

Virgin Plus

  • $32/mo talk and text (new activations only)
  • $55/mo 8GB
  • $60/mo 10GB
  • $65/mo 25GB

You can check out Virgin’s plans here.

Starter plans

Finally, all three providers still have CRTC-mandated ‘Starter’ plans, which don’t appear to have changed significantly.

  • $15/mo 250MB (3G speed, 100 outgoing and unlimited incoming minutes)
  • $35/mo 3GB (3G speed)
  • $37.50/mo 2GB (4G speed)
  • $41.25/mo 4GB (4G speed)
  • $45/mo 6GB (4G speed, Koodo has this listed with its regular plans)
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Today is the last day to get the $45/50GB promo plan

Looks like November 29th will be the last day to get the $45/mo 50GB deal on offer at Fido, Koodo, and Virgin Plus.

The Big Three flanker brands added notices to their websites that list November 29th as the end date for the $45/mo plan, but the plans are still available online.

As a quick reminder, the plan on offer typically costs $65/mo but has a $20/mo bill credit for 24 months. Along with the 50GB of data, the plans come with unlimited Canada-wide minutes and messaging, as well as some other perks and features depending on the carrier. Moreover, Fido and Virgin both cap data speed at 150Mbps while Koodo caps it at 100Mbps, but Koodo customers can pick a ‘Speed Boost’ perk that bumps it up to 200Mbps.

Fido also followed Virgin in adding a one-day-only $50 bill credit offer. Customers who sign up with Fido on November 29th get a $50 bill credit and Fido will waive the $50 connection fee.

You can view Fido’s plans here, Virgin’s plans here, and Koodo’s plans here.

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Virgin Plus offering $50 bill credit for Cyber Monday

If you made it through the weekend without taking advantage of one of the many carrier offers out there, some providers are sweetening the deals for Cyber Monday. Bell flanker Virgin Plus, for example, is offering a $50 bill credit only on November 28th.

According to Virgin’s website, customers who shop online can save $100, a combination of Virgin waiving the $50 connection fee (something it typically does) and applying a $50 bill credit. If you’re gunning for that sweet, sweet $45/50GB plan, this effectively gives you a free month.

Beyond the $50 credit, I don’t see much else on offer from Virgin Plus that the provider didn’t already have. The $9/mo Pixel 7 deal is still going, there’s a $1/mo iPhone 11 available, and the Pixel 6a is $1/mo too.

Check out Virgin’s Cyber Monday offers here.