TELUS Global Roaming Guide

TELUS offers roaming packs for much of the world. As is usual for roaming, these packs aren't exactly low-priced when compared to at-home rates, but they're a heck of a lot cheaper than paying standard roaming rates.

All of the Passport Essentials roaming packs last for 30 days after activation, and you must enable global roaming on your phone before you leave. Dial *611 from your TELUS mobile device, or 1-866-558-2273 from 8am - 5pm local time, Monday-Friday.

TELUS roaming services are not available for CDMA phones.

Roaming in the US with TELUS

Going to the US with TELUS is different than roaming in the rest of the world. We've already covered it heavily in our roaming in the US for Canadians guide, so we'll just sum it up here.

Easy Roam

US Easy Roam is one of the easiest roaming solutions out there. For a daily fee, you can access your normal at-home TELUS plan allowance in its entirety. This is a $7 charge that kicks in the moment you use your phone on a cellular network for anything. Even receiving a notification, or any kind of background activity counts. When this happens, you're charge the fee and a 24 hour timer starts. During this period you can use your phone as much as you like without paying anything extra.

Once the 24 hour period is up, you can pop your phone on to flight mode and not pay anything extra, or you can keep using it and be charged again. The most you can be charged in any single billing period is $7 per month. This is a great option if you're just popping down to the US for a few days, but can be pricey if you're planning on staying for a while, and intend to use your phone every day while down there. Remember, that $100 cut-off goes on top of your regular monthly TELUS bill.

US Single-Use Roaming

Alternatively, you can pay for just talk, text, or data in small amounts. This is a good option if you'll want to use your phone sparingly, spread out over a number of days.

Elite Voice: $15 for 25 minutes
Elite Text: $15 for 100 outgoing messages (unlimited incoming)
Elite Data: $15 for 15MB

US All-in-One roaming

TELUS also has full roaming packs available for the US region. The first is for just a three day period, but the rest can be bought as a 30 day pack, or as a monthly recurring payment.

	Essentials 25	Essentials 60	Essentials 80	Essentials 120
Price	$25	$60	$80	$120
Expiry	3 days	30 days	30 days	30 days
Calls	Unlimited minutes	300 minutes	Unlimited minutes	Unlimited minutes
Outgoing texts	Unlimited texts	Unlimited texts	Unlimited texts	Unlimited texts
Data	150MB	300MB	1GB	2GB

These packs are going to be more useful for enterprise purposes than personal use, but it's still best to consider all your options when roaming.

Global Roaming

Roaming in the rest of the world is similar to the US All-in-One roaming pack, although some regions do allow you to buy a text-only package.

Other regions tend to be a fair bit more expensive than roaming in the US, or offer smaller inclusions. Thankfully, even if you go over your allocation, simply having purchased a roaming pack means your pay-per-use fees will be lower within the eligible 30 day period.

Europe Passport Essentials

TELUS' Europe Passport Essentials packs cover calls to and from any country within Europe; they don't restrict you to a single country. There might be a couple of countries not on the list, but if there are there aren't many and certainly none of the more popular holiday destinations are missing. Your minutes also include incoming calls from anywhere in the world, so long as you're still in Europe.

	Essentials 60	Essentials 90	Essentials 150	Overage fees
Price per month*	$60	$90	$150	-
Calls	100 minutes	150 minutes	300 minutes	$0.50/min
Outgoing texts	150 texts	200 texts	Unlimited texts	$5.00/30 texts
Data	200MB	400MB	800MB	$5.00/30MB

*30 days

The Text Elite pack is $30 for 350 outgoing texts, and unlimited incoming texts.

Caribbean/Mexico Business Passports

These passports don't let you make calls from the Caribbean to Mexico, or vice-versa. Strictly in-country calls, or calls back to Canada are included in your minutes, although you're still covered for incoming calls received from anywhere in the world while in Mexico.

	Essentials 50	Essentials 70	Essentials 100	Overage fees
Price per month*	$50	$70	$100	-
Calls	100 minutes	150 minutes	250 minutes	$0.50/min
Outgoing texts	100 texts	150 texts	250 texts	$5.00/30 texts
Data	150MB	300MB	600MB	$5.00/30MB

*30 days

The Text Elite pack is $15 for 75 outgoing texts, and unlimited incoming.

East Asia Passport Essentials

Minutes include all outgoing calls from within East Asia to other countries also within East Asia, as well as calls back to Canada. Incoming minutes from anywhere in the world are accepted. Texts can be sent to or received from anywhere in the world while you are in East Asia.

	Essentials 50	Essentials 85	Essentials 150	Overage fees
Price per month*	$50	$85	$150	-
Calls	50 minutes	75 minutes	150 minutes	$0.50/min
Outgoing texts	75 texts	150 texts	300 texts	$0.50/text
Data	150MB	350MB	700MB	$0.50/MB

*30 days

There is no Text Elite Pack for the East Asian region.

India/Sri Lanka Business Passport Essentials

The India/Sri Lanka passports let you call between both countries and to Canada when in either Sri Lanka or India. They include all texts sent to or received from anywhere in the world while you are in either country, and free unlimited incoming texts from either country. Picture and video messaging are not included.

	Essentials 50	Essentials 85	Essentials 150	Overage fees
Price per month*	$50	$85	$150	-
Calls	50 minutes	75 minutes	150 minutes	$0.50/min
Outgoing texts	75 texts	150 texts	300 texts	$0.50/text
Data	150MB	350MB	700MB	$0.50/MB

*30 days

There is no Text Elite Pack for the India/Sri Lanka region.

Australia/NZ Business Passport Essentials

	Essentials 50	Essentials 85	Essentials 150	Overage fees
Price per month*	$50	$85	$150	-
Calls	50 minutes	75 minutes	150 minutes	$0.50/min
Outgoing texts	75 texts	150 texts	300 texts	$0.50/text
Data	150MB	350MB	700MB	$0.50/MB