Managing Roaming Charges While Travelling

[LoyalCustomer]

I know that if you do not want to incur any roaming charges during travel the standard default answer is to turn off all cellular data, and put your phone in airplane mode. Or even remove your Rogers sim card altogether.

Would the following setup work?

• Call Rogers and have Roam Like Home turned off for my account.
• Turn off cellular data for my Rogers esim.
• Setup a travel esim for the destination country (Japan) and turn on cellular data for only this plan.

With this setup can I expect the following?

• No charges when my phone automatically registers and attaches to the cellular network in Japan.
• If I receive a SMS text on my Rogers phone number there will be no charges. Receiving SMS texts while roaming is supposed to be free.
• No charges for data while my Rogers esim cellular data is switched off.
• No charges for an incoming call if the call is not answered
• Sending a SMS text will cost $0.75 per text (Japan pay per use).
• Using my Rogers service for voice calls will be $3.00/minute (Japan pay per use).

A couple things I am not certain about?

• Does using WiFi calling while roaming incur charges?
• If I have an incoming call and do not answer it will there be charge if a message is left in my voice mail?

Last questions: If none of this works my roaming charges will stop at $100 provided, I do not modify this amount or authorize charges to continue beyond this limit? Can this limit be lowered to say $25?

Thanks very much for any help!

[RogersMoin · Accepted solution]

Hello, @LoyalCustomer.

Thank you for being a loyal customer and a member of our Community; I appreciate your research not to incur the roaming charges. The default answer you quoted is the foolproof method not to incur any roaming charges. 😃

Would the following setup work?

Call Rogers and have Roam Like Home turned off for my account.

• Yes, you can turn off Roam Like Home. You will incur Pay Per Use charges instead. Please remember that you must keep your data roaming off constantly. Otherwise, you will incur heavy data charges. Many apps and services use data even though you may not be actively using it.

Turn off cellular data for my Rogers esim.

• You will incur Pay Per Use charges.

Setup a travel esim for the destination country (Japan) and turn on cellular data for only this plan.

• You can only have one eSIM on your phone. If your Rogers plan uses regular SIM, then please remove it.

With this setup can I expect the following?

No charges when my phone automatically registers and attaches to the cellular network in Japan.

• You will incur Pay Per Use charges, and please make sure the data roaming is off.

If I receive a SMS text on my Rogers phone number there will be no charges. Receiving SMS texts while roaming is supposed to be free.

• True.

No charges for data while my Rogers esim cellular data is switched off.

• True.

No charges for an incoming call if the call is not answered

• True.

Sending a SMS text will cost $0.75 per text (Japan pay per use).

• True.

Using my Rogers service for voice calls will be $3.00/minute (Japan pay per use).

• True.

A couple things I am not certain about?

Does using WiFi calling while roaming incur charges?

• No charges for what's covered in your plan. Please ensure your WiFi Calling feature is set up and operational before leaving the country. And you must turn off data roaming and enable AirPlane mode.

If I have an incoming call and do not answer it will there be charge if a message is left in my voice mail?

• No, unless you check your voicemail.

Last questions: If none of this works my roaming charges will stop at $100 provided, I do not modify this amount or authorize charges to continue beyond this limit? Can this limit be lowered to say $25?

• Sorry, the limit can't be lowered.

I hope all your questions are answered; let us know if you have further questions. 

Safe travels!

Cheers,

RogersMoin

[LoyalCustomer]

RogersMoin,

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions! Greatly appreciated!

With my current iPhone 14 you can have several eSIMs setup at the same time. Currently, I have my Rogers eSIM and my travel eSIM. While in Canada my cellular data is set to use Rogers.

If I decide to totally turn off the Rogers service during travel, I am assuming setting “Turn On This Line” to off for the Rogers eSIM line should be equivalent to removing a physical Sim card?

Just a quick clarification:

“No charges when my phone automatically registers and attaches to the cellular network in Japan.

• You will incur Pay Per Use charges, and please make sure the data roaming is off.”

If the Rogers cellular data has been switched to off before leaving Canada there should be no Pay Per Use charges just from the phone attaching to the Japan cellular network?

I miss the days when you could purchase a simple Talk & Text travel package from Rogers for about $30. Then just turn off cellular data roaming off and everything was worry free.

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @LoyalCustomer.

I'm glad I could answer your roaming-related questions. You are right, your iPhone 14 can install several eSIMs, and two can be active simultaneously. 

If I decide to totally turn off the Rogers service during travel, I am assuming setting "Turn On This Line" to off for the Rogers eSIM line should be equivalent to removing a physical Sim card?

• Yes, you can toggle off the Rogers' line, and if possible, make the travel eSIM your Primary line for both the voice and data.

If the Rogers cellular data has been switched to off before leaving Canada there should be no Pay Per Use charges just from the phone attaching to the Japan cellular network?

• True, no charges for connecting to the network.

All the best, and enjoy your trip!

Cheers,

RogersMoin

[amitayal]

Hello there,

I have been with Rogers with 20+ years. 

Recently I went to USA for 12 days and kept airplane mode + turn off roaming all the time.

I have charged for random 6 days. Speaking to a rogers representative and now she claims the only way to prevent roam like home is to take out the sim from the phone.

I have asked her to turn off roam like home on my line and she claims not possible.

This is frustrating. If I would have known that there will be a charge irrespective, I would have used the service.

[57]

@amitayal : Did you turn Airplane mode off at any time to access say WiFi or for any other reason during your trip?

https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/roaming-support

Also, you should be able to remove Roam like Home from your package if desired. This is different than "turning it off".  If you plan more trips to the US, Rogers has a Canada and US plan that may be of interest.

[LoyalCustomer2]

You indicated that if you have a regular SIM you must remove it. Why is this? Is there no way to turn off the data on a physical SIM? Can these same steps be used with an iPhone 12? 

[RogersJermaine]

HI @LoyalCustomer2,

In some cases, if you do turn off or disable your SIM, you may not be able to easily turn it back on. The best case scenario for users who are using an additional SIM out of country and do not want to incur any additional roaming charges from their main line would be to easily remove the physical SIM from the device.

The solution provided should work for the iPhone 12 as well. I hope this information helps!

Regards,
RogersJermaine

[VickyKer]

Are incoming text messages and OTP charged while I am traveling internationally (not USA)

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @VickyKer.

Welcome to our Community! Please see the solution post of this thread for the answer to your query. Please remember to keep your data roaming off when you toggle on/off the AirPlane mode. Safe travels!

Let us know if you have further questions.

Cheers,
RogersMoin

[NotCellSavvy]

I so confused.  I'm getting conflicting information as to "when" Roam Like Home is initiated.  One in-store customer service rep told me, technically as soon as I fly from Canada (via US) to Mexico, that the $15 starts as soon as I cross the border(s), regardless if I actually do anything or not, IF THE PHONE IS ON...yet the info on website https://www.rogers.com/support/mobility/roaming-support#am-i-eligible-for-roam-like-home-how-do-i-en...   says :  when you use your device (make/receive a call, send a text, use data).....

which is it?

I'm hoping, as long as I have it in Airplane Mode, turn cell data off that nothing should happen except a text to tell me I have Roam Like Home available, so in case I need it, I COULD turn data on and Airplane mode off, and I could start, for 24 hours, to do what I needed, and turn AP mode back on, and data off?

Even dumber question.... if my converted plan from Shaw to Rogers, is now giving me US and Mexico "coverage",  why do I need  Roam Like Home to begin with.  What does the "coverage" in Mexico actually cover?

[57]

@NotCellSavvy : Here's a link to a post summarizing what you need to do to avoid roaming charges and what can trigger it.

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Account-Support/Roaming-like-home/m-p/518044/highlight/true#M3...

You need to decide for yourself whether you want roam like home, whether you wish to have it turned off, or perhaps subscribe to a US/Canada roaming plan. No one else can make that decision for you.

[iphonepaddy]

Hi RogersMoin,

I did exactly as above during my recent trip to Japan: purchased an eSIM, toggled OFF my Rogers' line, used ONLY my Japanese eSIM for data and calls for duration of my trip;  no calls and no texts to/from my CDN # AND I received a bill from Rogers upon return for $15 roaming charges for each day of my trip.  

What is more exasperating is that I contacted Rogers chat service from Japan to CONFIRM that no roaming charges were being billed to or were appearing on my account and was to CORRECT NO CHARGES.  

So there is clearly an issue here with regards to Rogers eSIM - even when one does everything correctly AND confirms via chat there is no roaming charge , one still appears on the bill.  All of the above can be verified.

Following up with customer service has been an ordeal.     Rogers is failing badly on the customer service front.  

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @iphonepaddy !

Thanks for following up with us and I'm sorry to hear that you ended up incurring Roam Like Home fees while travelling abroad.

As mentioned in RogersMoin's post, we recommend turning your mobile data off and toggling your Airplane/Flight mode on. This needs to be done prior to take-off and needs to remain this way for the full duration of your trip. Is that the case for you? Also, did you physically remove your Rogers SIM as also suggested?

I am also wondering if WiFi Calling was used? In some instances, you can still be charged for roaming while using WiFi Calling (Eg: making a call to a non-Canadian phone number), please have a look at this article for reference. 

Thank you,

RogersYasmine

[BF_YEG]

Hi, Just share my experiences when I visited China in October 2023 and stayed there for one month. 

What I did prior to boarding at airport:

Turn off cellular data for my Rogers esim.
Setup a travel esim and turn on cellular data. This esim doesn't support calling or sms.  

I did NOT bother to call Rogers and/or have Roam Like Home turned off for my account.

During the trip:

Received SMS as normal but no content available for the messages in group chats. 

Displayed the incoming calls. Of course I did not answer. 

Result:

No roaming fee $15/day charged!

Btw, my phone is pixel 7.

[paulofast1]

What about using a service with an eSim prepaid plan - turning off roaming to the primary Rogers account and having the roam / text / calling taken care through the secondary prepaid plan?

[AniChem]

One more question on this thread:

If I turn off Roam from Home and receive an incoming call from Canada or US while travelling in Europe will I be charged by the minute if I pick up? If so how much?

[LordDrakkon]

Yes, you will.  How much that call will cost you per minute depends on what country you are in at the time.  

[57]

If you request to have Roam Like Home turned off before you leave and you utilize pay-per-use, I provided the link for those charges earlier in this thread and will do so again below:

https://www.rogers.com/mobility/roaming  Put the country of choice into the "box" and you will see your pay-per-use rates. For example, France is $2.00/min for calls and $0.75 per text on a post-paid plan.

[mpepin1234]

I was recently charged international fees while my SIM card was deactivated, which didn’t make much sense to me. When I contacted Rogers’ customer care, I was told that I should’ve physically removed the SIM card to avoid charges. That’s certainly not something I was aware of, and honestly, it felt a bit unreasonable.

What made matters worse was being charged for just three days of my 12-day trip to Europe. If I had really made a mistake on my end, I imagine I would’ve been charged for the entire duration. Instead of admitting this was likely an error, I was told I should consider myself “lucky” it wasn’t more. Not exactly the response I was hoping for.

In the end, they offered me a $15 discount on the $60 charge, which still felt pretty unfair, especially as a new customer who’s just learning the ropes. I really don’t think it’s right to be hit with unexpected fees for a deactivated service, and it left me feeling like my concerns weren’t fully heard or addressed.

Unfortunately, this experience has me rethinking my decision to stay with Rogers.