Take iPhone to Australia? Contract q's

[Dumbass17]

so i'm an idiot (yes, mock my username, be original though :nut: )

anyways, in November, i signed a new 3 year contract with telus and got a 32gb iphone 3GS.

Now I want to travel and I'll end up living/working in Australia for 6+ months.

So I realize I have a few options 1) pay out the remainder of my contract for $20 x remaining months, which would be about 32 months so about $600.
Now, if I did that, would I be able to take my phone & sim card and just get a Pay As You Go plan when I'm in Australia?

2) I could sell/transfer my contract to someone. When people do this, do they usually give them the contract AND phone, or just the contract?

3) Downgrade my plan to the minimum ($50/month) and keep paying that while I'm away and just use a completely different phone/plan while in Australia.

Just looking for some insight and what would be the best option. I don't really want to sell my phone as I like it alot and i'd like to take it for the music while traveling.

[GQBalla]

i say number 2 or 3 would be the best option

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by Dumbass17
so i'm an idiot (yes, mock my username, be original though :nut: )

anyways, in November, i signed a new 3 year contract with telus and got a 32gb iphone 3GS.

Now I want to travel and I'll end up living/working in Australia for 6+ months.

So I realize I have a few options 1) pay out the remainder of my contract for $20 x remaining months, which would be about 32 months so about $600.
Now, if I did that, would I be able to take my phone & sim card and just a pay as you go plan when I'm in Australia?

2) I could transfer my contract to someone. When people do this, do they usually give them the contract AND phone, or just the contract?

3) Downgrade my plan to the minimum ($50/month) and keep paying that while I'm away and just use a completely different phone/plan while in Australia.

Just looking for some insight and what would be the best option. I don't really want to sell my phone as I like it alot and i'd like to take it for the music while traveling.

If I were you I would try to go for option 3, or call telus and ask them what the lowest possible priced option they may have. What are the chances of you staying for over 6+ months, if so, option 1 would be best.

Option 2, you would have to give the contract and the phone unless you found a real dumbass (;) ), plus some sort of cash incentive to take the contract as, realistically, who would take it from you when they can just walk into any telus store and get the same thing?

[Ajay]

Talk to Telus.

They used to have a program called "vacation disconnect" where you would pay the access fee and I think $1.95/month. They would essentially disconnect your phone for the time you were on vacation disconnect up to six months. They would add however many months you were on vacation disconnect onto your contract though.

Might be another option.

[ercchry]

unlock phone, put in aussie sim card when you get down there... pay the minimum amount for the telus plan when away

[msommers]

Isn't there some "emergency only" calling that's like 15 bucks a month? I swear I read that on Howard's forum somewhere.

Ajay's advice seems like the best option depending on how long you're going to be, as they might have a maximum.

[spike98]

1. Give the phone away for free with a transfer of the plan. It will be gone in 24 hrs.

2. Move to Oz

???????

4. PROFIT!

[Dumbass17]

yeah i called telus

they have vacation disconnect, it's roughly $10/month for up to 6 months, then i can buy the cheapest plan ($50/month) after that.

and yeah, my contract will be suspended so the 6 months i use vacation disconnect will be added onto my contract length

[rage2]

Give up your phone and contract. Go to australia. Buy an iphone there (they're factory unlocked). Come back, use the new iphone in Canada.

I travel a lot, and bought my iPhone out of australia so I can use any sim card in it without hacking.

AFAIK, the latest batch of iphones (all of Telus, Bell etc) have updated bootstrap so it can't be unlocked.

[Ajay]

Originally posted by msommers
Isn't there some "emergency only" calling that's like 15 bucks a month? I swear I read that on Howard's forum somewhere.

Ajay's advice seems like the best option depending on how long you're going to be, as they might have a maximum.

That emergency plan is only available if you're on a month to month basis. At least that was the criteria when I was still in the mobility world.

It was $15/month including the access fee for 50 minutes/month.

[Dumbass17]

Originally posted by rage2
Give up your phone and contract. Go to australia. Buy an iphone there (they're factory unlocked). Come back, use the new iphone in Canada.

I travel a lot, and bought my iPhone out of australia so I can use any sim card in it without hacking.

AFAIK, the latest batch of iphones (all of Telus, Bell etc) have updated bootstrap so it can't be unlocked.
hmm

how much do 32gb iphones go for over there? same price as compared to here?