Spring break travel can lead to hefty cell-phone bills if you don't do your homework before you go.

Donna Fortier's company sells many products into the U.S., and that means travel south of the line. Concerned about long distance bills, she looked for a temporary phone plan that could save her staff money and found that for $20, the company could get a big reduction for 30 days –- savings of 82 per cent. One call to Telus and the plan is supposed to work immediately.

"Even if you are going for a week, it's better pricing if the phone is used quite a bit," Donna said.

But when Donna got the bill, she noticed she was charged more than she expected. She contacted Telus and they corrected it, blaming a glitch in the system.

Shawn Hall, spokesman for Telus, says mistakes can happen.

"When you've made a change on your bill that is where mistakes are going to come," he said.

So check those bills -- getting errors corrected is usually simple.

Hall says other travellers can save like Donna's company did. Just call your cell-phone provider

before you travel.

"My advice is to treat your cell phone like travel insurance," he said. "Check it off on a list: ‘I've got my travel insurance and I've phoned my wireless carrier and I've got a plan that works for my travel,'"

That applies to calls, text and data plans -- check before you go.

"You know what you are getting instead of tossing the dice," he said.

And don't assume what worked the last time you travelled is the same today, because deals change.

If you are ever calling from a hotel or pay phone in Canada, or around the world, be aware charges can be very large. So check with your phone company on the proper procedure to get the rates you'd expect on those calls before you go, and keep the calls short just in case.

If you are away for a while or travel regularly for longer periods of time to the States, you might find it cheaper to pick up a prepaid cell phone down there that you can use on your trip; they cost less than $8, plus the cost of minutes.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen