cheapest way to use mobile in NYC?

wallofbeans

im going to New York for 4 days at the end of April and need to have a mobile that people can call me on. I'm not going to do much calling back and I wont be using it to call back to the UK but I need to be available to answer calls.

I've heard that if I use my UK mobile (on with Virgin Mobile) then I'll be charged if people call me - is there a better option? Anyone done this before?

Thanks!

macman

Yes, you will be charged for the international part of the call at roaming rates, you can check these on the Virgin website. Your caller will pay the UK rate only.
Probably not worth buying a US SIM card for 4 days use though-just keep your calls short, or call them back using a landline service maybe.
NB: this is assuming your mobile is tri-band-if not it won't work on the US networks anyway.

wallofbeans

yeah, i think the phone is tri-band... if thats the best option then its the easiest too so works for me!

macman

You'll usually find that when people realise you are in NYC they'll be only too anxious to get off the phone, as they tend to think they are paying for the international call!

jamespir

wallofbeans wrote: »

yeah, i think the phone is tri-band... if thats the best option then its the easiest too so works for me!

ok my advice is before you go ie in the airport switch all incoming calls to voicemail the network will the send you a free text when you recieve a message
the GOOD THING about the is is the phone will regisster at home so that you wont pay the roaming charges on the incoming calls and although you wont recieve them you will know whos rung and then you can call them from a call box as it will be much cheaper thant you using your phone

wallofbeans

it'll be calls from New York numbers that I'll need to be answering as I'm there for work. Any calls that come from the UK I'm quite happy to ignore until I get back! Does that change anyone's advice?

redux

get a local SIM card, which will have a New York number if you buy it there

info on GSM networks and tariffs: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html

you need an unlocked phone, either tri- or quadband as T-mobile uses 1900 MHz and AT&T/Cingular uses 850 and 1900 MHZ

or you can get cheap phones in supermarkets etc

wallofbeans

this is where i get confused!

i have a tri-band phone which is already unlocked as it's a samsung vodaphone branded phone and im using a virgin mobile sim in it (i have a sim only monthly contract with them)...

i am going to NYC for 4 days. I dont intend to make any calls (maybe the occassional text but that's all) or accept any calls from UK numbers but need to be able to accept calls from NYC based numbers while I'm there.

someone has told me to just use my own phone and mobile and keep the calls short and someone else has just suggested getting a US sim when i get there... I was thinking about planning ahead and getting a US sim from ebay before i left but am still unsure of which way to go about keep this as cheap as possible!

thank all!

macman

You didn't say in your original post that you would be taking calls from the US though-that creates a greater degree of complexity in assessing the comparative costs.
If you only buy a US SIM on arrival, then no-one is going to know your number anyway, so it sees to me that for 4 days you just have to use your UK SIM and pay the roaming charges.

redux

If you use your UK number, you incur costs of 80 pence a minute for receiving calls, and people are calling a UK mobile number to reach you, at high rates from their network unless they look into cheap calling methods.

Use a local number and they pay normal rates or use inclusive minutes. US networks charge you incoming calls though, 10 to 20 cents a minute

baldelectrician

I took my Orange sim abroad last year and it wasn't that dear.

I would suggest you cap costs by purchasing a PAYG sim (and topping it up with £10 or £20) here and diverting your calls to your new sim (if it diverts in UK it will come off your minutes here)

Make sure your UK PAYG sim is set up for international roaming before you go and take your Virgin sim just incase things don't work out.