Buy a cheap cell phone in U.S?

aaranj

I'm travelling to the U.S soon on holiday with my family but I tend to wander off (especially in the parks and malls). On past visits to the U.S, we have used 2 way radios to keep in contact but they never seem to work properly. We were thinking about buying 2 pre-paid cell phones to use during the trip and I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with the U.S networks and who would be the cheapest provider to go with. Also does anybody know of any stores (other than Walmart) where a cheap cell phone can be bought? We're not looking to spend more that $20 per phone.

Thanks in advance

aaranj

franklally

there's been quite a bit of information on here in the past about them - I wouldn't be without mine - roughly $9.95 each from Walmart or drugstores and $19.95 for each top up card - 5c a minute for calls within the US and 17c a minute to call the UK (I think):beer:

M4RKM

or if you had an unlocked phone from the UK, you can get an AT&T sim card, for free, and just top it up...

wolfehouse

my dd just bought a prepay once she arrived (as above a lot of stores have them) and just left it there when she left. it was that cheap. but you pay to recieve calls as well as send.

uk bandwidths are illegal to use in the usa so don't bring a radio set (you could buy one there)

RaiderHammer

markymoo wrote: »

or if you had an unlocked phone from the UK, you can get an AT&T sim card, for free, and just top it up...

I took my phone into an Orange store to ask if they could un-lock it because I was travelling to the Philippines sometime ago and Orange had no coverage partner in the Philippines. They said they can un-lock it for £30. In the end I said no, went to the Philippines and bought a cheap mobile phone there to use.

M4RKM

plenty of phones can be unlocked for nothing, if you google it right, or cheaply at local mobile phone shops.

If you go directly to the networks, then yes, they will charge you a ridiculous amount!!

i still stand by my post, if you HAVE an unlocked, the cheapest way is just to get a sim card, cheaper than a phone, sometimes even free..


M

aaranj

Thanks guys for the advice. Unfortunatly, I can't seem to find anywhere that will unlock my phone (samsung tocco) for free, so the "swap sim cards on arrival" option just isn't an option for me. We are looking at buying a set of -these- on arrival to the U.S and I'm wondering if anybody has used them before?

aaranj

also, it's worth noting that the cell phones wont be used to call home to the UK

Marty_J

Kmart had some really cheap pre-paid phones the last time I was there.

WolfSong2000

look for a tracfone...they're the ones I tend to use when I'm in the States...can be bougbht from Walmart, etc, but also some for sale on UK ebay site, so that may be worth checking out

aaranj

Thank you to everybody who has replied. I've now had my phone unlocked to use a U.S sim card so can anybody recommend a cheap service provider that has good coverage in Florida?