Will my phone work in USA?

rattyjack

Hi, I wonder if anyone could tell me whether my mobile phone will work when I go to Disneyworld in Orlando later this year with my Daughter and Partner? It will be very useful if we can keep in contact with each other by phone, in case someone gets lost!! (Vodaphone and T-Mobile)

Thanks

skintel

Use a payphone in the US its far cheaper.

What make and model is it.?

Browntoa

depends on the model of mobile (needs to be a triband phone) and if you are using your UK networks it will cost you BOTH something link £1.50 a minute as the mobile recieving the call pays for the call as well

Virgin Mobile USA do PAYG sims...not sure how much though

pin

Depends on the model of your phone. USA GSM works on 1900 frequency, you need to make sure this is supported by your phone. However as others have mentioned roaming will be expensive.

Little_John

Roaming is expensive, I use my mobile alot as I'm self employed so my customers needed to be able to contact me while I was away for support. my phonebill is usually about £70 a month when I was away it cost me £250 and I didnt use it alot.

a text message to the uk cost 35p a text to germany cost me 12p which I thought was strange.

The way calls work you pay for any use on the roaming network inbound or outbound, the caller pays the part between their phone and your provider in the uk you pay the uk to the us. as a result it works out cheaper for both parties for you to phone them than them to phone you saving them the call to your provider.

it is expensive but the ability to be able to keep in touch is worth it I wouldnt travel now without my mobile phone, the fact if someone disapears you can call them to find out where they are it also allows you to split up and call to arrange a meeting time/location rather than planning ahead.

I hope you have a great time in orlando, I love the place been 6 times and once to California I am hoping to get to Florida again in January.

black-saturn

Bes thing you can do is switch it off when you leave the UK and don't put it back on until you ge there. If it has roaming it should work. Mine worked in Vietnam so I'm sure it should work in the US.

terryr

why not buy a set of 2 way radios? they are v cheap nowadays and don't incur any call charges. I think they should work OK as you wont be a million miles away from each other

pennypincher_2

Grab a couple of U.S. sims from eBay or even buy them when you arrive approx $50 with $30 credit.Just make sure your phone is unlocked and tri-band.

redux

Get USA SIM cards in unlocked phones

research http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html

typical call charges on the cheapest rates about 10 to 14c per minute, for incoming and outgoing calls

to call home, use calling card ~2c/min or callthrough numbers (on Callplus, same as US calls at 14c/min)

natjay_2

As an example if you were to use an o2 contract mobile whilst in Florida the cost would be
£1.27 per min to call the UK
£1.27 per min to call a US number
£1.27 per min to call another mobile
£1.20 per min to receive a call

So if I am not mistaken if two phones on a UK network are used in the USA, the person making the call would have to pay and the person receiving the call would also have to pay making the call costs around £2.50 per minute

pennypincher_2

If you can lay your hands on cheap T-Mobile prepaid sims from any state a quick call to customer services can get your area code changed to one applicable to where you're staying meaning local call rates apply.