Which USA SIM when on holiday in US

vinylmusic

I have an unlocked Nokia 5800 which takes all sims including 3G
I currently use the Three provider which I find great but I want to get a US sim when I go to the USA for 3 weeks
I don't know what to expect and how Pay as you go deals work over there.
Ideally I would like to get a SIM in advance and hopefully discover my number before I go so I can leave it on my voicemail.
I have family in the US so I can get it sent there and forwarded on to me.
They've never used mobile phones so the can't advise

Could anyone advise please

Thanks

jclegs

Do you know the zip code of the place you are going to? Plans in the USA are different depending on region but you are limited to GSM networks like T-Mobile and AT&T.

gjchester

You can buy pay as you go phones in Walmart cheaply read $10 and up, that may be the best option if your family can forward it.. The Walmart site lets you put in a zip code you will be in to check it will work.

Remember in the US you pay for incoming as well as outgoing calls and need to plan your minutes accordingly. You also buy service time as well as minutes, so a 60 minute card adds 3 months of service, run out of service or minutes and it won't work..

Also bear in mind that it may be cheaper to jsut use your own phone, see what your provider will do, it may be cheaper to limit your calls and use your phone, given a mobile and airtime will probably start at $30 to get up and running, but again depends how many minutes you use.

vinylmusic

gjchester wrote: »

You can buy pay as you go phones in Walmart cheaply read $10 and up, that may be the best option if your family can forward it.. The Walmart site lets you put in a zip code you will be in to check it will work.

Remember in the US you pay for incoming as well as outgoing calls and need to plan your minutes accordingly. You also buy service time as well as minutes, so a 60 minute card adds 3 months of service, run out of service or minutes and it won't work..

Also bear in mind that it may be cheaper to jsut use your own phone, see what your provider will do, it may be cheaper to limit your calls and use your phone, given a mobile and airtime will probably start at $30 to get up and running, but again depends how many minutes you use.

It all looks more complicated than I expected
I went to Walmart website and the $9.99 Tracphone looks good but its not clear if it has a removable sim
I did discover a useful site in US which I will mention here in case it helps others
http://www.compare-prepaid-cell-phones.com/index.html

I'm so far stuck between T-mobile, AT&T and tracphone
Its hard to find out a clear pricing on incoming, outgoing calls and for retreiving voicemail.

Advice on these points will be very welcomed

OneADay

Helps if you have rellies over there - I just borrow mobile and beeper and whateva !

This one has the Tmobile max sim card but its priced at $139 but offers 1030 minutes I think (cheaper packages available).

http://www.telestial.com/sim_bridge.php?ID=US

amf

For a number of years we used US SIMs purchased on ebay but the cost of these has gone up substantially. Last summer we ordered a few of these http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10714716

We ordered from Walmart in advance so the phones were in store awaiting our arrival. Credit included is $30, which is 300 minutes of domestic USA calls (calls out or received). Calls to UK cost only 15c per minute - note that you can't call a UK mobile number with this plan.

We had no problems with these and sold the phones on ebay once we returned.

goingonholiday_2

amf wrote: »

For a number of years we used US SIMs purchased on ebay but the cost of these has gone up substantially. Last summer we ordered a few of these http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10714716

We ordered from Walmart in advance so the phones were in store awaiting our arrival. Credit included is $30, which is 300 minutes of domestic USA calls (calls out or received). Calls to UK cost only 15c per minute - note that you can't call a UK mobile number with this plan.

We had no problems with these and sold the phones on ebay once we returned.

We did the same in Vegas from Walgreens in Las Vegas, cost was $35, worked well and when you go again you can just top up online as the credit only lasts 60 days.

PennyPincher_L

thanks for the info.. this was useful..

vinylmusic

Someone pointed out that it costs to receive calls in the US as well as send.
I cant find any indication of this anywhere on the web. Even on provider websites.
Has anyone any experience of this?

gjchester

vinylmusic wrote: »

Someone pointed out that it costs to receive calls in the US as well as send.
I cant find any indication of this anywhere on the web. Even on provider websites.
Has anyone any experience of this?

Common knowledge really, it relates to the fact most local LANDLINE calls are relativly free for a long as you want, (the movies where they pay a quarter and yak for ages is true). Long distance is expensive as you may need to go through different carriers.

Consequently if you were to call from a payphone, pay 25c and talk to a mobile for hours the telecos would lose out. So mobile pay for incoming calls.

Also most mobiles have area codes related to physical area’s rather than like the UK where all ours start 07


Verizons T&C state

How Does Verizon Wireless Calculate My Bill?

For charges based on the amount of time used, we'll round up any fraction to the next full minute. For outgoing calls, usage time starts when you first press SEND or the call connects to a network, and for incoming calls, it starts when the call connects to a network (which may be before it rings).


The bit in red indicates the recipiant gets charged for the incoming call.


Hard to prove as it's just common knowlege in the US, just like in the UK we don't pay incoming charges on pretty much anything except reversed charge calls and premium texts.

jamespir

orange is fairly good out there