Using a phone in the USA with a SIM purchased there..

Victorthe2nd

In August, our entire family is going to the USA for a wedding and I've been tasked (!) with researching the best way for us all to keep in touch whilst over there. My Orange / EE contract runs out in September. Orange tell me I can use my current (Orange) phone to text at 50p per text and to talk at £1.50 perm minute whilst in the USA. I understand this is "cross network", so other family members who don't use Orange will get the same charges. I'm wondering if I should buy a "used and unlocked" phone in the UK, take it with me and buy a SIM card in New York. Then, I could use my "new" phone and shop around for a SIM only deal in September,
Does this sound like a decent plan?

For me, I would probably look at an older iPhone, and any advice on best generation would be welcome here as well! Alternatively, is it likely that we could all buy really cheap unlocked phones and use them whilst in the USA via locally purchased SIM cards? Is there an age limit that we need to think about in terms of how new such a phone should be / is it likely that a really old phone won't work this way?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Silk

If buying an old phone for the USA it needs to be tri-band otherwise it won't work.

You could look at 3's feel at home as discussed on this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5015704

NFH

Silk wrote: »

If buying an old phone for the USA it needs to be tri-band otherwise it won't work.

This advice might have been relevant 10 years ago, but almost no modern phones, particularly iPhones, lack the frequencies used in the US. In the worst case, you won't get 3G or 4G and will be confined to 2G.

For a US SIM card, I recommend www.lycamobile.us which is 2c/min (incoming as well as outgoing) and 6c/MB.

Roger1

I imagine you'll treat the Orange offer with the contempt it deserves. :rotfl:

Will you need another phone in the future? If not, and even if you will, I'd suggest unlocking your Orange phone, either through Orange if you've had the phone long enough or independently. You could then use any SIM you want.

Again, will you be needing a US SIM in the future? If not, I'd suggest looking at Toggle - https://www.togglemobile.co.uk - where calls to/from US and UK mobiles cost 3p/minute, cheaper than most UK PAYG mobiles. A dozen countries are charged at similar rates.

You'll need local numbers. Follow the instructions on the website. I've used mine in the US and Switzerland (and the UK) with no problems.

Victorthe2nd

Thanks to all for replies. Very much appreciated. Re the Orange contempt....I've been with them ever since I've had a mobile and always found them OK. However, the last few discussions with them are leading me to think I should make much more effort to shop around....

grumbler

NFH wrote: »

This advice might have been relevant 10 years ago, but almost no modern phones, particularly iPhones, lack the frequencies used in the US. In the worst case, you won't get 3G or 4G and will be confined to 2G.

Yes, this is correct for iPhones and other 'proper smartphones', but not for simpler basic handsets.
E.g. Nokia 220 is a very modern phone, but supports only 2g 900/1800, while you need 850/1900 in USA.

gjchester

When we went to the USA last year my wife needed email for job hunting. This is based on the experience we had then..

We looked at sim cards but found them all expensive, and a pain to buy and use. Expect to pay $40 upwards for setup and a month’s service for a basic minutes and text plan, to $60 for data for a smartphone. AT&T would sell us a card but we needed to pay via card. And the registration system would not let us register a non US address (so AT&T suggested use the stores) but then failed as my cards registered to a different address (ie my home)

Remember the US networks also take minutes for incoming calls, if you have no service credit then you will not be able to receive calls. Also remember if you call a family members UK number even if its in your bundle, they will have to pay their network to route the call to the USA.

You can buy simple pre-paid phones in most stores (Target and Walmart) but again plan on $40plus by the time you have bought the phone and starter credit.

You may want to try and work out how much you will need the phones? If you are going together you may be in the same hotel or at least nearby, and plan most things Face to Face, If people have iPhones you can use Facetime if they are in WiFi zones. You may get away with a few cheap PAYG phones with a small starter credit as emergency phone between the groups.

mrcamp

Walk into a target, walmart, bestbuy, etc. Buy a sim + phone combination from AT&T or tmobile. Follow the instructions to activate it. That's it! They both have data packages you can add if ou desire. Check their websites. If your phone is unlocked and has the USA bands, then just purchase a sim only, either when you are in the US or online from ebay or so.

gjchester

mrcamp wrote: »

Walk into a target, walmart, bestbuy, etc. Buy a sim + phone combination from AT&T or tmobile. Follow the instructions to activate it. That's it!

It should be, but not all phones come with a starter pack, and some require you to pay by card and thats where we had the issue.

AT&T would only take payment for a sim only contract by card, and their system needs a valid US address. When it tried to set up my mastercard it fails verification as I have a UK address and the registered address and card address didn't match up. There was no way around it, the site would not accept a post code only numbers of a zip code. The AT&T staff were helpful but could not get around it, nor could they take payment in store (I know, I wanted to pay them cash and they would not accept it...).

Some services may need setting up online, Tracfone said on the package we needed to call or go online to select the home area code, and honesly its a major PITA compared to the UK system...

No Idea about T-Mobile the frequncies are wrong for the iPad 1, and we thought stuff it and used Wifi...

ste_wilko

Have a look here: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/kyocera-kona-phone/features/#plan

You get $19.99 account credit when you buy the phone, and you can get a plan for $20/month and it's no contract so you just literally top up $20 (imagine like GiffGaff etc). Also, if you refer people you get $25 for each person that joins. So if you were to refer your wife you'd get $25 (plus the $19.99 account credit) for $19.99 and then if your wife refers another family member and so on.

The only thing I can think would be a difficulty would be the delivery of the phones. Unless you can have them all send to the people who's wedding you're attending