Mobile phone when studying in the USA

buyitall

Hi, my son will be studying in the USA from July this year.
He will be in the US most of the time, coming home to the UK for Xmas, Sumner hols etc.
Can anyone advise on mobile phone contracts while he’s there?
Someone I know who is already there suggested sticking to his UK number and going with a UK network which allows roaming in the US.
Or do you think he’d be better off getting a US sim when he gets there?
He’s currently on a 30 day rolling contract and has an old iPhone, so we are flexible in changing networks and phones.
Thanks for any advice.

grumbler

buyitall wrote: »

He will be in the US most of the time, coming home to the UK for Xmas, Sumner hols etc.

...
Someone I know who is already there suggested sticking to his UK number and going with a UK network which allows roaming in the US.

All networks allow roaming, but it can be expensive. If it's 'free', then I am pretty sure no UK networks allow roaming 'most of the time'.
E.g. http://www.three.co.uk/go-roam#1214306357859
"Extended periods abroad are not included. Go Roam is designed for UK residents who are on holiday or business trips abroad."


Also, I am not sure, but even if calls to UK are 'included', local calls to US can be not.

pmduk

Probably best to get a local US SIM and use Skype or the like for calls back home.

Jon_01

He needs a local sim if he wants to call any US numbers. UK sims only call UK numbers out of their allowance. Also, roaming is for short trips, most networks will cut him off if he's over there continually for months (check the networks T&C's).

buyitall

Thanks for the replies. Is this the kind of situation where a dual-sim phone would be useful?

eDicky

buyitall wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Is this the kind of situation where a dual-sim phone would be useful?

Very much so. You can have a good SIM free, dual SIM handset such as the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite for about £150 in UK, use a UK PAYG SIM with UK phone number in one slot and a US SIM in the other, the latter probably necessary to have a US phone number for contact with college, banking, etc.

Browntoa

Yes definitely dual SIM is the way to go . It's easy to switch between Sims from the phones settings and to indicate what functions each SIM is allowed to do , ie data , make calls etc .

My daughter has been in New Zealand for 3 years , I ported her number to a basic btmobile SIM at £3 a month as on occasions she needs to receive texts for online banking.