Sim Cards for the USA

Does anyone have any good advice on which Sim Card is good to use whilst in the US for cheap(ish) calls and txts back to the UK? Last time I racked up a stupidly large bill with my UK contract out there.

Check the pay as you go deals as well, it's sometimes cheaper to do that. Not sure if USA have similar deals but last time I was in Australia, for 30 I got the phone and so many minutes I was still using them when I left 3 weeks later, even after ringing UK every other day.

[Scrooge]

Ok, your heading to Orlando and LA...go to the nearest Walmart and grab a pay as you go phone.

If you really need just a sim card find an AT&T store, they should be able to sort you out.

[mitchja]

If you buy just a US SIM, you will have to get your handset unlocked from your current UK network first.

Regards

Thanks guys (good detective work Scrooge, although I'm flying to Orlando then straight off to Mexico from there, but Mexican wall-mart it is) and the unlocked mobile. Win all round.

[Scrooge]

Brain fart time...hit any 7-11 close to MCO, they will have Virgin Mobile phones that are prepay.

[buns]

quote:Originally posted by Scrooge
Brain fart time...hit any 7-11 close to MCO, they will have Virgin Mobile phones that are prepay.


I have a US Virgin Mobile Cellphone[:D] The requirement is for me to top up $20 every 90 days to keep the phone active and I have saved a fortune calling the UK[y]

buns

Am glad you asked this mr monkey as I was thinking the same thing and made me wish I'd bought a virgin phone when I was in Chicago last November for $ 7.11! I just hope they have the same offer in NYC in a couple of weeks.

Failing finding a 7-11 I think a wallgreens, duane read or a CVS will sell them too.

[mcmbenjamin]

Virgin Mobile is on the Sprint network that is not that great for many reasons including lacking coverage. Consider the Verizon prepaid phones; also sold about anywhere a Virgin Mobile phones would be sold.

I'd stick with a Virgin Mobile phone actually. The sprint network really isn't that bad. There are very few differences in coverage between the big 3 companies these days (I'm in the cell tower business) and we're finally starting to get to the stage over here when people can stop choosing which phone they get based on whether they'll be able to use network a vs network b in their home.

Verizon pre paid phones are terrible for calling abroad. You get charged both the regular per minute rate PLUS $1.49 a minute to call any other country apart from Canada, Mexico and Guam.

Virgin Mobile, if you check out their site offer calls to the UK for the regular per minute rate PLUS 20c a minute. Which is a bargain.

However, what you have to remember is that for either of these options, you can't just get a sim card, you will have to buy a phone. Not that they are expensive.

Verizon and Sprint use CDMA, and don't use sim cards in their phones. T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM and do use sim cards. If you want to use your UK phone here with a US sim card, you can only use it on AT&T or T-Mobile. However, as I said, you can pick a phone up for not many pennies. The cheapest Virgin Mobile one is $9.99. And yes, it does actually make calls.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info aft

Can I just buy a phone and a paygo sim card off the shelf as it were with no need to do complication registration with the supplier?

thanks aft for that. I was planning on using my unlocked phone and picking up a sim to go with it, but perhaps I should just get a virgin mobile one if they don't do sim only. I'm also assuming these only work in the US, not Mexico as well?

Have a look here, they do USA sims and they are quite cheap for US and calls to UK, plus you get a US number before you leave. They also provide a free unlocking service if your phone is locked.