Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Wireless Networking Hardware Technology

Pre-paid Phones for Travellers? 34

Posted by Cliff from the blockbuster-should-rent-cell-phones dept.
Bifurcati asks: "My friend and I, both from Australia, are going to the US for a two month trip (combining both work and pleasure!) and I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma with my much loved mobile phone. It isn't tri-band, so won't work in the U.S., and, additionally, roaming rates are horrendous. I really appreciate the comfort of having a phone, particularly for working out meetings with my friend, so I was thinking of getting a pre-paid mobile over there (with a new number) which I can use and then sell off the phone when I get back. What's the best (read, in part at least, cheapest) company and phone deal? Anyone else had experience doing this? I'm going to both the East and West coast. Any help much appreciated!"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Pre-paid Phones for Travellers? More

Pre-paid Phones for Travellers?

Comments Filter:
  • ...but you might want to try Virgin Mobile. $0.25/min for the first 10 minutes of a day, $0.10 every minute after that. Unfortunately, selling phones back doesn't seem to be common over here. The phone is $60 for the lowest end model, if you're interested.

  • Don't worry about phones... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...be more concerned about the full cavity search and invasive personal questions that you will face upon arrival at the airport!

  • verizon (Score:3, Informative)

    by Wakkow ( 52585 ) * on Monday January 12, 2004 @03:43PM (#7955059) Homepage
    I used to use Verizon's prepaid phone service [verizonwireless.com] before switching to a annual plan.. I pretty much always had reception, but not necessarily the best sound quality (compared to GSM). They cover pretty much all of the US, but it looks like their prepaid service charges extra for roaming if you're out of their coverage area. I was also able to sell my phone on Ebay when I was done with it.

    If you know the general areas you'll be, check out the coverage maps and prepaid services. I know Tmobile, Cingular and AT&T have prepaid services. AT&T also has a Go Phone [attwireless.com] service which is a rate plan without the annual contracts.
  • Virgin Mobile is pretty good if you don't do a whole lot of talking but need some way to quickly contact people or be contacted. I've been using them for a couple months and I don't have any complaints. 25c/min for the first 10 minutes a day, and 10c/min after that. Plus they're just piggybacked on top of sprint's network, which gives me decent coverage even out in weird rural areas. If you can find one, their Kyocera 2255 models are pretty decent/cheap phones as well.

  • Walmart, etc... sell prepaid phones. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Wycliffe ( 116160 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @03:53PM (#7955134) Homepage
    Walmart and other retail stores have started
    selling phones that you can buy at the register.
    This might be the best bet for a short stay as
    you don't have to talk to the carrier, etc...
    It also has the added advantage of being more
    free/anonymous, as you don't have to sign anything.

  • Pre-Paid Phones for Terrorists? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 12, 2004 @03:57PM (#7955187)
    My friend and I, both from Syria, are going to the US on a one-way ticket for a two month trip (combining both work and pleasure!) and I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma with my much loved mobile phone. Due to a freezing of certain swiss bank accounts I use regularly, I can't afford roaming.

    I'm interested in a pre-paid mobile phone where they do not look that closely (or at all) at the picture on the driver's license (someone named "John R. Smith") that I'll be using.

    I won't be needing to sell the phone.

    I'll be going to both the East and West coast. Possibly simultaneously, if things work out.

    Any help much appreciated.

  • This site has everything you need. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Deagol ( 323173 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @04:00PM (#7955234) Homepage
    It compares most every pre-paid cell phone deal there is out there (in the US, that is), along with coverage areas:

    http://markson.net/cell_prepaid_compare.htm [markson.net]

    If you plan on a lot of travelling in remote locations, and you have the money, check out a satellite phone [globalstarusa.com] -- the price has gone down in price. Yeah, it's overkill -- but I thought I'd suggest it anyway. :)

  • Yo look at this (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Most likely if your overseas your phone is GSM. There are a number of 3G GSM networks here that might be able to support your phone. Have you tried calling local providers? What area are you going to be in?

    Also you can try Virgin or Verizon Wireless. Don't do TrackPhone. That really sucks.

    Cheers,

    Scott

  • Don't bother with resale (Score:3, Informative)

    by MerlynEmrys67 ( 583469 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @04:59PM (#7955630)
    Throw it away - many plans will give you a free phone when you purchase x minutes... Therefor the phones are effectively free, and there is almost no resale market

  • Comparision (Score:3, Informative)

    by $exyNerdie ( 683214 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @05:17PM (#7955863) Homepage Journal
    Here is a list of 5 of the most common prepaid cell phone plans [about.com] so that you can compare their features.

    Note that above list doesn't include plans by Virgin mobile. It's rates are here [1888usa.com]. A friend that used Virgin mobile didn't appreciate the choppy quality...

  • The pricing and charging structures in the US are very different to those in Australia (eg: in the US you'll probably pay to receive calls and they seem to use "X free minutes of talk time included" rather than "$X worth of usage included"). Bear this in mind while you're doing your research and only try to compare against other US deals, not Australian ones.
  • What is there available in Australia? My cousin's girlfriend is heading down that way for several months and they were wondering how to keep in touch. Any good cellphone/long-distance-cards for this (I know he can call her, but calling an international cellphone is much more expensive than a landline from this end).
    • Actually I don't believe it is. You should be able to call a GSM phone here at the same cost as a landline.

      In Australia, there are a number of GSM900/1800 networks, 2 CDMA networks and 1 UMTS (3G) network. Prepaid packs are available for about 15 USD. Prepaid packs with a cheap phone as little as 40 USD, and can be bought just about everywhere (including airports).
      • I don't think it is with my normal phone, but calling Australia (up to last year, I call landlines now) definate cost more to get a cell (as far is cost/minute deducted from the long-distance card balance)
    • You can pickup calling cards from pretty much any newsagency, with rates varying from AUD$0.03 to $0.10/min

  • Coverage (Score:3, Informative)

    by RzUpAnmsCwrds ( 262647 ) on Monday January 12, 2004 @07:20PM (#7957310)
    - If you stay in cities, any service should do. IS-136 "TDMA" (AT&T and Cingular's "Old" network), GSM (T-Mobile, AT&T/Cingular's "New Network"), CDMA (Sprint, Verizon, Virgin Mobile), and iDEN (Nextel) should all work fine.
    - Virgin mobile seems to have a very nice service with free domestic long-distance and roaming (useful if you intend to travel very far). T-Mobile also offers free roaming and LD.
    - Keep in mind that with T-Mobile (And posibly AT&T), your phone is a standard GSM phone (in many cases a triband phone) so you may have better luck selling it.
    - You will pay for incoming calls. On the upside, other people don't pay to call you.
    - If you plan to go out of major cities (20,000+), off of Interstate highways, you will likely not get service with GSM. Your best bet is Verizon. They have excellent coverage throughout the country, even in the great barren land we call "Wyoming".

    And, finally some travel tips:
    - Gas is cheap, even more so now that the dollar is weaker. You can probably rent a big car and it won't be too expensive.
    - Don't depend on mass transit. Amtrak isn't exactly the most efficent company.
    - Gas station bathrooms range from awful to pretty decent. Tip: If you have to go outside the building to get to the bathroom, it's probably pretty dirty.

    • - Don't depend on mass transit. Amtrak isn't exactly the most efficent company.

      You do see very different sides to the country depending on whether or not you have private transport... varies depending on where you are though, SF city was a bit of a nightmare with a car (pay very careful attention to street cleaning signs which are apt to be hidden slightly out of sight). But many other places are impossible without one.

      One recommendation, if you're travelling around CA, the train journey from San Lui

    • In addition to the usual travel tips, like "if you're alone and hail a taxicab, don't get into the front seat," something thing to consider is mobile phone etiquette. Many people visiting don't realize--or easily forget--how large and varied the States are, and etiquette can vary a lot, too.

      While traveling in New England (and most of the US), for example, you would be considered highly offensive if you left your mobile phone on during a meal, especially if you took the call at the table. However, in r

  • I'm going to visit the SF Bay Area for 2 weeks in a few days, and I have a slightly different question from the original poster's :

    I'll bring over my triband GSM phone from Europe, and I'd like to get a $20-30 prepaid card with a US phone number (since roaming is not an option with its horrendous prices)

    What are good plans that would allow me to call local & international (to europe) ?
    • I thought the whole concept of getting different card didn't work, since the phones were bound the card or some nonesense... Maybe just in the US? Dunno.

    • I used T-mobile's $20 prepaid SIM in my Australian Nokia 3650 (tri-band GSM). No problem. The only limitation of T-mobile is that they were limited to the local area for this prepaid service. Good in San Francisco area, but not for outside of there.

  • Ok, I'm in the same situation. I have a great plan and phone here, and I'm going to be traveling in Europe for a couple weeks later this year. Business requires me to keep in touch. What's a good plan and carrier?

    Also, how about a Wifi plan?
  • When you get here, look for a place called 7-11. Go in there and buy an el-cheapo prepaid phone with some minutes. There are roughly 8 billion 7-11 franchises in the U.S. so you will have plenty of places to refill should you run out of minutes. Plus you will be able to keep the P.O.S. phone as a souvenir! No issues of privacy that you would encounter were you to rent a phone.
  • i'm sure someone has mentioned going to 7-11 (or walmart, or kmart, or about any place else) and getting a tracfone, for which you buy cards and add minutes. problem with this is you'll be tied to a particular area (unless you want to change the number every time you go someplace else). it's horribly expensive, and roaming minutes are double.

    i've had luck with att wireless (gophone), you can get those for fairly cheap (US$80) and it's not such a bad deal, like some limited number of anytime minutes, free n
  • Trust me I've researched this.

    Best option for you (assuming Australia is GSM) is to come here and buy a T-Mobile EasySpeak "Starter Kit" which includes a basic Nokia phone (3370 or something like that w/ GSM) and a prepaid SIM card loaded with about $30 of minutes. That whole bundle will cost you about $65 from Target including a charger and wireless headset (required in some states).

    Other options are Virgin Mobile which uses the Sprint PCS network. They're reasonably priced if you're going to use a l

Slashdot Top Deals

"Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller than the both put together."

Close