Travel Technology - Cell phone for a week or two?

Collegues are headed over from Germany. They would like to be able to have people in the US reach them without having to call their German cell number. They would like a US number for the time that they are here. They aren't going to use it much and will likely not be back here for some time.
Is there such a thing as a disposable cell phone? What would be their best option?

best option? Go into a Cingular outlet (company owned one, not Tony's Cell phones) and pickup a prepaid card from them and pop them into their phones, provided they have unlocked GSM phones.

Conversely they can pick up a prepaid phone here, but that's also an expensive idea...

You can also get T-mobile prepaid cards. And there are lots of offers out so that you can get an almost free phone if you get a card. They come with starter time (around 60 minutes worth of time) and you can buy 1000 minutes for around 90$ via the Internet (100$ list price). Don't forget to tell your German friends that in the US you also get minutes deducted for incoming calls so they might need more minutes then they expected

Last time I checked (May of this year) you could not roam internationally with a TMobile prepaid phone.

Yes, you can not roam with togo. But I assumed they want to use it only during they are in the US to not pay the huge roaming fees on their German cell phone numbers. They can still use their German numbers if they want to roam.

Yes, you can not roam with togo. But I assumed they want to use it only during they are in the US to not pay the huge roaming fees on their German cell phone numbers. They can still use their German numbers if they want to roam.


Duh, sorry, I misread the post. I thought they were going from the US to Germany.

TMobile to go is very good in the US in my experience. I have both a monthly and a prepaid and get very good reception from TMobile and the terms of the prepaid are good relative to other US prepaids.

I would rent from a couple of different operators in the states. I know they have on in SFO and some other airports. I always rent a phone when I am in ICN. Very economical

With PlanetFone ans AADvantage citi card, I got first month rent free. still per minute charges apply. you can return after 1st month with $20 return fee. I am going to UK, all incoming mins are free.

There are lots of cell phones that come with pasy as you go, Cingular provides the best overall service in this area. If they are going to be in one large city (say Chicago) then any decent phone will do. If they are travelling get a Cingular phone - it provides the best coverage for pay-as-you phones.

http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/gophone/index.jsp

Collegues are headed over from Germany. They would like to be able to have people in the US reach them without having to call their German cell number. They would like a US number for the time that they are here. They aren't going to use it much and will likely not be back here for some time.
Is there such a thing as a disposable cell phone? What would be their best option?

Gee, Im not thinking. What what kind of phones are they? If they are carrier unlocked, triband GSM phones which many in Europe are (or they can be readily unlocked) all they have to do is put a SIM from someone like TMobile into their phone instead of their German SIM. They maybe only need to buy a prepaid SIM card. I know Vodafone (UK) gave me the unlock code for my phone for a small fee. They are required by law to do so and I would guess it is the same in Germany. In addition some are even bought unlocked.

I am also very suspicious of blanket statements about coverage (except by Verizon, they really are the best in that regard). Either TMobile or Cingular will provide good coverage in most major cities.

If you have the time, prepaid T-Mobile SIMs are cheap on eBay. You can get a SIM with about 2 hours of talk time for about $10-$15.