Travel Technology - need prepaid cell phone for US

The lab I work at here in madison just got a new intern from France. She's here until mid-september so our PI (principal investigator-boss) wants to get her a prepaid cell phone. I looked online and it seems virgin mobile has the best deal (phone+$20 worth of minutes for $20 with a 18 cents/minute rate). Does anyone know if this is a good way to go? Is there a better company?

Note: The only calls she will get are quick 1-2 minute calls from our PI, and maybe us (e.g. stop at this lab on your way in, we're meeting here for dinner, etc.). She will probably call us every once in awhile too. So, I don't foresee her using any more than 15 or so minutes a week.

dizzy

I bought a T-Mobile handset for about $40 and if you add $100 airtime it gives you a full years expiry on the credit and call and texts are a flat rate of 10c.

She can then use this to call a 1-800 calling card (at the 10c/min rate) to make international calls back home.

I am in the UK but make enough visits to the US each year to justify the cost as it saves me a fortune on roaming calls!

I did have a Virgin Mobile before that but the call charges are a bit more so I moved to T-Mobile. Also I was never able to text back to the UK with Virgin where as the T-Mobile handset will text back to the UK for the same 10c rate which is great.

Rich

I second the T-mobile option. Just don't get it from a booth. get it from a T-mobile shop.

AT&T did (a year ago) accept $500 deposit for a pay monthly for foreign customers. Might be worth exploring that.

Another benefit to the T-Mobile option is that it utilises a SIM Card so you can just buy the cheapest handset to get up and running then use the SIM in an unlocked GSM handset that is tri-band for use in the US.

Virgin registers the handset to the account rather than a SIM card.

If you have decent t-mobile coverage I would recommend that. I switched to their prepay over two years ago now and I've never looked back.

I had a unlocked triband, the calls are a dime a minute, and there are no monthly, per call, or weekly fees.

T-Mobile and AT&T aren't prepaid cell phones, they're prepaid SIMs. If the boss said "prepaid cellphone" you need to look at Tracfone. Two 60 minute cards plus a cellphone for $20.

Another benefit to the T-Mobile option is that it utilises a SIM Card so you can just buy the cheapest handset to get up and running then use the SIM in an unlocked GSM handset that is tri-band for use in the US.

Virgin registers the handset to the account rather than a SIM card.

But isn't $0 a pretty good price for the phone? I would understand going through the extra effort if the rates were a lot cheaper, but it doesn't seem like they are...

I was just in Madison last week and Tmo coverage was good and no problem roaming.

I would recommend a TMO prepraid. You can get a prepaid Nokia 6030 (nice little phone/no camera) for $29.99 and get a $25 prepaid top up card and there is free 2nd day shipping. You can do this online at tmobile.com. Additional top up cards can be had on ebay for cheap.

Do they give out those prdpaid phones without having an adress within the USA and proof of that.
I had to get a ID card first and then it was all done in about 10 minutes. This was 2004 so not sure if things have changed.

T-Mobile and AT&T aren't prepaid cell phones, they're prepaid SIMs. If the boss said "prepaid cellphone" you need to look at Tracfone. Two 60 minute cards plus a cellphone for $20.

:confused:

Both have a pretty decent assortment of prepaid cellphones too. T-mobile has T-mobile to go phones, and ATT has Go Phone.

All their stores will carry them, but like someone else said; a kiosk may not.

Yep no probs no ID needed.

You just need to supply a ZIP when registering the handset as that defines the area code that the handset comes with. I just went with 20002 for DC.

Remember that if you top up with $25 you won't get the 10c call and text rate or the 365 expiry of credit. You have to credit $100 for that to happen.

Do they give out those prdpaid phones without having an adress within the USA and proof of that.
I had to get a ID card first and then it was all done in about 10 minutes. This was 2004 so not sure if things have changed.

which is best if all I want is a voice mail #?

which is best if all I want is a voice mail #?


I have the Virgin Mobile phone service and it is great for an all purpose basic type cell phone (assuming you go for the "free" Kyocera phone like I did).

You use it up at $0.18/minute, but (if you enroll in auto renewal) it only costs $5 a month (in paid airtime, no fees) to keep it active (==$15 every 90 days). You can check your cell's voicemail from a landline and not use up your minutes that way.

The only thing is: the phone does not work in Alaska.

I have a TracFone Nokia5180i that I will be happy to send you for her use. This is an old phone but they may still support it. I have all the stuff that came with it. You can probably go to the tracfone website to get the needed information.

I haven't used in in a few years but if you can use it I will be happy to mail it out.

which is best if all I want is a voice mail #?

Why do you need a cell phone account if all you want is voice mail? You can get a onebox (http://www.onebox.com/products/um-pricing.asp)account for $12.95 a month that includes a toll free number. Or, you could get a FreeDigits.com account for free - don't know what area code Freedigits is using these days though.

http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm is a comparison chart of prepaid cell phone plans in the US.

I have a TracFone Nokia5180i that I will be happy to send you for her use. This is an old phone but they may still support it. I have all the stuff that came with it. You can probably go to the tracfone website to get the needed information.

I haven't used in in a few years but if you can use it I will be happy to mail it out.

It's very generous of you to offer that, but the battery is likely gone by now.

If it came down to a choice between TracFone and Virgin Mobile, I'd take Virgin hands down.

I had to set up two TracFones for my parents. I've never seen such a mickey-mouse setup as they have with entering all their codes, and dealing with their heavily accented customer service reps (and I'm used to understanding to various accents) was not easy for them at all. Plus they use a "credit" balance rather than your actual $ balance, so it's tougher to keep track of.

Virgin Mobile was simple right out of the box, and it was much cheaper than TracFone. For some reason I was never able to send text messages to France using them, though (or at least, I would send them but the intended recipient would never receive them).

My first choice actually would have been T-Mobile prepaid, but they didn't have coverage where I was living at the time.

It's very generous of you to offer that, but the battery is likely gone by now.

You got me thinking. I pulled it out and charged it up. It's working fine. Apparently there are 22 credits left.

It is a pain to set up but if the OP wants it, feel free to PM me and I will send it.

I second the recommendation of Virgin Mobile. Pluses: cheap phones, good coverage, reliable, no contract, voice mail included, low minimum use required, simple price schedule, easy on line payment which can be automated. The fees can seem high, but since you only have to spend a minimum of $7 - $8 per month, it's a good choice for people who aren't going to use the phone much: low per minute fees don't do you much good if you make only a few short calls a day and still have to pay a $40 or more per month minimum, like most plans seem to require. They also have international service you can turn on for no charge, though the per minute charges for that are high.

I have a TracFone Nokia5180i that I will be happy to send you for her use. This is an old phone but they may still support it. I have all the stuff that came with it. You can probably go to the tracfone website to get the needed information.

I haven't used in in a few years but if you can use it I will be happy to mail it out.

Thanks for the very generous offer. However, I think the phone has already been ordered. I believe he (our PI) ended up going with the virgin cell after looking at the options (I included the tracphone and some other suggestions from this thread).

Sorry I've been away from this thread for awhile, I've had 10 hour days of tedious assays every day this week and by the time I get home I just want to eat and then go to bed.

I setup phones for visitors to the US all the time, I set them up on Cingular GoPhones, the $1 a day for unlimited calls to AT&T customers is pretty good for us since were all on Cingular to begin with.