fredsxb

I'm gonna spend 3 weeks in the US starting next saturday and I'm looking into purchasing an AT&T Sim card for my trip as it will allow my American friends to call me without having to call my French cell phone number.

I wanna use an AT&T Sim card with my officially unlocked iPhone V1 (I'll use my iPhone 3G with my French number). I want unlimited data, 500 SMS, and I guess something between 3 and 7 hours of talk time.

What's the best option for me? GoPhone or Pay as you go?
Can I buy an AT&T sim card with a foreign credit card and a foreign address (or should I just give out the address of the hotel I'll be staying at ?)

As I understand, there are unlimited mobile to mobile minutes in some plans. If I was to buy a SIM card in LA and if I was to use it in Las Vegas later on during my trip, would I still be able to benefit from the unlimited mobile to mobile minutes (i.e. does it work everywhere in the US or just in the local area where your home is supposed to be located ?)

What about the other minutes included in a plan. Can they be used anywhere in the US or just in a city/state?

Are unlimited mobile to mobile minutes applicable for incoming AND outgoing calls (I think you are charged for incoming calls in the US (not the case in France)).

Thanks in advance for you advice!

wiredboy10003

Unlimited mobile to mobile are for both incoming and outgoing to other AT&T phones.

All minutes are nationwide. On some plans you have the option of paying $1 on any day you use the phone but you pay a lower per-minute rate. Other plans you don't pay the $1 but your per minute charge is higher.

Don't forget that you're using airtime whether you make or receive a call. A friend from Spain was living here for a year and at the end of the first month he was shocked. His phone bill was about $500. His reply was 'But I don't understand, I made sure I only received calls, never made them!'.

worldwidedreamer

I know that AT&T is the official iPhone carrier...but the other US national GSM operator T-mobile has a cool program called FlexPay that allows you to pay the subscriber rate for a month of service. This is probably a better deal than you can get with AT&T...plus you can have full data services.

fredsxb

Will the data services work "out of the box" without having to configure my unlocked French iPhone ? (I don't want to have to jailbreak that iPhone)

How about unlimited mobile to mobile minutes: are they only valid if you call a cell phone number with the same carrier or are they also applicable if make a call to a different carrier ?

sbm12

Do any of the US-based pay as you go plans offer unlimited data? I didn't think that they did. I have an ATT plan a couple years ago that was month-to-month and got the unlimited data as part of it, but that was a monthly fixed rate. I did pay a bit more per month to go that route but if you're going to be pulling a lot of data that still might be the best approach. I think I ended up ~$85-90/month for the data plan and the lowest number of minutes I could get, including all the taxes and fees. That didn't include SMS and I have no idea what packages are available to make that work affordably.

I also do not believe that there is any plan from any carrier that offers free to any mobile phone regardless of carrier. Alltel is the closest with their MyCircle bit, but even that has a limited number of participants. Otherwise you're generally limited to folks on the same carrier.

wiredboy10003

I don't think anyone has unlimited data on prepaid either. And look closely at the T-Mobile data offering. It might only work with a Sidekick.

Here's a thought... Get a Starbucks Card when you arrive and register it with Starbucks online. That entitles you to 2 hours a day of WiFi at any Starbucks. You could do your email and surf for free. If LA and Las Vegas are like NYC, there's a Starbucks on every corner.

fredsxb

The unlimited data plan is available with Pay as you Go and If I'm not mistaken it's possible to cancel Pay as You go before the end of the first month.

From what I've read on AT&T forums, it seems to also be available with GoPhone Plans (eventhough not mentioned on the website)...

mrcamp

AT&T gophone has unlimited data plan for $19.99/month. I do not think you will be able to have the sim mailed to a Uk address though. So, you may want to try the ebay route. However, you should be able to topup with a UK issued credit card. As already mentioned, all the plans are nationwide. So, it does it cost extra to use it anywhere within the US.

sonofzeus

+1

Add or delete the service anytime.

dtsm

I have three associates flying in for 5-7 days next week and called TMO to get the following, prepaid, pay by the day, $1.00 per day minimum, $0.10 per call/minute (so after you make first call of the day, you've automatically paid for the next 9 minutes), unlimited usage after 7 pm and unlimited TMO-TMO calls, account good for 90 days, with refills in $10, $25, $100 units.

On-line the sim activation kit is $6.99, shipping free (at a TMO store it's $9.99), maximum of two per name/credit card in any 120 day period. Bought two on-line -- includes 33 minutes air time, and can buy refills by credit card on-line.

Also, they sell above prepaid pay by the day program with mobile phone(s) - YES! Different models, anywhere from $29.99 up. I ordered a Motorola 195 just now as one of our associates' phone is only good in Asia.

You can go on-line or call 1 877 695-8465 -- beware, most CS are smart and know what they're talking about, some aren't as quick on their feet

zoombee

My fave thing about T Mobile PAYG sims in the US is that once you have put on $100 in credit (which I did straight away for this reason), that and any future credits of any amount extend the sim validity by one year. So if you visit the US most years but don't live there you get to keep the number and sim card.