Sim Card in US

thebackbar

Hi

Im going to america soon, for around 12 days (NY specifically).

I wonder is it possible to buy a prepaid sim card so that i can use a mobile out there ?

Has anyone done this before ?

Ive done bit of googling but Ive not seen anything cheap enough (below 100 dollars)

yes you can if your phone is unlocked

Your Irish phone sim should work in NY too at least for texting and definitely for bill pay-but making and receiving calls is expensive.

BC

Also you need to make sure you have a triband and not just a dual band phone.

thebackbar

Ok thanks, Ive a triband phone, but how much are the prepaid sim cards ?

Benedict XVI

thebackbar wrote:

Ok thanks, Ive a triband phone, but how much are the prepaid sim cards ?

I just saw on teh t-Mobile (www.tmobile.com) website that you can get a prepaid phone for $50.
Why don't you do that. Just go into any phone shop there and get one.

Marathon_Man

Most shop people working for the networks haven't a clue and lots don't sell sims.

Cingular worked fine for me in the summer.

the whole year inn

Cinglular worked fine for me and its true those lads behind the counter had not a clue what they were doing. Check out the different opinions they are doing i think messages to cingular to cingular were free.

gob_smacked

Ruu_Old

i second t-mobile, they are indeed $50 and that has some amount of minutes on it. it'll last you the while you are there. have fun

Our man in Havana

only $40 in Walmart.

neacy69

spent the summer in NY so fot a load of info when i was there

go to duane reade and you can get a VirginMobile Handset and Number for $39.99 otherwise you can get a T-mobile card (they are one of the few pre-paids who dont charge a daily service charge) for $50 with 30 minutes of airtime. Be warned though the charges for calls is pretty expensive and all networks charge you for receiving calls on a minute-by-minute basis...

SMS is ok no charges for receiving (t-mobile) and cost bout 1.5-2mins for a text to ireland- everything is charged in minutes and your balance or topups are always in minutes also.

idontknowmyname

don't bother with a pre-paid sim in the US. I got a pre-pay phone in the US when I was on J1- the cost will kill you. I was getting $25 cards and the money would be gone in a few days and I wasn't even using it that much. You get charged big bucks for incoming calls and outgoing calls, just use your Irish sim, works out so much cheaper. I've just returned from LA for 2 weeks and just used my phone, no problems, had full reception the whole time