Buying pay as you phones for the States in advance

wheres me jumpa · 22-08-2007 2:15pm #1

Can anyone recommend a site where I can buy pay as you phones for use in NY to be delivered to my Irish address, if thats possible?

Our man in Havana · 23-08-2007 3:17pm

Easier just to go into a Wal Mart and buy one. Only $30 and you get $10 credit. The problem is they have to be activated in store and you must call the network up from the new phone in order to obtain a number for your phone.

neacy69 · 23-08-2007 3:25pm

im goin to the states in november and was hoping to maybe buy or get one for free off one the many J1'ers who will be coming home from the states with sim cards

Our man in Havana · 23-08-2007 3:38pm

Is it really worth the hassle when they cost so little. Also you have no choice over the area code the phone is assigned to.

Tony · 24-08-2007 9:04am

I have a spare Nokia and travel to the states quite a bit, is there anywhere I can just buy a pre pay sim card?

neacy69 · 24-08-2007 9:08am

Tony wrote:

I have a spare Nokia and travel to the states quite a bit, is there anywhere I can just buy a pre pay sim card?

walmart, Duane Reade's , CVS, target..... all have cheap SIM's i think virgin is the cheapest

Tony · 24-08-2007 9:14am

neacy69 wrote:

walmart, Duane Reade's , CVS, target..... all have cheap SIM's i think virgin is the cheapest

Thanks

wheres me jumpa · 24-08-2007 11:17am

Myself and my gf are going to the States, I wanted to buy us a phone each as a gift beforehand. I think il just go with a hotel for a week!

dingding · 26-08-2007 12:54am

Got a US sim from a company a couple of years ago, just checking and I deleted the email from them, so I can't give the contact details.

Just to be aware, when calling Ireland it may be cheaper to roam on an irish network as your US sim will be charges to recieve the call and the people calling will have to dial a US number.

I think the incomming phone charges are quiet expensive.

I will have another look for the contact details (I think I came accross the company on Boards), don't think it worked out any cheaper that roaming, also if you did not use the phone in a few months the sim was cancelled so you were paying the sim and delivery charges for each trip.

Tony · 26-08-2007 10:17am

Thanks, all I really need it for is outgoing and incoming local calls. I've looked at the trac phones but would rather use a phone that i'm used to.

dingding wrote:

Got a US sim from a company a couple of years ago, just checking and I deleted the email from them, so I can't give the contact details.

Just to be aware, when calling Ireland it may be cheaper to roam on an irish network as your US sim will be charges to recieve the call and the people calling will have to dial a US number.

I think the incomming phone charges are quiet expensive.

I will have another look for the contact details (I think I came accross the company on Boards), don't think it worked out any cheaper that roaming, also if you did not use the phone in a few months the sim was cancelled so you were paying the sim and delivery charges for each trip.

dingding · 26-08-2007 5:08pm

Most of the pre-pay phones are very basic motorolla models with the occasional very basic nokia.

Any Tri-band Irish Phone should be fine, or better still a quad band.

I think the way the american mobile system works, they use the same area codes for land-lines and mobiles. The mobile phone user pays the mobile premium for sent and recieved calls.

As other posters said, any wal-mart, wallgreens etc, will have mobile phones, did not come accross sims. The phones are cheap 30 - 50 dollars, and there will be details in the shop about the tarrifs etc for each carrier.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=133261 link to the walmart mobile phone section.

You could have a browse and get the one most suits your needs.

Cheers

Buying pay as you phones for the States in advance

Comments