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Mobile telephone accounts for tourists in NYC and Metro Card

Mobile telephone accounts for tourists in NYC and Metro Card

Old Jan 10th, 2011, 12:19 AM
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Mobile telephone accounts for tourists in NYC and Metro Card

Hi there,
Me and my son will be in NYC within a month from Turkey and will spend two weeks there and around. We need a lot of telephone calls within NYC and it will be very very expensive with our local (Turkey) GSM operator lines. Is it possible for tourists getting a GSM mobile line from US operators? If not, fixed public telephones require coin or plastic cards?

Another Question: Our main transportation will be subway through NYC and thinking use of weekly or monthly Metrocard, Is there a way to upgrade it for using it in short distance travels like Long Island, Jersey, etc.?

Thanks in advance
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Old Jan 10th, 2011, 02:29 AM
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1, Find out if your phone is unlocked and can operate on the frequencies used in the US. If so, you can pick up a SIM card from a US GSM operator (T-Mobile and AT&T). Or, you can just buy a pre-paid phone from any operator and use it while you're here.

2. No. The NYC subway/bus system is separate from the systems that serve the suburbs.
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Old Jan 10th, 2011, 03:14 AM
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NYC subways and buses operate only within the 5 boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island). You cannot get any sort of ticket that include trains to the suburbs.

Trains to other areas - Long Island, Westchester or New Jersey are all separate and each require different tickets - which can be individual, round trip or multi-trip. But unless you will be spending a lot of time in the suburbs for some reason (visiting relatives?), I doubt you will need much of the latter, except perhaps to Newark airport.
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Old Jan 10th, 2011, 03:16 AM
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Sorry - also note that trains out to the suburbs are much more expensive than the city subway/bus system.
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Old Jan 10th, 2011, 05:02 AM
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Prepaid cell phones are cheap in NYC and can be purchased at any drugstore or cell phone store. Both TMobile and AT&T (two of our major cell providers) have several phones to choose from, but you can find a phone for under $30.

You can get a one-week Metrocard (only buy a month if you are actually going to be here for a month). But you can't extend the unlimited service to LI or NJ. However, a regular Metrocard (pay per ride, which may be more expensive than an unlimited pass) can be used on the NJ PATH system (though not NJ Transit or the Long Island Rail Road).

On weekends only, you can use the LIRR or Metro North (trains to Upstate NYC or Connecticut) to any stop within NYC for $3.75; it's called a "City Ticket". But it doesn't apply to stops outside of the city limits. But this is a cheaper way to get to, say, the northern Bronx or far eastern Queens, where the subway doesn't really go.

But your only choice for the suburbs and surrounding regions are the much more expensive train and bus systems there.
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Old Jan 10th, 2011, 12:21 PM
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As has been said, At & t and T Mobile sell SIM cards that come with a telephone number that can be used in an unlocked gsm phone. Just realize that there's no way to make both inexpensive US calls AND calls back home to Turkey. So if you need to be in touch with home, you might be better keeping the Turkey SIM in your phone from home and buying an inexpensive local pay as you go phone. Where are you staying?

Here's a link that explains metrocards for travel on subway and buses. A week's card for unlimited riding is $29/person.
http://www.mta.info/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm#unlimited
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 06:04 AM
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Mclaurie, I will travel with my 17 yrs son and stay in a Manhattan hotel (Wolcott). Sometimes we may be separated or lost each other, or we always need to call hotels, taxi, clubs for reservation,etc. For such reasons I wanted to buy two local GSM mobiles. Otherwise, you are right, we will use our previous GSM SIMs to contact Turkey.
And
from the link: http://mta.info/metrocard/where_accept.htm
I understood that MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard can be used also for all PATH and JFK airtrain. I think it is worthy to buy an unlimited weekly MTA MetroCard for subway and buses, and plus a MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard for JFK and PATH separately. (I am wrong???)
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 06:04 AM
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Mclaurie, I will travel with my 17 yrs son and stay in a Manhattan hotel (Wolcott). Sometimes we may be separated or lost each other, or we always need to call hotels, taxi, clubs for reservation,etc. For such reasons I wanted to buy two local GSM mobiles. Otherwise, you are right, we will use our previous GSM SIMs to contact Turkey.
And
from the link: http://mta.info/metrocard/where_accept.htm
I understood that MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard can be used also for all PATH and JFK airtrain. I think it is worthy to buy an unlimited weekly MTA MetroCard for subway and buses, and plus a MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard for JFK and PATH separately. (I am wrong???)
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 06:14 AM
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If you are going to be using the trains and buses a lot in nYC it pays to get an unlimited weekly metro card. ( one per person) Are you going to be going into NJ a lot that you are worried about that?

BTW don't forget that in the US ( unlike the rest of the world) you pay for BOTH incoming and outgoing cell phone calls.
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 06:24 AM
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You are correct that you will need both a pay-per-ride card and an unlimited card.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The two types of cards are identical in look. If you will be carrying both types of cards, you might want to make a mark on one type to distinguish it from the other so you don't use the wrong card by mistake.

The cards are plastic, so it is difficult to mark with a ballpoint pen. A permanent marker would work just fine. I keep a few small self-adhesive stars in my MetroCard sleeve and apply a star to my unlimited card for identification--apply on the front where the small sticker won't interfere with the card readers.
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 06:46 AM
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GoPhone is a widely available inexpensive prepaid cell phone. This link will give you an idea of the varied phones and service terms available:
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-pho...aid-phones.jsp
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 10:51 AM
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Kayd, really I am confused with those prices and afraiding I didnt understand.
Mobile phone, e.g:8 USD and plus 2 USD only for used days and unlimited to anyone nationwide.
Is it so?? There should be something more to be paid?
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 12:06 PM
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I think that is it -- yes, $2/day for any day you use it, plus the cost of the phone itself. I don't know any more details, it is just that I have seen the same info on ads in the subway.

I just tried the website and did a dummy order (up to the point where I would have to give my personal info). When you buy a phone and select the $2/day plan, you must also buy $25 worth of airtime, so an $8 phone, plus $25, plus tax means you pay about $35. You buy top-up cards for additional time as you need them (increments of $25 I think).
For you and your son, you could have two phones and all the US use you want for less than $80. If you use each phone on only 12 of the 14 days, you would not need to top up at all.
You probably would not purchase this over the internet because of your location for shipping, but if you could have it sent to a friend/relative in NY (or have them buy it before you come here), that might work.

I have also seen a display of GoPhones in Best Buy, a huge chain of electronics stores, but as I am not in the market for one myself, I did not look closely. So I am almost certain that you could find this offer or something very similar in a store (BestBuy, Target, Walmart, large chain drugstores) when you arrive in NY.
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 12:39 PM
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Since you already both(?) have GSM (SIM-based) phones, you should only need a US SIM, not an entire new phone. Check with your service provider or the handset manufacturer to verify that the devices will work in the US. (From what I understand, mostly the problem is for US handsets not to work overseas, not vice versa. My quad-band GSM phone worked just fine in both India and Italy, so it's likely your Turkish one will work here...) Look on the AT&T or T-Mobile websites for availability of prepaid SIM cards, then pick one up at a shop convenient to your hotel.

As for the Metrocards, note that pay-per-fare cards can be swiped multiple times to get more than one person through the turnstile. (The unlimited cards require a wait of 18 minutes between swipes unless a bus/subway transfer, for obvious reasons.) Since it seems you'll only need the pay-per-fare at each end of your stay, you could get one and load it for the amount you'll need for the JFK AirTrain and the PATH. Or load it for the AirTrain only, then get another or reload for your trip to NJ. (There isn't a charge for the card itself.)

When you take the JFK AirTrain from the airport, the payment is at Jamaica station at the end of the ride. Just before the turnstiles is a row of Metrocard vending machines.

If you opt to take the LIRR to Penn Station instead of the lengthier subway ride, the vending machine for those tickets is just outside the door of the AirTrain lobby, on the edge of the walkway over the LIRR platforms. (Westbound trains depart from the far platforms; transfer to the subway is via an elevator located at the far end of that LIRR walkway.)

Also note that both the subway and LIRR arrive on the lower level at Penn Station. To exit, look for signs for the Amtrak level, and then for 7th Avenue so that you walk through the station before reaching street level - it's a bit easier to maneuver than the sidewalk around Madison Square Garden, which sits over Penn Station.
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Old Jan 11th, 2011, 12:59 PM
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All are very well explained and understood. I saw New Yorkers are very helpful. Thanks all you for such a detailed information.
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