cellphone rental
 

hi,
i will be traveling to the usa for 2 weeks , can anyone please help me with info. on renting a cellular phone for the 2 weeks.

i am looking for the cheapist and best company to deal with

Thanks

Where are you visiting in the US? I have a couple of old US GSM phones without SIM cards in my junk drawer. If you can get a SIM card you can have the phone.

sorry, but i am more looking for a company that i can have service with too
thanks

Renting a cell phone is never economical and not really a good idea. The offer of an unlocked phone for free into which you can put a SIM card that you buy here is a very kind offer. Otherwise, your best bet is buying a cheap "go phone" at a Walmart or some place similar. Just so you know, a SIM card which you can buy from AT & T or T Mobile is the same as buying service.

It would also help to know where in the US you will be traveling and check to see if you will get good service in those places from the same provider.

I did do this before allready where i rented a phone for like 10-15 us dollers a day and got unlimited usage on it.
it worked out great last time but i dont rememeber the company name.

10 or 15 a day for 2 weeks ($140-200) will cost you MUCH more than buying a prepaid phone with service!
Some of the phones with prepaid service to look at
Virgin mobile
Tracfone
t-mobile

You buy a phone (for $20 - $50 for somthing basic) and then you buy a certain number of minutes, which are actually good for about 2-3 months. If you are not planning on using a huge number of minutes per day,, you can do the whole deal for about $60-$70, plus you can keep the phone for a future trip, or sell or give it to someone else.
How many minutes a day do you think you'll really need, remembering that in the US you pay for incoming calls as well?

$10-15/day is a fortune of money! For 2 weeks, that's $200. You can take J62 up on his offer and then just buy a SIM card for service or buy your own phone for $15-40 and a SIM card and then you own the phone for future trips.

I agree! Buying an inexpensive phone with prepaid airtime is the better way to go. T-Mobile <http://tinyurl.com/2gu7dk> has a phone for $39.99 with $25 worth of airtime included. That's a deal!

Thats my point, since in the US you pay for incoming too
i did this ones and i kept on adding cards
BTW i did find that company that has unlimited usage on the cell phone
the site is rentusamobile.com

for me paying $15 a day is way cheaper that keep on buying cards
pluse they do have deals if you take it for more then a few days

wow, you must be making and receiving a LOT of calls to make it worthwhile
At t-mobile, 1000 minutes cost $100, plus the cost of the phone. Hope your plan works for you

Hi, davidgo,

I have a mobile phone you can rent from me for ten dollars a day. I will give you all the minutes you can eat and I will laugh at the bank.

nyer
let me ask you , by going with t-mobile its costing me $100 for the card and $100 or more for the phone now with the 1000 min. getting dividing it in my 14 day trip it comes out to a lil more then a hour a day

now by going with that phone rental it will cost me $195 and i have unlimited

doesn't it make more sense ?

Not sure how it is with prepaid, but my US cell plan (Verizon) has a finite number of minutes from the hrs of 6am-9pm m-f, but unlimited airtime nights and weekends.

Smart US cell phone users have become very used to those plans and use the unlimited time for long phone calls, but watch usage during daytime hrs.

davidgo, if the math works for you...

Someone here posted a phone that's $40 and includes $25 worth of minutes. And you keep the phone.
I sure wouldn't use 1000 minutes in only 2 weeks, and as you can see by the responses, it looks like most people on vacation wouldn't expect to be spending an hour a day making or receiving calls.You asked for opinions on the cheapest and best deal people could suggest, and that's what people have done. Different plans work for different people. If its the best for you, go for it!You just won't convince many of us.

(and fellow Fodorites, is this where I get to be cynical , noting that this is davidgo's only post?? Nah...)

davidgo,

You've made your point well. With your choice in phones (>$100 vs offer for free phone), and calling patterns (need to be on phone more than 1hr every day), a $200 2 week rental sounds like the best deal.

ipod_robbie thanks

And i did check with them and the unlimited is not just for the night hours it is for all 24 hours,

Thay even put it in there own words that i can press the send button on the phone when i get it and be on it all 14 days 24 hours a day and end the call after the 14 days and only be charged $15 a day.
and by doing this thay throw in a free day for me.

i really think it is the best deal out there.

nyer

Thank you, and sorry if I got you upset however I do have a company that I own and I do need to be on the phone more then a hour a day and having the convenience of not to worry about the minutes .

sorry guys but can I jump into this thread with a question.
I will be in the US mid Nov. I have an unlocked phone but am not sure it will work in to States. I want to buy a SIM as soon as I get into San Francisco airport. If it doesn't work I'll pick up a cheap phone.
Question is, can I do that at the airport or do I need to go shopping after we've settled in at our hotel?

suedownunder


for how long with you be in the usa ?
and how many min. will you be using?