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?

Davidgo,
we'll be in US for almost 2 weeks and more than anything I will need it to text my daughter back home. I don't anticipate lots of actual calling.

suedownunder-
If you have an unlocked GSM phone, all you have to do is get a US SIM card with prepaid minutes and start using it. T-Mobile is but one company that has a prepaid "starter set" available. Although, incoming calls WILL be charged, unlike Australia.

A little over 2 years ago, I did the reverse of what you want to do, and it worked out quite well. I bought an unlocked GSM phone here and an Optus SIM card for Australia. A month later, when I returned home, I bought a US SIM card (through T-Mobile) and started using it...and still do.

You will have absolutely no problems!

I'm really confused by the costs being discussed here. AT&T Wireless has several Go phones with pay-as-you-go plans for $40 to $60 for the phone, then .25 per minute for calls (or $1 per day plus .10 per minute for calls).

Virgin Mobile has similar service, though these are not GSM phones and will not work anywhere but the US.

It seems to me that any of these options is cheaper than $200 for 2 weeks.

Am I missing something here?

You just walk into any AT&T Mobile store, pay about $60 and walk out with a phone and $20 worth of talk time. Unless you plan to use the phone constantly, I just can't imagine using that many minutes over a 2-week vacation.

davidgo, you did not upset me, just confuse many people here. You may be in a situation where the plan you suggest works, but you did not explain in your original post what the situation is . The company you suggest would be much more expensive to use for most travelers than all the other choices given here.
Live and let live!

Dear Doug_Stallings

You are right with your point if you are a very low user, however think about with a AT&T phone if you use your phone for 2 hours only a day (a 24 hour period) and paying 10 cents per min. you will be paying $182 for usage and the $1 daily rate. Plus the cost of a phone, and running around to refill your cards and that’s more then the $195 with that unlimited company.

I do have a company that I need to receive calls from and I cannot be on a limit.

suedownunder

Keep in mind that the USA cell phone companies charge a lot for international text.

You didn't explain in your initial post that you are going to be using the phone constantly for business. I thought you were on vacation, so that's a very differen thing. I missed the post about needing to be on the phone an hour daily. And I know you'll be charged separately for text messages at about .05 per message on AT&T.

I guess for piece of mind, having unlimited minutes is what you need just in case you are on the phone for 2 hours a day, though I just did the math, and one hour a day at .10 per minute plus $1 per day comes out to $98 for 2 weeks. Add $40 for a phone, and $50 for 1000 text messages, and that's still considerably under $200.

But I see your point.

dear Doug_Stallings

you see thats my point,
With all your calculations it comes out to $188 (that’s only $7 less then rentusamobile.com )
And you can only talk for 1 hour a day.

For $7 more you have the conformability of have unlimited minutes and without having to run around to fill up cards

So you tell me, what makes more sense?

This starting to smell a lot like a thinly disguised ad for one cell phone rental co.

I must admit many of us took dg to be a legit poster, but the veil has fallen.

We get it davidgo, your cell phone rental co may be a good deal in certain, very limited circumstances. For the general traveling public, however, it is clearly not.

Now please take your advertising elsewhere.

Guys,
I can see how this thread has degenerated but I still have 2 questions that I need answered please.
Do T Mobile and AT & T have kiosks in airports or do I have to find a shopping mall. My first stop is San FRancisco.
Also does anyone have any idea what charges would be for international texts.
thanks

suedownunder-
I can't recall that mobile phones are sold at airport kiosks. (There may be rare exceptions, however. Just not aware of them.)

If you go T=Mobile's web site, you will see that phone and/or accessories can be shipped to you. I assume AT&T does this too. Perhaps you could arrange to have your phone shipped to the hotel where you will be spending your first night in SF.

Sorry, I have no information on charges for international texts.

Most airports have cell phone stores, but I don't know if you'll find specific kiosks devoted to Tmobile or AT&T specifically. What you'll probably find is a general store that sells a lot of different kinds of phones, including Go Phones by AT&T and pre-paid phones by Tmobile.

But I don't think it's likely that you'll find these stores in the arrivals section ... they are usually in departure shopping areas. But SF will have many, many cell phone stores. If you ask at your hotel desk (assuming your hotel is somewhere in a normal tourist area of SF), I would wager you'll find a store within a 5-minute walk of your hotel, especially if you are staying in the Union Square area.

International text messages usually cost somewhere between .05 and .10 in the U.S. You should check with you own mobile provider. You might not have to pay extra to send a text message while roaming in the U.S. if you have a GSM phone, so if you are mostly going to do text messages and save the phone for emergencies, it might not really pay to buy a U.S. phone.

>having to run around to fill up cards
Nobody needs to do this, of course you pick a SIM card with auto recharge from your credit card.
If you want GSM buy a T-Mobile prepaid (I'd prefer www.tuyo.com because you'll get that 10ct/min rate).

Recharging will be done automatically from your CC, no furter intervention or rental nonsense needed. Have the card sent to your home address before you leave. (Tuyo SIMs with $10 preloaded cost $8. Ebay's your friend here.) Make a phonecall to activate the card and leave your CC number for the automated recharge. THAT'S ALL!

Thanks for all the tips guys.
Doug I imagine I will find a store within minutes once I stow my luggage and go for a walk.
Logos999 makes a good point about recharging so I will look into buying one online.
I bought an international SIM online last year but it was troublesome and the charges were outrageous.
Will investigate further,thanks

Davidgo's situation aside, the typical vacationer is probably still better off using his/her own GSM phone and just paying the roaming charge.

To call home, buy pre-paid calling cards, which will give you about an hour's talk-time for $5 or so.

Think about it this way: Even if you made 50 2-minute calls over 2 weeks at $1.50 per minute, you'd still spend only $150, and I doubt you can buy a phone and plan for that. If you use a combination of pay phones and toll-free numbers, you can save even more. I guess I just don't understand the mindset of spending huge amounts of money thinking you're going to be using your phone constantly when on vacation.

>$150, and I doubt you can buy a phone and plan for that.

Doug, there are numerous offers in the US at Walmart, 7/11 and others that sell phones activate them and give you a new number for $20 to $40. I myself bought a $35 Alltel phone with $20 calling credit years ago. When I come back to the US I get it reactivated for free and 2 hours talking time for free. If you already own a phone, a SIM with $10 airtime, activation included costs $8. A minute to european landlines (direct dial) is 12ct/min with this offer.
You won't have a problem at all, unless you want to use data, which seems to be a problem for a tourist to get.