Prepaid SIM Cards in US?
 

I will be visiting the Minneapolis area at the end of the month, and will be bringing my tri-band GSM phone with me. I have used it there before, but the cost of local calls through my Vodafone UK service is eyewatering. Is it possible to buy a prepaid SIM card there to use in my phone? T-Mobile has the coverage I need, but I can't find anything in their website about prepaid SIMs.

Try looking on this website which I found by doing a web search.

http://www.telestial.com/products/us...usa_prepaidsim

Mclaurie, many thanks for the reference. That was exactly what I was looking for.

You're welcome :) Curious to know how it works. Will you post back after your trip? Particularly interested in whether they give you a new phone # for while you're here or whether you have to dial a bunch of #s first before dialing out.

The website you provided should answer most of your questions. I don't know whether I will decide to use the service or not, because it costs $99 for the SIM card, including $30 worth of calls. I am a frequent visitor to the US (American living in England), but will only be there for two weeks on this trip. Using my Vodafone UK SIM in the US will cost me about $2/min, so I could make 50 minutes of calls for the price of a Telestial SIM.

Telestial says you get your own phone number, so you shouldn't have to dial a bunch of #s. The drawback is, that after 60 days the card expires, and you lose the phone number unless you buy additional airtime. The minimum cost for airtime vouchers is $40 for 30 days. That means it would cost me $99 to buy the card, and at least $40 per month to maintain the number after the initial 60 day period. At those prices it is no wonder that prepaid SIMs have never become popular in the US.

Many thanks for the info you gave me. I now know that it IS possible to get a prepaid SIM in the US. When I come back for a longer period, that may be just what I need.

Thanks for the info Heimdall. It was a timely question for me as I had just finished going shopping with my Stepdad for his first mobile phone & got updated on the latest technology (including SIM which I hadn't heard of before). Sounds like you'd be better off just using your Vodafone on this trip.

Hi I found this website that sells prepaid sim cards in the USA, 2 of my friends bought from this site and according to them they got a great service. Check http://www.simcard123.com/

Hey mclaurie and heimdall.
A quick question re telestial please.
I checked out their website and from what i see or (what i think i see)is that it will cost me $19.00 for a sim card for the u.s with $10 bonus credit which i can top up with a credit card online. Is this correct????
I'm travelling to Hawaii and U.S in September and would like to be able to call home (Australia) and send and receive txt messages. I have a LG Optimus one which has gsm 850 and 1900.
So I could purchase this now and give number details etc to family etc activate it and as soon as i touch down im ready to go????????
Do you know if the service is just as good as any other providers?????
Sorry if this sounds stupid but im not really technically minded.
Ta
tb