My partner and I are travelling to US and Canada for four months in 2015. We both need to have a phone. We have a pair of Nokia 100 that we purchased and used in the UK last year (where they worked well with a UK mobile package).

What is the easiest way to set the phones up for use as soon as we arrive in the US?

I am aware that it will be necessary to have separate packages for both countries.

I would appreciate any assistance or tips please.

You have to pay for the phones using TMobile. If you get any kind of decent phone, that will add on to the monthly cost and you will have to pay for the phones either upfront (several $100s) or over 24 months. And you will have to pay that $80 each of those 24 months. Oh, and the taxes make the $80 closer to $100 a month. Plus, service is less than great.


If you need to make calls only, get prepaid cheap phones only in both US and Canada. Do you each need a phone or can you split use?

Last year while in the U.S., I bought a phone for $14.95 at AT&T and a "Pay and Talk" plan for $25.00 monthly. When I came to Canada, it switched over to the Rogers network and I was able to use it for texting and telephoning in both countries.

Look into dual sim phones or get some sort of Virgin Mobile or Cricket plan in the US. No clue what the Canucks offer.

I see the comment above mine was removed; it was suggesting OP get TMobile, hence my reply. Not sure why it was removed, it wasn't an ad per se, but did quote the sales pitch right from T Mobile site. In any case, it was not a good idea for OP's needs.

If all you want to do is talk, get a Tracphone for less than $30. They use the Verizon tower network which covers a little more territory than the other networks. There are some "holes" here in Oregon where nobody's cell phone works.
I also like my Page Plus phone and plan ($12/month) which also uses Verizon towers.

Debit, glad you explained because I was confused by your reply.

I bought a Tracphone for $10.00 a few years ago and the reception was terrible. Plus they do not have a store so you can only add time and money online. Also Tracphone use to search for any available network but AT&T use their own. That is what I understood from the Radio Shack or is it now the Source store? Also there is a correction on my above posting. The Pay and Talk plan with AT & T was $25.00 for 3 months, not monthly.

Re T Mobile. If you have your own phone which has a removable sim card you will not need to buy a phone. TM Charge is for sim card only. There are a number of networks that you can use. Google for the mobile network suppliers and then pick a package that suits. Because we need lots of data the unlimited T Mobile suits us - it may not suit everyone.

I had a fairly new (Galaxy S3) phone from Verizon. It had a removable SIM card. I could NOT use that phone with TMobile Simple Choice Plan.

All phones except possibly"burners" have removable Sims. What many have, especially when bought through a telecoms company, is a Sim lock, preventing you from just switching provider as you want. You need to be sure the phone is unlocked.

I was interested in this thread for my upcoming trip the U.S.. So far it hasn't been very helpful.
Can you buy a pay as you go Sim card , just as you can in Europe? If so where, and which companies offer them?

Our phones are sim lock free, but our Dutch provider is really expensive to use in the U.S..

My husband and I have been very happy with our TracPhones. Bought the phones at different times at Target, a US chain store. I use a monthly automatic plan to add minutes. He gets an annual plan. Mine is a simple flip phone purchased for under $30 several years ago. I have used this phone while traveling in the United States and the only time I have had a problem with connecting to a network is sometimes in New England due to all the mountains and "holes". I haven't traveled to Canada with the phone.

Verizon allows you to add minutes to their pay as you go plan and they have the best network in US. The phones can be purchased in most large chain stores,est Buy, Target, WalMart etc.

Top up can be done over phone, at gas stations, almost everywhere.

http://m-support.verizonwireless.com...vice.tp_2.html

http://m-support.verizonwireless.com...vice.tp_2.html

DebitNM. I have a Samsung Galaxy and have no problem swapping sim-cards worldwide, - recently spent 8 weeks in USA using a TMobile sim-card. I also have 2 Nokia phones and similarly have had no problem transferring sim-cards between them. The phone must be unlocked otherwise it will not work. I used sim cards from Telstra in Australia, T Mobile In UK, Vodaphone, etc......all have worked....just insert and service is connected.

I am interested in this too, we have Australian 'smartphones' we'd like to use in the USA.

How can you tell if the phone is 'unlocked'?

If you buy a SIM for use in America (either on arrival or online prior to arrival) how do you top up the money?

Hope someone can offer advice. I'm sure there must be loads of travellers who have similar problems.

Kay

I don't doubt the TMobile SIM card can be put in a phone. I was still referring to signing up for a monthly plan, not a prepaid card, which is what you must have used. And the fact remains, tMobile cell service really lacks compared to Verizon.

Wow!! Thank you for all the responses. Also love that you 'hopped on board' too KayF and asked more questions to help me make my decision.
I had enormous trouble a couple of years ago while I was in the US. It turned out that my phone was not unlocked (even though I had applied to have it unlocked - it seems I may have missed a final confirmation step in my application - but that's another story!!). Kay, you need to speak to your provider to unlock your phones. I'm with Telstra. But make sure you check that it's unlocked before you leave Aust or you'll spend hours in a phone store in the US trying to sort it out.
I think I can only buy a pre paid SIM card as I don't have a US address - a requirement to a monthly plan.
Thanks DebitNM for the version link. Will check that out

Ring your aussie provider and ask for your phone to be unlocked. It can take a couple of days. Our first stop was NY so headed to AT&T store close to hotel and I got a sim for my smart phone. I got a limited plan so that I had data for sending emails home and could make calls and texts.
My husband didn't have a smart phone so he bought a throwaway phone so that we could contact each other when we would go separate ways. There were a number of plans depending on how long we would have been there. They were very helpful and we had no trouble whatsoever.

Did the same thing when we went to hong kong. Found a shop at the airport. Doesn't take long and the shop sets it all up. I always had data on hand and didn't have to rely on finding free Wi-Fi to email.

That's fantastic october_fun. I think that's what should have happened for me last time but the unlocking glitch caused me chaos. Thank you.