Best Phone option for travel to USA

[L-J]

Hi all!

I am going to the USA for just over a month somewhat soon, and I was looking into what mobile device, if any, would be most appropriate for my travels?

I would really only use it to receive incoming calls from Australia, and sending and receiving SMS from Australia. It would also be very handy to have some data (not a great deal is needed).

These are the options I've seen (Note, I have an iPhone 4 and require a micro sim):
- I'm on Optus here, but roaming charges are ridiculous!!!
- I've looked at Flight Centre's "eKit" range, and was looking at the "Passport" service. This is OK, considering it is free to receive incoming calls, but costs $0.69 per SMS. There is also NO data.
- I was looking into Prepaid sim cards once I arrive in the USA, but I'm not sure where to begin looking. There are a few I've seen, but I just don't know which looks decent.
- Otherwise would it be best to leave my iPhone 4 here, and buy a pre-paid sim and phone bundle once in the US? This seems a bit of a waste, as it's only 5 weeks I'm there, and it costs more...

Are there any suggestions? I'm a little confused at this stage :-|

Cheers,


LJ.

 

[Masonic Phantom]

Hi LJ,

I will also watch this thread with interest.

M.P.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Ive used the AT&T Go Phone plans (prepaid) for a few years and they worked fine, i just used my own phone (that is an option)..

Last few years i have been on someone else's plan so has been handy, but late this month i am back to the USA again for 6 days and I no longer have this plan available. so will need to work out what i am doing too.

need to dust out the old Go Phone paperwork and see if its the best way to go..

 

[Blackadder]

A prepaid sim would be the best wsy to go, probably the likes of AT&T or Verizon, also take advantage of the free WI-FI hotspots.

 

[Homer]

A prepaid sim would be the best wsy to go, probably the likes of AT&T or Verizon, also take advantage of the free WI-FI hotspots.

Bear in mind that an Aussie iPhone 4 is a GSM unit so can only work with the AT&T network in the US. Verizon’s is a CDMA network.

 

[Archphoto]

I'd also go the local sim route, and divert my AU number to the US one.

Optus offers (offered?) the amount of your phone contract against the diverted calls before charging them out. My family calls me on my AU number at present and it uses the initial amount I pay before ticking over to Intl. rates.

Any of the providers will be able to advise you on the "best" way to go the data route as well. I've used AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile (now part of AT&T) over the years and built up quite a collection of sims! :shock:

Local sims save you loads on roaming, but note that both incoming and outgoing calls get charged.

 

[cove]

Because I am in the US a bit I have an I phone 3 for $200 that runs on a pre-paid basis of 10 cents a minute on T mobile.
Now that is not the greatest user rate but it suits my low irregular usage for US calls.
I use the Telstra calling card for calls back to OZ because it always works and costs about 25 cents a minute that gets charged to my home phone.
In each case you can get cheaper but all I want is for it to always work and that there are no complications with it working.
I use my I Pad at hot spots which have sprung up everywhere in California like Starbucks and shopping centre food halls.

 

[cove]

Homer,the AT&T I Phone issue can be "fixed" so you buy it fixed in the US.
I dumped the $100 cheapie I bought from Costco as it was too hard to text without a keypad.

 

[Homer]

Homer,the AT&T I Phone issue can be "fixed" so you buy it fixed in the US.

Sorry cove I don’t understand what you mean. My point was that the OP has an iPhone and so can only use an AT&T SIM because it’s a GSM SIM/network. How can you “fix” that?

 

[Archphoto]

I'd go the AT&T sim - it saves the hassle of spending extra on yet another phone and they top-ups are readily available.

Save the $200 on the extra phone and put it towards the cost of the diverted AU calls to the US number.

 

[cove]

I think that there is a way to break open that I Phone device and that is the way I bought it.
I did not ask what was done to it as I have zero technical skill. All I did was make a couple of calls to see it worked.
I dont need a $40 or more a month service when I am not in the US so my 2 year old model US I Phone runs on a pre-paid.
I use this phone to dial the Telstra 1 800 number Telstra calling card details to get connected with OZ as most cell phones in the US dont come with a service that allows you to call out of North America.
It was just too difficult to try to use the numerical keys for texting when I knew that old technology was long gone.
All I wanted was something that works each and every time and that is what I achieved.

 

[Archphoto]

I think that there is a way to break open that I Phone device and that is the way I bought it.
I did not ask what was done to it as I have zero technical skill. All I did was make a couple of calls to see it worked.
I dont need a $40 or more a month service when I am not in the US so my 2 year old model US I Phone runs on a pre-paid.
I use this phone to dial the Telstra 1 800 number Telstra calling card details to get connected with OZ as most cell phones in the US dont come with a service that allows you to call out of North America.
It was just too difficult to try to use the numerical keys for texting when I knew that old technology was long gone.
All I wanted was something that works each and every time and that is what I achieved.

Sounds like it was Jailbroken - lets you use it everywhere along with removing all those restrictions that are in place. A friend here in TH had his done - works great, except he had to reset when it accidentally updated ( I had to do on my Mac for him). :shock:

So now all updates are denied - he's happy and it works well.

 

[Maca44]

I travel to the USA at least once a year, and need a phone mostly so the kids can contact me, but also for local calls. I buy a phone card to call Australia, and because of the roaming costs I refuse to take that option, so I buy a cheap cell phone from a large department store. They cost about US$49 which includes about 300 minutes of talk time, afterwhich you can top up via the internet. With the number of calls I make this usually lasts me close to a month in any event. Take an iPad or an 10" laptop such as Asus which you can pick up for a couple of hundred these days, and get hotspots at Maca's, Starbucks etc. Plenty of places to check emails and surf the net.

 

[cove]

Maca44 yes that is where I started and for a once a year deal that works fine.

Roaming charges are totally off the wall so leaving your Australian phone open will do serious wallet damage.

 

[DC3]

I have an unlocked iphone 3 (unlocked by Telstra when I rang to tell them that I was travelling overseas and needed it to be unlocked. There was no problem with this, and there was no charge involved).

This time last year I visited the USA. In downtown Los Angeles, I went to a T-Mobile store (not a 'kiosk') and bought a data sim card with some credit attached. The guy at T-Mobile was very helpful and got it up and running on the spot. I can't recall the costs, but I thought it reasonable at the time.

The voice/data plan was month to month and credit was topped up by purchasing T-mobile cards at convenience stores/supermarkets. There were no coverage problems in LA, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Seattle or Anchorage.

 

[cove]

Yes DC3 T Mobile gives really good coverage.

 

[schomers87]

If your thinking about going the pre-paid sim for the iphone on at&t. this is your bible.

MacTalk - Ask MacTalk - Using an iPhone in the USA

Fantastic resource

 

[cove]

Schomers87 that is a very helpful post on IPhone use.

I did not have that info when I did my US phone and I leave it in the flat in California for visitors to use which is a bit different from someone going to the US once a year. I should be there multiple times this year.

 

[pshepvic]

Be careful with AT&T - I bought a pre-paid SIM and added the $20 data pack for my iPhone and it doesn't work.

They don't support data on smartphones with pre-paid - don't know what other phone you'd really want to use data on anyway! So I ended up with a AT&T SIM for the iPad for internet use, and only made calls & sent texts on the phone.

 

[cartz]

There is a work around to enable data on iphones with AT&T prepaid. Just need to edit the APN settings. One option for doing this is given in the link that Schomers87 posted. You can also use the iPhone Configuration Utility that can be downloaded from Apple's website. See instuctions on www dot amirnaor dot com/?p=49. This worked perfectly with my unlocked iPhone 3GS from Telstra.