Help me find prepaid Virgin phone cards at WDW

[PinkMagnolia]

I live in Canada, and don't want to turn on my Smartphone in the US because of roaming charge surprises. In March 2012 DH and I bought cheap ($10 each!) Virgin flip phones from Wal Mart with prepaid phone cards. They totally met our needs as far as DH and I being able to locate each other in the parks.

For our upcoming trip to WDW I need new prepaid cards -- Can I find them anywhere at WDW? Maybe at Downown Disney? Also, does anyone know if these phones expire in any way? Like I said, the last time I used them was in March 2012.

We will be flying out of Buffalo, so it would be possible to get there a bit earlier to head to a US Wal Mart there to sort it out, but if I knew that there were cards at WDW, it would save me a lot of hassle.

Thanks -- I tried calling Virgin abut got nowhere and the phones will power up, but I can't use them (even to add $$ on them) from Canada.

 

[archrd]

I am also from Canada and had thought about going this route as well. We used out phones on wifi with a google phone app while we were there the last time and it worked not too bad. I wonder if you could get phone cards at the Hess has station by downtown Disney. I know in Canada I have seen phone cards at gas stations.

 

[Best Aunt]

We will be flying out of Buffalo

Maybe your question should be, "Do any of the stores in the Buffalo airport sell pre-paid cards for Virgin cell phones?"

Perhaps someone flying out of Buffalo in the near future could check it out for you.

 

[kaytieeldr]

X

 

[PinkMagnolia]

Maybe your question should be, "Do any of the stores in the Buffalo airport sell pre-paid cards for Virgin cell phones?"

Perhaps someone flying out of Buffalo in the near future could check it out for you.

That's what I thought at first too, but I asked this question on the Canadian Trip Board a while back, and nobody had ever seen them there

 

[PinkMagnolia]

You can (at least I can, in the United States) order Virgin Mobile Top-Up cards at Walmart.com and have your purchase (redeemable code) delivered via e-mail.

This might work - thanks - I'll investigate

 

[sharadoc]

Can you just go onto Virgin's website and top up? I think you need your phone number or phone serial number.

Target.com also has Virgin cards last time I looked.

 

[aVASTGrl]

You should be able to reload online, right? I have a UK Virgin Mobile phone, and that's how I top up when I'm over there.

 

[bookbabe626]

Virgin's website won't let you use a Canadian credit card to do top-ups, or at least that's been our experience.

There is a section on their website where you can put in a zip code and locate stores that sell the cards...just use the zip code for the Buffalo airport and it will tell you the closest place to get them.

 

[aVASTGrl]

ahh ok that sucks. If there's a Best Buy around where you'll be, they definitely have them. Targets should as well, but I really don't know if there are any of either near WDW.

 

[kaytieeldr]

X

 

[PinkMagnolia]

So, I used the feature on the Virgin website and they only list "offsite" places such as Target, etc.. in Orlando or Buffalo.

I sent a quick e-mail to both airports to see if they might have them (we'll see if the get back to me with useful information)

We are using ME, so won't have a car in Orlando - which is why this is such a hassle. We also have a 6-hour drive to the Airport (for a 3:00 pm flight) so things might be tight when we arrive in Buffalo (in case of traffic, accidents, construction etc..) which is why I wanted to sort this out before.

I will try to get to the Target in Buffalo before the flight, but if that doesn't work out for whatever reason, I suppose I'll need to taxi it to the Target/Walmart in Orlando.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[PinkMagnolia]

There are Target stores near WDW, bit truly, I don't think Walmart bans purchases based on the location of one's bank. I've purchased iTunes 'cards' from the website and gotten the code via e-mail.

This does seem like the simplest solution, and I truly appreciate it, but using a CDN credit card at iTunes, payphones, mobile phone websites sets off alarms at Credit Card security offices, which I want to avoid on vacation and out-of-country! I really wish I could do this, but don't want to risk the headache

 

[Rosemc2011]

My mom used to have a prepaid virgin and she could get minutes by the phone itself with her credit card.. I guess if you can't find a card you can buy a prepaid credit card and call in.. I think they sell the phone cards at cvs and Walgreens though..

 

[Lewisc]

I'd contact Hess.

 

[kaytieeldr]

X

 

[bookbabe626]

So, I used the feature on the Virgin website and they only list "offsite" places such as Target, etc.. in Orlando or Buffalo.

I sent a quick e-mail to both airports to see if they might have them (we'll see if the get back to me with useful information)

We are using ME, so won't have a car in Orlando - which is why this is such a hassle. We also have a 6-hour drive to the Airport (for a 3:00 pm flight) so things might be tight when we arrive in Buffalo (in case of traffic, accidents, construction etc..) which is why I wanted to sort this out before.

I will try to get to the Target in Buffalo before the flight, but if that doesn't work out for whatever reason, I suppose I'll need to taxi it to the Target/Walmart in Orlando.

Thanks for the suggestions

There's a Tops about five minutes or so from the airport in Buffalo...was it on the list? Most gas stations also sell them, and we've bought our cards in Walgreens in the past. Not sure if the Hess station near DTD sells them, but if it's on the list it's only a two minute walk from the bus stop near Planet Hollywood. I don't remember seeing any cards in airports themselves at all...and we travel a lot, so I'm in a lot of airports. (Just looked at the Buffalo list...the third one, Fast Cash & Ride, is probably the closest...looks like it's less than five minutes away. If you've got time before your flight, that would likely be your best option.)

One thing that may help for future trips...buy multiple cards in smaller denominations, and then stockpile and just use as needed. Our top-up is $5/day for our myfi, so we buy $15 Virgin Mobile cards which each will cover one long-weekend trip. We try to keep at least one or two on hand at all times, so it's not essential that we find someplace that sells cards right at the start of the trip...as long as we restock before we leave the States, we're okay...

 

[bookbabe626]

But you're not using your card at any of those sites. You're using it at all-purpose, mega-retailer Walmart (well, Walmart.com) and there shouldn't be any flag on that. Instead of getting a physical piece of merchandise - card - either handed (B&M store) or shipped to you, you'll be getting the activation code via e-mail.

You have no idea how much of a PITA some Canadian credit card companies can be. We've had ours frozen more than once because I made multiple purchases from Amazon in the same day, and that was even through the Cdn version of them, not the US one. Add in the uncertainty of whether a US retailer will even accept a Cdn credit card via their website, and it's just not worth the hassle most times...

 

[Lewisc]

Make it easy. You're driving to BUF? 7-11 has top off cards. Looks like there are at least 3 locations near the airport.

Many (most?) drugstores (CVS, Walgreens) and supermarkets have racks of gift cards and cards for pre-paid cell, including Virgin. Sometimes they're all in one place and sometimes the cell cards are on a different rack then the gift cards.

My guess is the Virgin site lists locations which get the stuff direct from Virgin. I suspect there is a wholesaler/service which fills the racks with a large variety of cards in other stores.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You have no idea how much of a PITA some Canadian credit card companies can be. We've had ours frozen more than once because I made multiple purchases from Amazon in the same day, and that was even through the Cdn version of them, not the US one. Add in the uncertainty of whether a US retailer will even accept a Cdn credit card via their website, and it's just not worth the hassle most times...

Giving up except to say that was probably done for your own protection, and that the WORST - the absolute worst - that could possibly happen is that Walmart.com wouldn't let you complete the purchase.