sim card help please leaving this week and have no idea!

[yoyo72yoyo72]

we are leaving to go to LA disney this week, will be in the usa for a month so are needing sim cards have had a million and one stories that you can buy them, cant buy them, everyone at airport has a store, noone at the airport sells them....can someone that has been give me some good info on if we can get them or not, tried to buy some on aust sites and the sites look ddgy and are expensive. looking at a month long prepaid with credit and internet, pref a t and t

 

[Lionsy]

I highly recommend USAprepaidsimcard.com.au. AT&T, and their service is fantastic. If you're leaving this week, it might be a bit of a stretch, but you can pick it up (in Sydney) or have it express posted to you. The phone SIM with the ultimate plan gives you unlimited calls and texts within USA, 2.5GB (I think) of data (at LTE speeds). The great thing is that:

• You tell them when you're landing, and the SIM is activated that day for you
• It works straight "out of the box" (with iPhones anyway), without needing to tinker with any settings
• It will last you 30 days
• You can buy an international calling pack that lets you call Australia (landlines only)
• You don't have to do anything to cancel the account at the end of your trip (you just toss the SIM in the garbage)

Have fun! How long will you spend in Disney?

 

[yoyo72yoyo72]

i tried that site and it went straight to paypal and paypal then warned me it may be a scam site so was a bit unsure. i need 3 cards so will be a bit of $$ we are in disney for a week, new york week, vegas 4 days and a bahamas cruise for a week as well

 

[Lionsy]

I'm currently in San Diego. This is the second time I've used them (last was 2 years ago), and both times it has been flawless. I don't believe it's a scam. Email them, and they reply within a few hours.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Can't help sorry, I don't worry about a phone when I am overseas.
We just took iPad and skyped home, a couple of times I used the hotel phone to use make some free local calls.
Though My son did have his mobile phone which is pre paid and as he doesn't use it much, he had over $300 credit on it, he called his father a couple of times and probably spent $20 of the credit.
To tell you the truth I couldn't even be bothered with the iPad half the time, when we were away, Better things to do than that lol.
But I understand people like to split up so a phone is handy to contact each other whilst away.

 

[PrincessInOz]

AT&T offer their prepaid plans for smart phones.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

If you have your own transportation to get around, I would recommend hitting an AT&T store. If you ask to be set up with their Go Phone plan, they will give you the SIM Card at no additional charge. They will ask for an address, but their system can cope with international travellers. You just pay the monthly amount for which plan you choose. For a month, it will come down to how much data you think you'll use. If you think it will be less than 1.5GB, then the $45 plan might well suit you and your family.

If you are using a tablet, I think they have similar plans for tablets.

 

[zanzibar138]

I don't use a phone overseas either. I always make sure I book hotels with free wifi and use Skype and facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family back home. As for splitting up, we just go old-school and arrange a time and place in advance.

 

[cola]

Basic question, but sometimes best to ask the obvious, all your phones are unlocked? I thought my phone was unlocked, as I had purchased it outright from a retail outlet (not from a phone place linked to a network carrier). First time I tried to put a US SIM in it it said it was locked, turned out my Australian Vodafone SIM had locked it!)

Best Buys have vending machines in every US airport I've been to, and they contain some prepaid SIM options. Might be worth trying one of those initially and then getting 2 more (the shops or the kiosks seem to be everywhere). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Store-Locator/Kiosk/pcmcat259500050000.c?id=pcmcat259500050000
AT&T prepaid were definitely the best option a couple of years ago (I've used them and they were great), but SIM card offers change to quickly!
Last couple of trips I have relied on the free wifi (seems to be available almost everywhere) and Australian SIM International roaming with data turned off, but try not to use the roaming. I did change my voicemail to not take messages and told people to TXT on the voicemail message, voicemail can be a killer when roaming.

 

[BecBennett]

I just bought a prepaid sim from a T Mobile store while over there. I paid $60 and got 5GB of data and unlimited calls and texts.

My phone was definitely unlocked. However if you're buying from a store they should be able to check for you before you purchase a sim card. As T Mobile's prepaid cards are non refundable.

 

[AussieNSW]

We got our sim cards through travelgear.com.au we had no problems and they provided us with some useful information.

 

[yoyo72]

thanks..ended up getting hold of usa sim and going with them...cost us $250 for 2 plans that have 4 gb internet each and unlimited calling and text back to aus. we intend on going our own way a bit when at disney and shopping (have 3 kids from 11 to 18) so will be good to call each other all the time to see where we can meet up and stuff and if the older boys want to go out on their own i can call and check up every 5 minutes without having to worry! also have plenty of gb between hubby and i to snap chat friends and upload to fvb! yay! thanks for the advice everyone. was going to try in the usa but dont have a car and want to hit disney asap and not be worrying about shopping for sims!