Advice please about a mobile phone!

[juliebro]

DH & I will be leaving DS (aged 18) on his own at home when we return to Florida in April. We want to be able to keep in contact with him while we are away. DH & I both have mobile phones - but neither of them are usable in the US (not tri-band or quad-band). DH's is a Virgin PAYG - mine is provided by the company I work for - and should not really be used to make personal calls - unless in emergencies.

What do you recommend as the best option for keeping in touch? Buying a new handset in the UK that is tri-band or quad-band to replace mine or DH's current handset? (not sure which we need - can you advise?) Or to wait till we are over there and buy a cheap PAYG mobile from Walmart?

Or are ther any other options to consider?


Julie

 

[Andrew Bichard]

I bought a pay-as-you-go at the Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney and then top-up cards as & when needed. Both Virgin Megastore and the Hess filling stations onsite at WDW sell top-up cards.

The phone can be re-initialized each time you go to USA.

Andrew

 

[mozzman]

if you can borrow or buy a cheap handset here then on ebay they sell florida number sim cards with $30 credit for £14.99 with free postage they will activate it when you email them so your up and running as you touch down,or your other option i gather is a track phone from walmart not sure what credit you get with it.

 

[juliebro]

if you can borrow or buy a cheap handset here then on ebay they sell florida number sim cards with $30 credit for £14.99 with free postage they will activate it when you email them so your up and running as you touch down

What sort of handset do you need? Does it need to be 'unlocked'? Has anybody had any experience of doing this?

Julie

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

This is who we use, you can buy the phones very cheap in WalMart/Target and then top up each time you go to anywhere in the uSA

http://www.tracfone.com/home_page.jsp
I just had a look and the phones we have bought the Nokia 1100's (use the zip code 34747, its an Orlando zip code) are coming out still at $9.99, or even you get the phone for free with a 60 min pre paid card for $19.99, cheap!

 

[shazy03]

We use a samsung d600 which was an old contract phone it it unlocked and tri-band and then brought a T-mobile USA sim card and $100 credit which means the credit does not expire for a whole year so every time we go over we keep the same number so people here can keep it....also once you have done the $100 top up you become a gold rewards member and get 25% extra minutes every time you add credit..

 

[mozzman]

What sort of handset do you need? Does it need to be 'unlocked'? Has anybody had any experience of doing this?

Julie

yes it will need to be a unlocked tri-band quad band phone, and i will put a report on it when i return in late march.

 

[juliebro]

Can you buy Tracfones before you leave the UK?

Julie

 

[shazy03]

Dont think so, friends brough theirs in wall mart for $15

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Can you buy Tracfones before you leave the UK?

Julie

No, you buy them form either WalMart or Target when you get there, as you also cannot pre pay the card.
Basically the way Tracfone works is that once you are at your destination in the uSA yoiu then buy your pre pay card and a local number, i.e. for where our villa is we will be allocated a 407 ---- phone number.
When (if ) you then visit say, as we do Vermont, you will be alolocated with your pre paid card a 253----- number for the phone.
ant minutes left will expire after 60 days of non use, so you either use them up or pass the card/phone on to someone else

 

[juliebro]

Thanks for all the help. Will definitely buy one of the Tracfones when we get there.

On Sunday, DH rang Virgin mobile and managed to get himself a nice new PAYG tri-band phone upgrade for only £50 - including £30 of airtime vouchers. It arrived at 8:00 am on Monday. So at least we will be able to use that (sparingly!) until we get the Tracfone sorted over there.

Julie