Pay as you Go phones

[Colfireman]

Has anyone purchased US pay as you go phones and how did it work out for you? I spend $80.00+ everytime I travel to the states on my rogers phone. It looks like I can get two phones for half the price and communicate with the rest of my party while we are down in Disneyland. If you have please give me your thoughts on which carrier worked the best. I tried to purchase phones but they will not ship to Canada and they will not deliver to a US address if the credit card does not match the ship to address. My only option is to purchase them while I am down in disneyland.

 

[PinkMagnolia]

We bought 2 Virgin phones from US Wal-Mart for $10 each -- then added a $10 phone card onto them. Not the best phones (flip phones...and when DH was in the washroom once the call ouldn't pick up ) But it was nice for both of us to have a phone and have no "surprises" when we got back.

The card expired in 6 months.

Before we went, I actually called a few places from home (you can find their phone numbers online). One woman from Publix was super helpful and told me that tonnes of Canadians buy phones (cheap ones, like I"m talking about) then just throw them out, or RAOK them

FYI, the prices were about the same at Target, Publix and Wal-Mart (around $10 for the phone then you choose your card). I also called a Wireless place at the Orlando Airport, but they were SUPER expensive (like around $100 would set you up with a pay-as-you-go phone)

 

[Nigel8600]

Yup, I agree, go to walmart and pick up disposable phones. They have at least 5 different companies there now. See which one suits your needs. If you hate disposable you can always go to t-mobile, pick a monthly plan for the visit down there, have your data and use it too.

T-mobiles sim only plans

 

[Colfireman]

I think i will look into Walmart then. I have a friend that is heading to Seattle this weekend and he could pick up phones for me. Has anyone tried to activate online while in Canada? How difficult is it to register? If i can get them early, i can ensure they are charged and rready from the get go.

 

[bankr63]

We have two PAYG phones (TracFone/Net10). We don't throw them out however. Just tuck them away between trips, and then buy more minutes when we head down again. The phones cost about $20 ea. Minutes are $20-25 dollars per trip.

To activate you need to be within range of a US tower. It is possible to activate without actually crossing the border, but you need to be close enough to get a signal. If I want to do it in advance, I can head about an hour south of Ottawa to do it; gives me the advantage of getting international dialling to work quicker (that option can take a few days to enable on our carrier). Not sure how far a drive it is for you to the WA border, but you probably don't need to cross over.

This year I'll probably pick up a couple of cards on our summer trip down to the US in August, or maybe our Christmas shopping trip in Nov, then activate them a week or so before we fly down in March. That way we'll be up and ready when we get off the plane.

 

[cari12]

Do these types of phones have data as well? Just thinking for using the Disney apps etc. while in the parks. Or will this cost substantially more?

 

[PinkMagnolia]

Do these types of phones have data as well? Just thinking for using the Disney apps etc. while in the parks. Or will this cost substantially more?

The $10 WalMart phone was the cheapest phone you could get -- An old-fashioned flip phone. Nothing fancy. We only needed it to use as "walkie talkies" in the parks between DH and I, and I also put these US cell no. in the pocket of my kids' shorts in case they got lost, they could give the no. toa CM and we'd be in contact.

I do have a Smart Phone (with Virgin) and have some Disney apps on it, but after talking to Virgin over the phone, it got complicated (and expensive) to add US service, data, etc.. I'm no phone expert, but if you want this kind of service, I'd bet you'll pay a lot more for it.

Also, to the OP -- I'd ask questions before getting your phones in Seattle, then using them in California -- would you be paying long-distance when you're in California because the phone has a Seattle area code?

 

[Colfireman]

I was think of that as well. I had heard that when you are registering the phones, give them the zip code of the Hotel and it should not be an issue. Apparantly you have the option to register them online.

 

[bankr63]

I was think of that as well. I had heard that when you are registering the phones, give them the zip code of the Hotel and it should not be an issue. Apparantly you have the option to register them online.

That is correct, but you can give your real address, or at least we did. Net10 had no problem accepting a Canadian address. It asks you what area you will mostly use the phone in, and assigns you a number in that area code.

 

[Paulakoala]

Has anyone purchased US pay as you go phones and how did it work out for you? I spend $80.00+ everytime I travel to the states on my rogers phone. It looks like I can get two phones for half the price and communicate with the rest of my party while we are down in Disneyland. If you have please give me your thoughts on which carrier worked the best. I tried to purchase phones but they will not ship to Canada and they will not deliver to a US address if the credit card does not match the ship to address. My only option is to purchase them while I am down in disneyland.

I don't know what plans Rogers has; we are with Telus and three of the five of us that will be going to DLR (in 16 days - eeeek!) have iphones. We've opted to add Telus' unlimited text package to my phone for $40/30 days (as opposed to $0.60 per text) so we can stay in contact with the non-iphone members of our party. All non-iphone communications get to go through my phone. Between the iphones we have imessage, which does go on data but $5/mb for data gives us about a thousand imessages so we'll just suck up the data fee on that.

The hotel has free wireless so we will turn off emails and such during the day and only check on the wireless to avoid data charges that way. We've considered getting Tracphones or similar but decided to stick with what we've got for now.