Temp cell phones?

[bdoyledimou]

Does anyone know is if you can still buy Trac phones or other cheap disposables in the US? DW list her Galaxy S4 yesterday and we leave tomorrow and will need a phone to communicate

 

[3mama3]

I'm hoping to purchase tracfones as well!!

 

[mamabear0222]

What is this you speak of??

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[amie416]

Looks like WalMart has Trac Phones:

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_query=trac+phone&Find=Find&search_constraint=0&_be_switches=reviews_flagn

 

[mamabear0222]

I saw that. What's the min cost with a prepaid card? You can put a us plan on your phone here in Canada if you don't plan on using it a whole lot

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[Snibs2412]

We have purchased the $15 Verizon flip phones from Wal-Mart, and buy the $15 refill cards. We just top them up when we cross the border and off we go. Texting is more laborious than our iPhones, but considering the money we save (we are with Bell), it is worth it.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Disaster averted while packing dw dropped something down the side of the bed, and voila there was her phone!!!

 

[mamabear0222]

We have purchased the $15 Verizon flip phones from Wal-Mart, and buy the $15 refill cards. We just top them up when we cross the border and off we go. Texting is more laborious than our iPhones, but considering the money we save (we are with Bell), it is worth it.

The data/voice plan with Bell and Rogers is about the same.

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[Snibs2412]

Not really. For Bell it's $40/mth for unlimited texting, and they don't pro-rate it if you're there for a shorter time. If I wanted to be able to text my husband and daughter, they would also need the same plan. I'd much rather pay $15 each, not $40!!

 

[amie416]

Another strategy for cell phones is to buy a decent pay-as-you-go phone in the US and load it with $100, which will keep the phone active for an entire year on most providers' plans. As long as you reload your account before that year is over, you don't lose any of the unused credit in your account; the balance always carries over. I it definitely works with Virgin Mobile (US) and T-Mobile, and I think Verizon too.

This is good for anyone who visits the US a few times per year, or if you have friends and family traveling at different times, you lend them the phone and split the cost of the credit.

 

[mamabear0222]

Not really. For Bell it's $40/mth for unlimited texting, and they don't pro-rate it if you're there for a shorter time. If I wanted to be able to text my husband and daughter, they would also need the same plan. I'd much rather pay $15 each, not $40!!

But it isn't $15 each is it? Isn't it $15 for the phone and $15 for the plan? So $30 each person US?

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[Snibs2412]

Yes, you're right about that. But the initial $15 investment in the phone has served us for at least a couple of years, with multiple trips to the US. If we text (even back to Canada), rather than call each other, we can easily get by with the $15 refill cards, and have money left over. Yes, we have wasted a little cash that way, but Bell gets enough from us already.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I have purchased numerous TracFones over the years and they're definitely worth it for us. Purchased 3 the last time we were in Buffalo and have them put aside to activate once we cross the border next week. We are a group of 6 traveling together and the TracFones allow us to call and text one another inexpensively and also calling home is much less than adding an international plan to our Rogers and Telus phones.

For us they do the trick! Not as east to text as my normal phone but worth the learning curve and extra patience.

We buy phones for $9.99 (sometimes on sale for $7.99) and then a $19.99 card for each phone. This gives us 120 minutes of call time. You can send 3 texts per minute of air time.

Hope this helps!

The one challenge I do find is that the TracFone site does not like my Canadian CC so it's easier to purchase the cards at the store and then add them. Just my experience.

 

[wdwmike59]

The one challenge I do find is that the TracFone site does not like my Canadian CC so it's easier to purchase the cards at the store and then add them. Just my experience.

Same here! A bit of a pain, but still works out way cheaper. We shop in Buffalo several times a year so picking up refill minutes is not a problem.