View Full Version : mobile phones
traceya89
06-08-2004, 05:37
can you get mobile phones on pay as you talk in the usa or can you use an english phone and put an american sim card in??? wondering as probably easier to contact friends by phone in the park than by walkie talkies if a few people in party!
You can buy a pay as you go mobile but they are more expensive in the long run than brit ones as the prepayment has an expiry date .You can do as I do and take a triband phone with you and pay a lot higher fee to use it from there per minute .Also you can buy a sim card to use providing you have an unlocked triband phone .I enquired this year and was quoted $70 for a sim card with about 30 mins of calls on it .Best bet is to do as we do and get a phone card and use the mobile for texting only unless you are in an emergency .I am so surprised that in USA phone calls on mobiles are dearer than UK ,also land line calls .USA is fast becoming far too expensive for its own good with more hidden charges than ever .
Silver Dollar
06-08-2004, 08:03
I've recently come against the same problem as you because I'm here for a few months. I dont recommend the Tracfones here...charges are astronomical. You'd be better off buying your phone in England on a triband basis and using it here. My sister used hers here and had no problem. Also some people buy those BT cards which allow you to use the phones here and be charged on your phone bill.
If you are in the parks and want to keep in touch, do what I did, go to Walmart and buy a set of walkie talkies which cost me around $15 for the two. They were excellent and had a radius of 3 miles or so. They also had 22 channels which meant I could keep in touch with my kids on Channel 1, my sis on Channel 2 and so on. It made life so much more easier.
Sprint do a telephone package for unlimited long distance calls and i really think that for the prices most villa owners charge, it would really be pretty helpful if they would take that on board and provide fully working phones for visitors. It would solve a lot of problems for holidaymakers.
traceya89
07-08-2004, 03:46
i took a walkie talkie last year and found it did not work very well while we were shopping in walmart, ha ha. it is such a large store and we tend to all wander off from each other. however, i think i will invest in some which have 22 channels as described above. i do have a triband phone but thought that the pay as you go ones like what we have in england would be even cheaper in the usa, but alas it seems not to be the case.[msnwink]
Just bear in mind that UK walkie talkies are not for use in the US, just the same as US ones aren't for use in the UK. They use different frequencies, some of which are occupied by the emergency services in each counry so, using them in the wrong country could have serious consequences.
Magical Dreams
07-08-2004, 11:54
We bought Walkie Talkies the first time in the states and they work fine here in the UK.
As for mobiles, When we was there last month we bought a Virgin phone for $60 (£32) which had $10 credit, expiry is 90 days and you can top up with the cards over the internet it you bring it home, it does not work in the UK but it is ideal if you are going on a semi regular basis.
I have recently found the topup cards for sale on ebay and they will actually top them up for you!
You can check your balance online at any time!
If you are wanting to keep intouch with the kids in the parks then I agree with traceya89, walkie talkies are the way to go.
We bought the COBRA ones, a bit more expensive but like I said, they DO work in the UK!
Yes, they work Pontelad but they use the emergency service frequencies and you're not meant to be using them here! Imagine if you interfered with the ambulance service communications, for instance, and put someone's life at risk.
Peter1474
22-01-2006, 23:36
Glad I looked in here now, would have taken mine over and not even thought about that.
As you say UK will work in USA and USA will work in the UK, till the big chopper flys over your head then your in the brown sticky stuff with the Emer Services.
You can buy a US sim card from eBay. Very resonable prices. They work on a UK triband phone. I just got one for my husband for his solo trip to our villa.[msnsmile2]
bargainqueen
03-04-2006, 15:11
We updated our phones before this trip to quad band and rang 02 to set our phones for international roaming. We were told to take off our voice mail setting and when we arrived everything worked ok even the charger. Last visit we had to buy a car charger to use.
We have pay as you go and my husband would ring me when he wanted collecting from golf course - 3 rings and I would ring back to confirm. Ecellant system and if he wanted to talk he would ring the villa. Also each time I dialled a voice would tell me that the first minute of call was free. My husband got a few of these messages but I was mean and only used it once to leave a message for our villa owners who were arriving after us.
We were advised to use text messages (49p) as opposed to £1.49 a minute calls.
You can get Sim cards for $30 from the T-Mobile cart just inside the Florida Mall. If you have an unlocked Tri-band phone just slip in the card and make reasonable priced calls to the UK or anywhere else.
The credit runs out between 30 days and a year after purchase depending on the value of the card. However after you have spent a total of $100 on your account then the minutes never expire.
If your an owner this is a good deal as after the initial $100 you only need top up when needed, you keep the same number and your phone is active the minute your in U.S. air space. So if you have a stop over or travel to anywhere else in the U.S. you have a working phone as soon as the plane lands.
Regards Dave
We bought a Tracfone last time we were here and although it is handy to give a US number out for US people to call us, it "eats" minutes. Approx $30 for 120 minutes but if you have a 352 phone and dial 407 etc, it costs 2 minutes per actual minute.
Texting on UK triband phones in the US costs the same as it does over here doesn't it?
bargainqueen
15-05-2006, 11:26
I'm with 02 pay and go and texting from abroad is 49p as opposed to 12p. You will need to check with your supplier to see what rates apply.
Ok,
This topic is now fairly old, so I feel like reviving it!
Has the situation with mobiles in the US changed?
I'm not sure if my PAYG is tri-band. Are PAYG cells in the US expensive still?
I'm not sure what the best thing to do is...we are going for 2 weeks in june and there will be some days when hubby will stay at the villa and I'll be out and about. Well, a girl HAS to shop!! [msnsmile2]
What would be the best option to keep in touch. it is unlikely that we will be doing the parks, and besides, we would stay together there...hubby gets easily stressed since his illness!
Thanks
Kat
We did the same as Karen and bought a set of 2 T-Mobile sim cards to put in our un-locked tri-band phones. These were from ebay and had 150 mins on each one, $26 including delivery to the UK for the 2.
We used them in the parks to contact each other and also when some of us went out and left the rest of the family back at the villa. Worth evey cent for peace of mind, I will do it again for our next trip
[msnsmile2]
Albert the Frog
30-01-2007, 17:56
We just sent texts as we found that we were only asking where people were? Where were we meeting? etc and the cost of texts was really low.
Thanks guys....unfortunately, our phones are not tri-band[msnsad] (Samsung E700)
I thought they were, but the info on the net said...no!
Never mind....back to the drawing board, as they say!
Kat [easter1]
I just bought a Nokia payg color screen phone for $39 in Target with $30 worth of calls at 10c per minute included and 60 days service included. Seemed like a good deal, tried to get it enabled for international but it didnt happen, should have though.
pieman790
31-01-2007, 12:38
with most US PAYG phone you both to receive the call and its not per seconds billing like here in the UK so even if you are on the phone for a few seconds it classed as one minute
I am after a pair of mobile phones on Pay as you go, just to stay in touch with familly members who maybe in different parks. Can anyone recommend where I can purchase these from.Only looking for something cheap and hopefully with credit already on them..
joanneoliver
10-09-2007, 16:43
Take a look at the Cingular GoPhone option, there's a number of different handsets to choose from.
Also, there are plenty of Cingular stores in the Orlando area.
You can load credit via the web which is very convenient if you want to keep your number but only visit once a year.
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/index.jsp
Stuart