USA SIM card for 1 month

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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matt2matt2002
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Joined: 25 Oct 2009, 7:45pm
Location: Aberdeen Scotland UK

USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by matt2matt2002 »

I'll be in USA/ NYC for a short stay in August.

Any advice on a sim card please.
Just for emergency calls/ some gps navigation.

Thanks folks
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
bohrsatom
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Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by bohrsatom »

AFAIK 3 offers free roaming in the US on PAYG so you could get a free SIM card and put a cheap data bundle on it

My experience is from a few years back and looks like the rules changed in 2021, although a scan of the ts&cs suggests the changes were only for pay monthly plans. Worth looking in more detail
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matt2matt2002
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Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by matt2matt2002 »

bohrsatom wrote: 3 Jul 2022, 9:41am AFAIK 3 offers free roaming in the US on PAYG so you could get a free SIM card and put a cheap data bundle on it

My experience is from a few years back and looks like the rules changed in 2021, although a scan of the ts&cs suggests the changes were only for pay monthly plans. Worth looking in more detail
Thanks. I've just checked and 3 have a £2/day roaming charge in Europe and £5/day elsewhere.

Matt
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
Rod Goodfellow
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Joined: 22 Aug 2017, 12:02pm

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by Rod Goodfellow »

We have a holiday home in USA. When there we use Truphone sims which are usable in most countries and you only pay from your credit (as little as $10) for what you use,with no time expiry.
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MrsHJ
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Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by MrsHJ »

matt2matt2002 wrote: 3 Jul 2022, 10:50am
bohrsatom wrote: 3 Jul 2022, 9:41am AFAIK 3 offers free roaming in the US on PAYG so you could get a free SIM card and put a cheap data bundle on it

My experience is from a few years back and looks like the rules changed in 2021, although a scan of the ts&cs suggests the changes were only for pay monthly plans. Worth looking in more detail
Thanks. I've just checked and 3 have a £2/day roaming charge in Europe and £5/day elsewhere.

Matt
Pretty sure the other poster was right and it is supposed to be ok for PAYG as opposed to a contract but definitely check. I converted my rolling contr to a 24 month one last September to keep go roam for another 2 years and I got 3 following a recommendation here before spending 3 months in the states cycling and it was so useful

Anyway Martin Lewis is pretty good in this stuff (see link) and seems to be recommending AT &T. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobil ... ing-calls/
bohrsatom
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Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by bohrsatom »

Yeah 3 are super confusing but the text does suggest the charges don’t apply for PAYG:
To unlock your UK allowance in Go Roam in Europe, there’s a £2 daily roaming charge. When you Go Roam Around the World, it’s £5.* The daily roaming charge is triggered as soon as you use any of your plan's allowances in a Go Roam destination and lasts for 24 hours. If you’re on Pay As You Go, or your Pay Monthly plan started before 1 October 2021, these charges won’t apply.
simonhill
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Location: Essex

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by simonhill »

Could be worth checking/searching the TripAdvisor USA country forum (note, forum). This is the sort of question frequently asked on every country forum.
simonhill
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Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by simonhill »

Just had this pop up on my feed. Not cheap and I suspect the company take a cut. Nonetheless, some telecom companies mentioned which may be worth pursuing.


https://uk.simcorner.com/collections/usa-sim-card
irc
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Location: glasgow

Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by irc »

Yes. I'm currently Giffgaff but will be changing to Three PAYG next year for the USA roaming. For convenience I need to use my usual number as it has my banking app and gets passcodes texts for various things.

Giffgaff is an extontionate £1 per minute calls and 20p per mb data.

I used to be on 3 but switched because reception at home was poor. Walking into the garden to get texts. Hopefully a few years on local reception is better. If not I'll switch back.

Planning a 2 month tour so £1 per minute is not feasible. I have toured in the USA without a phone but that was before so much stuff needed it. And having maps dowloaded to the phone as a backup is handy.
simonhill
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Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by simonhill »

My experience (Europe and Asia) is that it's free to receive texts. So no worries on picking up banking type messages.

Do you have a dual SIM phone?
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matt2matt2002
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Re: USA SIM card for 1 month

Post by matt2matt2002 »

simonhill wrote: 3 Jul 2022, 8:41pm My experience (Europe and Asia) is that it's free to receive texts. So no worries on picking up banking type messages.

Do you have a dual SIM phone?
Not dual SIM unfortunately
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
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