Hi All,
I'm traveling to the USA for 30 days. Whilst away my business will be completing a shop relocation.
I will need to be able to make calls to Australia, and use email and SMS as communication methods.
I have my own phone unlocked. Can anyone advise what the best carrier/SIM deal would be?
And also is it possible to have the SIM card and activate in Australia before I leave?
Thanks
I did the exact same thing. Reception wise the data is good enough for Google hangout/Skype calls so I also didn't get the into calling pack. I couldn't find a way to get the sim before I left but it just takes a walk down any popular street (5th av in my case) and you will find at least 1 T Mobile store.
Last time I was in the States (Sep '12) I got the $1/day prepaid plan for unlimited talk+SMS (ask for it instore) and the $2/day prepaid plan for the missus for the same including 2G (I was at a conference with plenty of wifi, but she wasn't).
If you don't use your phone on a particular day, they won't deduct the $1/$2 from your account. (you'd need to take evasive action to prevent your smart phone touching that precious $2 2G on a given day, eg. turn phone off)
Suggest you work out where your nearest store is going to be and pick it up directly (with them activating it for you on your phone), save any hassles about getting the wrong card/plan/etc delivered.
The T-Mobile staff were blown away when they saw our 'Facebook phone' ($56 HTC Cha Cha) - ha
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
PM me if you wish Foolysik. I may be able to offer direct help. T-Mobile proved to be the best for me and that included travel across most of the USA. There are pockets though where the reception is pretty poor.
If u have a Vodafone plan, it's capped at $5 a day in USA
Can't find it online to know if only for postpaid, maybe call them
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/vodafone-to-cap-g…
I just got back from the States and purchased a sim from T Mobile. It cost me $70 ($60 for the plan plus $10 for the sim card). That gave me 2gb worth of data with the first 500mb being at 4g speeds, unlimited text and calls within USA and I could receive text and calls from Australia. From memory it was an extra $10 to activate international calling and text, but I found using a combination of Whatsapp, Facebook and Skype did the trick for me.