T-Mobile USA prepaid
mobile phone SIM cards

We searched for the best value pay-as-you-go mobile phone SIM cards for travellers visiting the United States and found that the Red Pocket and T-Mobile SIM cards are the best deal.

T-Mobile offers two prepaid rate plans: Pay As You Go and Pay By The Day.

  

Basically Pay By The Day is the better option as it offers free calls in the evenings (from 7pm to 7am) and free calls to other T-Mobile phones anytime. Calls on the Pay By The Day plan are cheap at USD 10¢ (7p) per minute, but you also have to pay USD $1 (69p) for each day that you use your phone.

If you're not going to take advantage of free evening calls and free calls to other
T-Mobile phones, then the Red Pocket SIM card will be better value for you.

The T-Mobile USA SIM card offers:

• Low call charges. USD 10¢ (7p) per minute for calls to USA local, national and mobile phones plus a USD $1 (69p) per day charge on the days you use your phone.
• SMS text messages cost USD 5¢ (3.5p) to receive and 10¢ (7p) to send to Canada and the USA and 35¢ (24p) to send to other countries
• Receive calls for free between 7pm and 7am and make free calls to USA landlines and mobile phones between 7pm and 7am
• Free calls anytime to other T-Mobile customers
• 90 day call credit expiry
• Includes USD $30 (£18.85) credit so you can use your phone as soon as you arrive in the United States
• It is cheap for your friends and family to call you since calls to mobile phones in the United States cost the same as calls to landlines. In many cases it will be cheaper for your friends and family in the UK to call you on your USA mobile that it currently costs them to call your UK mobile

Free calls to other T-Mobile USA customers

The T-Mobile SIM is a great deal if there are a group of people travelling together and everyone in the group has a T-Mobile SIM card, since T-Mobile customers on the Pay By The Day plan can call other T-Mobile phones for free.

Free calls from 7pm to 7am

The T-Mobile Pay By The Day plan lets you receive calls for free between 7am and 7pm and it also lets you make free calls to landline and mobile phones in the USA between 7am and 7pm.

This is a great feature since this time is often a convenient time for your family to call you, and during this time you're not going to have to pay to recieve their calls.

The T-Mobile USA SIM card costs just £28 including USD $30 (£18.85) credit and delivery to anywhere in the world.

Coverage

The T-Mobile GSM mobile network offers good coverage in most areas of the United States including Hawaii and even Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. You can check coverage on the T-Mobile website.

The T-Mobile network uses the 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz frequencies (although most of the network is on the 1900 Mhz band. Coverage will be best if your mobile is a quad-band phone that supports both these frequencies, but if you have a tri-band phone that works at 1900 Mhz then you should be able to get coverage in most areas of T-Mobile's network.

How do I top up my credit?

You can buy refill cards from 90,000 locations across the United States including T-Mobile retail shops, independent mobile phone dealers, supermarkets, convenience store like 7-Eleven and discount department stores including Walmat. If you have a credit card issued in the USA, you can also top up over the internet at www.t-mobile.com.

Is there a way to cut the cost of international calls when using my T-Mobile SIM?

While T-Mobile offers cheap calls within the United States it can be very expensive to make international calls, especially if compared with Red Pocket Mobile. However there are several ways to save on international calls.

If most of your international calls are to a handful of numbers, your best option for cheaper international calls is to set up an account with Rebtel. Rebtel works by assigning a local US number to each of the regular international numbers you call, then you simply call this local number and your call is diverted to the international number. You are charged for a national call by T-Mobile (which is free between 7pm and 7am) and the international portion of the call is paid to Rebtel at 1.3p per minute to UK landlines and 12.4p per minute to UK mobiles. Check the Rebtel website for rates to other countries.

If you need to make calls to a lot of different numbers outside the United States then you’re probably better off with the Red Pocket Mobile SIM card.

What's different about mobile phones in the USA?

American mobiles phones operate differently to mobiles elsewhere in the world. These are some of the key differences:

Mobile networks in the USA have been slow to adopt the GSM standard and although there is a good choice of competing mobile phone networks in the States, only two – AT&T and T-Mobile – operate nationwide GSM networks. Furthermore, the GSM networks in the States use the 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz frequencies as opposed to the 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz frequencies used elsewhere in the world. To use a US SIM card you will need to have a tri-band phone that works on the 1900 Mhz frequency or preferably a quad-band phone that works on the 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz frequencies. Many newer mobile phones will work in the United States but it is best to double-check with your phone manufacturer.

Americans pay for both incoming and outgoing calls. That’s right, all American mobile networks charge you to receive as well as make calls. The rate for incoming calls is the same as the national call rate. However the price per minute on a pay-as-you-go plan is relatively low so you generally still pay less with a pay-as-you-go phone in the States compared with most other countries.

The cost of calling an American mobile phone is exactly the same as calling an American landline. This makes it very cheap if you divert your home phone to your US phone and friends can call your mobile in the US without worrying about call costs. In most costs it will be cheaper for your friends and family to call your US mobile phone than to call the mobile you normally use at home.

American mobile phones have the same area codes as regular landlines. This means that your phone number is indistinguishable from a regular American phone number.

Five reasons why you should buy a USA SIM card before you leave home

1. You can give everyone your American number before you leave home. If you wait until you get to the United States you can easily spend $10-20 in credit phoning friends and family to tell them your new number.
2. You can divert your home phone to your USA mobile before you travel so you don’t miss a call.
3. You can print your USA mobile phone number on stationery – essential if you’re travelling on business.
4. You can put your USA mobile phone number on your CV so you can start looking for work before you arrive in USA.
5. If you have friends meeting you at the airport, if you give them your American number in advance they can phone you if they have trouble finding you at the airport.

So what are you waiting for? Order a T-Mobile American SIM card today. It's only £28 including USD $30 (£18.85) credit.

FAQ

Will the SIM card work in my mobile phone?

The T-Mobile USA SIM card will work in any unlocked GSM mobile phone that operates at the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bands. This includes all quad-band mobile phones from Europe and the UK.

How do I know if my phone is locked?

Before you travel put any other SIM that's not from your regular mobile network into your phone and turn it on. If your phone shows a network name it is unlocked, if it says something like "Network locked" or "SIM locked" then your phone is locked into your home network.

Can I unlock my phone?

If you’re still in the UK it is relatively easy to unlock your phone. If you are on a contract you can simply call up your regular mobile network’s customer service and ask them to unlock your phone. This will usually involve them giving you a code, which you enter into your phone to unlock it and make it compatible with SIM cards from all networks. Many networks will do this free of charge if you are a good customer, but some networks may charge you for this service. Alternatively you can go to a small independent mobile phone shop and pay them around £10 to get your phone unlocked (larger mobile phone shops may not offer this service but most small independent shops will).

It is more difficult if you are already in the United States, as many American mobile phone shops don’t know how to unlock phones, especially phones on a foreign network. However there are several websites where you can generate codes to unlock your phone. These sites include Trycktill and Unlock it Free. If you are in the United States you can also try making an international call to your home mobile company to get an unlocking code, but occasionally you need to be calling from within that network’s coverage area (depending on your mobile network at home).

You can read more about unlocking your mobile phone here.

Do I need to activate my SIM card?

The T-Mobile USA SIM card is already activated with an Atlanta or Las Vegas phone number.

Unlike the Australian SIM cards that we sell, we don't need any personal details to activate your American SIM card.

Because the SIM is already activated, the countdown to the credit expiry date has already started. You will need to make sure that you arrive in the United States and make your first credit top up by this date.

The T-Mobile SIM cards that we have in stock will expire on 15 February 2010.

Which is the best of the two USA SIM cards that you sell? Red Pocket or T-Mobile?

It depends on several factors such as the coverage you need, if you are travelling alone or with a group, the amount of international calls you will make and if you intend to make most of your calls during the evening.

Red Pocket use the AT&T network, which gives much better coverage than T-Mobile's network. If coverage is your main concern, then Red Pocket is your best option.

T-Mobile lets you call other T-Mobile customers for free, which makes it a better deal if you're a group of friends or family travelling together with several SIM cards.

Red Pocket have very low international call charges. If you need to make lots of international calls, then Red Pocket is your best deal. However if all your international calls are to just a few numbers, then T-Mobile may be cost effective when combined with Rebtel (especially you call in the evening). Because T-Mobile's international call charges are very high and you'll need to set up an account with Rebtel to handle the international portion of the call before you travel.

If most of your calls are in the evening, then T-Mobile may be a better deal. T-Mobile gives you free calls between 7pm and 7am, which means free incoming calls and free calls to mobiles and landlines within the United States. If you have friends or family that will regularly call during these hours, then T-Mobile will be a better deal.

How long will it take to get my SIM card?

If we have SIM cards in stock we can usually post your SIM card the same day we receive your order (except on weekends, bank holidays or if we get your order in the evening after the post office has closed), if we are out of stock it may take up to a week longer before we can ship your SIM Card.We have T-Mobile SIM cards in stock.

The SIM cards are posted from Australia. Australia Post quotes delivery times to the UK of around one week, but we have had reports that delivery has taken up to two weeks.

How much will it cost people to call me?

The cost of calling depends on your phone company's rate to the United States. For calls from the UK, BT charge 11.2p to 17p per minute plus an 8p call connection charge (standard BT rate). Other phone companies may be cheaper and you can reduce the cost by using a service like Rebtel (1p per minute plus the cost of a local call) or by using Skype (1.4p per minute) or Vonage (2p per minute).

I have more questions, how can I contact you?

Just email us at: . Alternatively you may phone us on (020) 7193 5178.

BUG Travel Publishing Pty Ltd
2 Coastal Rise, Kilcunda VIC 3995, Australia