I’m traveling to London and my iPhone won’t work there, at least cost-effectively. I know I can get a cheap top-up phone once I get there, but can I buy such a phone in the U.S.? I mean one with a UK number, so that once I land at Heathrow I can pull out my UK phone and start making local calls.
I think you can only buy sim cards with uk numbers, in the uk. Shoulde fit into your Iphone though (if you buy a micro simcard).
No - don’t think so unless there is something new out there. I even had problems topping up my UK phone with Virgin once I gave them a US billing address - they wouldn’t do anything by credit card.
You might even be able to buy a phone at Heathrow. I think you are going to have to suck it up and use your iPhone for an hour or so after you land.
Do US iPhones have a sim card? I didn’t think so.
Polar bear makes a good point - I think the phone has to be unlocked - doesn’t it? I remember reading AT&T will unlock your phone for free if you’ve been with them long enough.
Yes they do - the iPhone does (but not Verizon I think) - and so does any other on GSM.
Ugh, I have a Verizon phone. OK, maybe I will have to buy when I arrive.
Verizon has the same deal as AT&T where if you call and ask nicely they’ll unlock your phone so you can use it with a prepaid sim card.
ETA: Or so I’ve heard. I’ve never done it, but I looked into it for my Droid 3. If your iPhone is dual band, I don’t see why they wouldn’t let you do it.
Hmm - according to this:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4307045?start=0&tstart=0
The 4s and later for Verizon DOES have a SIM. Plain old 4 does not.
Buy an unlocked GSM phone in the USA. I purchased one at Best Buy just before I went to Australia. Not all Best Buy stores have unlocked phones. I then purchased a Lebara SIM card for Australia. I then used my credit card to charge the SIM card before I left the USA. Lebara SIM cards for the UK (both charged and empty) are on eBay.
It still needs to be unlocked, though.
To the OP: There will be booths selling cell phones and SIM cards at the airport. The SIM cards are not expensive at all. Like 10 dollars. You can get a cell phone there, but even a cheap one will be too expensive. You should get a used, unlocked phone here in the states before you fly. Or get a new, cheap prepaid phone at Wal-Mart that takes SIM cards.