Gonna be in Hawaii on Sunday, then Toronto, then DC. Want to buy a pre-paid phone card for my phone, has to work in cities, not so much out in the sticks. Prefer something that works in Toronto as well as it works in Hawaii and DC.
Last time I was in LA, just bought something in the airport, which turned out to be not suitable for where I wound up in IL.
so, any companies I should look for? Where should I go to find it? (Note for locals: in different countries they are sold in tobacco shops, or supermarkets, or post offices, or… whatever)
Just to clarify, do you mean a SIM card? One of those little memory chip cards that you plug into the slot on your phone?
What we call a prepaid phone card is usually just a card with a long access code that you dial on your phone when you want to place an international call at a discount rate.
I don’t think you’ll find a cheap pre-paid plan that works in the US and Canada. I’ve used T Mobile and ATT in the US, in Canada there are no great cheap deals. I’m using Chatr for my daughter, but it’s $10 for the SIM and then $15 for 30 days of unlimited texting and 100 minutes.
I was in the UK last month and for £7.50 and no card fee I had unlimited calling, texting, and 2GB of data on GiffGaff. Nothing anywhere near that here.
Unlike in many other countries, the US has only four major cell service providers. SIM cards are normally purchased at their stores/kiosks, though they can be refilled at many other locations or through a registered credit card. I’d suggest searching the net to see which network(s) your phone is compatible with and then checking if there is a store/kiosk convenient to your point of entry. We don’t swap SIMs between phones that often here and don’t buy new SIMs as needed. If we could, service would probably be much, much cheaper.
Summary: SIM purchases here are usually a long-term deal.
Grabbing a prepaid SIM card is not as common in the US—but it’s not unknown. You’re likely to see vending machines or shops selling them at the Honolulu airport. I’d wait until I got into town, though, and look for someplace in Chinatown or a Waikiki side street. They may display a Lycamobile or metroPCS sign, and will probably have SIMs for various MVNOs. If you see a T-Mobile shop, they have plans that cater to international visitors.
Whatever you choose should work for Honolulu and DC, but probably not in Toronto. T-Mobile might.
