Travelling to the US in summer, need a SIM card

[colonel_mortis]

In the summer, my family will be visiting the USA for 3 weeks (end of July - mid August) and we need a SIM card for calls and internet (and stuff). I imagine it will get used a fair bit for internet (1-2GB, perhaps more), but other than that we will probably need to make a few US calls and not really text. I don't know what plans are like over there, so I was wondering if any of you US people had any suggestions for a reasonably priced plan (or PAYG SIM) and where we might be able to get it. Apart from airports, we will be visiting Chicago, "West" (including Yellowstone National Park and some other, remote stuff), NY and Washington DC (AFAIK).

Thanks in advance!

 

PS. I have a Nexus 5 so it will work on everything (I presume)

[wng_kingsley7]

In the summer, my family will be visiting the USA for 3 weeks (end of July - mid August) and we need a SIM card for calls and internet (and stuff). I imagine it will get used a fair bit for internet (1-2GB, perhaps more), but other than that we will probably need to make a few US calls and not really text. I don't know what plans are like over there, so I was wondering if any of you US people had any suggestions for a reasonably priced plan (or PAYG SIM) and where we might be able to get it. Apart from airports, we will be visiting Chicago, "West" (including Yellowstone National Park and some other, remote stuff), NY and Washington DC (AFAIK).

Thanks in advance!

In the UK we have Lycra. Not sure about the data usage part but you could buy a cheap wifi dongle payg.

[colonel_mortis]

In the UK we have Lycra. Not sure about the data usage part but you could buy a cheap wifi dongle payg.

Yeah, but that doesn't really help with travelling to the US... And their US packages are not as good as I would have hoped - $50 for the 1GB plan.

[wng_kingsley7]

Yeah, but that doesn't really help with travelling to the US... And their US packages are not as good as I would have hoped - $50 for the 1GB plan.

Ouch.. :wacko: maybe you  could unlock your phone then when you arrive in america get a payg sim (out of my knowledge for servicing and data etc.)

[Tea1337]

Yeah, but that doesn't really help with travelling to the US... And their US packages are not as good as I would have hoped - $50 for the 1GB plan.

Boost mobile has a $55 plan with unlimited everything for one month, you should be able to get a SIM from them to use on your phone, but you'd have to call them to make sure your phone will work on their sprint based network.

[colonel_mortis]

Ouch.. :wacko: maybe you  could unlock your phone then when you arrive in america get a payg sim (out of my knowledge for servicing and data etc.)

Yeah it is unlocked, the main purpose of my question was what sim/network/prepaid deal should I go for.

[TopWargamer]

T-Mobile has a great $30 off-contract plan. It provides 100 minutes, unlimited texting, anf 5GB of 4G/LTE data with unlimited 2G speeds after that. The plan is only available through WalMart though. 

[colonel_mortis]

T-Mobile has a great $30 off-contract plan. It provides 100 minutes, unlimited texting, anf 5GB of 4G/LTE data with unlimited 2G speeds after that. The plan is only available through WalMart though. 

Sounds interesting. Would that be in all WalMarts because I'm sure it's not too much of a big deal to find a WalMart when we arrive and get a SIM?

[TopWargamer]

Sounds interesting. Would that be in all WalMarts because I'm sure it's not too much of a big deal to find a WalMart when we arrive and get a SIM?

WalMart's website only. I wasn't able to find it in stores.

 

Here's the micro-SIM kit.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Micro-SIM-Activation-Kit/24099996

Comes with the SIM card and a month of service.