I'm in the US (from UK) at the moment and I need a prepaid sim card on a US carrier as I'm here for 5 months (to go in my hermes). I bought a cheap virgin mobile one just to use the sim but it turns out it doesn't have one. What carrier can I get an actual sim card from and what's the cheapest?
Not overly bothered by data charges or anything.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Stoo
stoo said:
I'm in the US (from UK) at the moment and I need a prepaid sim card on a US carrier as I'm here for 5 months (to go in my hermes). I bought a cheap virgin mobile one just to use the sim but it turns out it doesn't have one. What carrier can I get an actual sim card from and what's the cheapest?
Not overly bothered by data charges or anything.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Stoo
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go to a Wal-Mart or a K-Mart, last time I was in the US, they had a phone section there with these cheap-ass sim cards for a few bucks... it's $2 to the £1 anyway now, so use a british card to pay for it if need be
Most telcos will try to charge you $50.00 for a prepaid sim card. Check out your local 7-11 store and look for a sim/phone combo by Speakout (service by Cingular). They are the cheapest I have found...
I have not seen sim-only kits in retail stores, but you could always pick up a cheapy phone and use the sim in that.
That said; no US carrier offers data on their prepaid sims.
You are right about the Virgin phones; they use a non GSM network...
T-mobile is probably the cheapest at the moment. What you can do is pop into a T-mobile store and ask them for a prepaid sim, they can turn any of their own sims into prepaid, and if you add some call credit they'll usually give you the sim for free.
Thanks guys,
I'll have to check out some of these suggestions on saturday
stoo - buy T-Mobile, put $100 to account and you will have 1 year validity for outgoing and incoming phone-calls.
It is not true what ScottC says - T-Mobile will offer you free data - use wap.voicestream.com APN. With no proxy you will have good internet access - speed limited to their EDGE network (around 200 kbps).
If you have any other questions - PM me.
Cingular offers Pay as You Go, and has data at $.01 KB, Texts at $.05
There are SIMs available at Cingular stores, or eBay
and, yes, I use one in a higher end phone (8525)
update
$120 dollars in new york for t-mobile sim, 600 free usa minutes, free internet and $5 credit (7c/text, not sure of international call charges yet)
i'd be lost without internet on my phone so money well spent. (better than £5/megabyte, 40p/text, 50p/min call/receive international on uk roaming)
(in N.Y. at the moment)
Can you get Tmobile's contract type internet packages on Flexpay?
AT&T's go phones are a good idea.
stufried said:
Can you get Tmobile's contract type internet packages on Flexpay?
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i'd contacted t-mobile usa customer services beforehand and they said there was no way I could get data on prepaid.
it appeared the guy in the shop put it through as a contract with fake id and no billing data.
Related
Ok... here's some information for anyone that would like to be able to use the Sim Slot on the SNAP here in the good ol' U.S.A.
If you call VZW Global Support @ 1-888-844-0395 and tell them you are leaving the country soon and would like to unlock the GSM Sim Slot on the phone to be able to use pre-paid sim cards while you travel they will give you the instructions and lock code to do it.
This accomplishes two things -
(1) If you do travel internationally you can buy and use pre-paid sims where ever you are and do not need to pay VZW rates.
(2) Allows you to use At&t and T-Mobile Sim Cards in the Snap and make and recieve phone calls on their Network while here in the U.S.
In order for them to unlock the phone you must be a VZW Customer for 90 days and have an account in good standing (it doesn't hurt to have the phone on a business account - seemed to work faster for me).
Yesterday I called VZW, had the phone unlocked and had made a test call using both a T-Mobile and At&t sim card within 5 minutes.
Good LUCK!!!!!!!
thank u sir..worked like a charm!
i just finished using an friends at&t sim..and no issues.
might also want to note all feature abilities still work as well..mms, txt and yadda
Thats great that the Ozone has dual mode CDMA and GSM. But unfortunately no HSDPA or 3G. I want to get my hands on one to do some R&D... What are they going for??
ookba said:
Thats great that the Ozone has dual mode CDMA and GSM. But unfortunately no HSDPA or 3G. I want to get my hands on one to do some R&D... What are they going for??
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new 2 yr contract comes out to $87.61 when ordering ONLINE ( its what i paid ) and only applies online instore ur gonna pay $140 something plus all those ridiculous taxes
but that $87.61 includes Fedex standard overnight which they throw in for free..thats right i said it, FO FREE
i got mine for free with upgrade
HTC Ozone from Verizon Online $50 with 2 year contract
My wife and I switched from AT&T to Verizon because Verizon coverage is far better in our area. For example we can use our cell phones inside our house now.
I got the HTC Ozone for $49.99 with a 2 year commitment. I opted for the unlimited data only plan (Nationwide messaging for smartphone at $54.99 and $0.25/minute for voice but with a 10% discount from work). My actual charges for my phone are as follows:
Monthly access charges $49.49 ($54.99 minus 10% discount from work)
Surcharges - $3.05 which includes:
Fed Universal Service Charge $1.01
Regulatory Charge $0.14
Administrative Charge $1.84
VA Gross Receipts Surchg $0.06
Taxes - $4.27 which includes:
VA State E911 Fee $1.50
VA Communication Sales Tax $2.77
For a total monthly bill of $56.81 a month plus $0.25 a minute voice charges to non Verizon numbers.
Given what I've seen in the past for data plans that's not terrible. I'd planned on getting a pay as you go plan and giving up on the idea of data since the cheapest option I'd found was $70 a month plus surcharges and tax for just the data plan. The pay as you go data plans seem to have become extinct.
However I can say I'm reasonably satisfied with what I've got and what I'm paying right now since I've got unlimited data and texting with voice, albeit at a somewhat steep price. I don't think its a great bargain but it seems to be a tolerable expense since I can now get all my email on the go on a device that works well as a PDA, navigation system (using the built in GPS and Google Maps mobile application) and portable entertainment medium for little if any cost beyond the $56.81 plus voice charges. Sure it would be great if it cost $40 a month or less but I've not seen a plan anywhere close to that cheap that met my data desires and minimal voice needs.
Now if I unlock in 90 days and buy a SIM from T-mobile I could theoretically bypass the expensive voice charges on my plan but it isn't clear if that would entail swapping SIM cards whenever I want to make a voice call? My impression is no but I guess I'll have to try it out to see how it works.
Max L.
luptonma said:
My wife and I switched from AT&T to Verizon because Verizon coverage is far better in our area. For example we can use our cell phones inside our house now.
I got the HTC Ozone for $49.99 with a 2 year commitment. I opted for the unlimited data only plan (Nationwide messaging for smartphone at $54.99 and $0.25/minute for voice but with a 10% discount from work). My actual charges for my phone are as follows:
Monthly access charges $49.49 ($54.99 minus 10% discount from work)
Surcharges - $3.05 which includes:
Fed Universal Service Charge $1.01
Regulatory Charge $0.14
Administrative Charge $1.84
VA Gross Receipts Surchg $0.06
Taxes - $4.27 which includes:
VA State E911 Fee $1.50
VA Communication Sales Tax $2.77
For a total monthly bill of $56.81 a month plus $0.25 a minute voice charges to non Verizon numbers.
Given what I've seen in the past for data plans that's not terrible. I'd planned on getting a pay as you go plan and giving up on the idea of data since the cheapest option I'd found was $70 a month plus surcharges and tax for just the data plan. The pay as you go data plans seem to have become extinct.
However I can say I'm reasonably satisfied with what I've got and what I'm paying right now since I've got unlimited data and texting with voice, albeit at a somewhat steep price. I don't think its a great bargain but it seems to be a tolerable expense since I can now get all my email on the go on a device that works well as a PDA, navigation system (using the built in GPS and Google Maps mobile application) and portable entertainment medium for little if any cost beyond the $56.81 plus voice charges. Sure it would be great if it cost $40 a month or less but I've not seen a plan anywhere close to that cheap that met my data desires and minimal voice needs.
Now if I unlock in 90 days and buy a SIM from T-mobile I could theoretically bypass the expensive voice charges on my plan but it isn't clear if that would entail swapping SIM cards whenever I want to make a voice call? My impression is no but I guess I'll have to try it out to see how it works.
Max L.
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The VZW Sim Card already installed in the phone is only for when travelling outside of the U.S. Inside the U.S. the Verizon Service is CDMA. So, you could have a Data Package from VZW and a Voice Plan from T-Mobile on this device at the same time. However you would have to change Networks each time you wanted to use the other... seems like it would be a big Pain in the Butt though!!!!!
HTC-OH_SNAP said:
Ok... here's some information for anyone that would like to be able to use the Sim Slot on the SNAP here in the good ol' U.S.A.
If you call VZW Global Support @ 1-888-844-0395 and tell them you are leaving the country soon and would like to unlock the GSM Sim Slot on the phone to be able to use pre-paid sim cards while you travel they will give you the instructions and lock code to do it.
This accomplishes two things -
(1) If you do travel internationally you can buy and use pre-paid sims where ever you are and do not need to pay VZW rates.
(2) Allows you to use At&t and T-Mobile Sim Cards in the Snap and make and recieve phone calls on their Network while here in the U.S.
In order for them to unlock the phone you must be a VZW Customer for 90 days and have an account in good standing (it doesn't hurt to have the phone on a business account - seemed to work faster for me).
Yesterday I called VZW, had the phone unlocked and had made a test call using both a T-Mobile and At&t sim card within 5 minutes.
Good LUCK!!!!!!!
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Click to collapse
Can you tell me how to enter unlock code on this phone?
HoangHP said:
Can you tell me how to enter unlock code on this phone?
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Click to collapse
settings - security - sim management - Sim unlock my phone
I unlocked my SIM card last night through Verizon Global Services. I'm going to try my brother's AT&T Sim card later today, hopefully.
Does anyone know if it's possible to keep the phone in global mode in order to receive calls from Verizon's CDMA network and AT&T GSM networks at the same time? Or will I have to switch the phone to GSM only mode to receive calls made to the SIM card number?
Thanks,
Rick
I am going to be headed over to Taiwan and China for the next couple of weeks so I called TMO to get an international plan to receive data. Well turns it out THERE IS NO SUCH PLAN and that each 1mb of data equals $15. Yeah I could put in a local SIM card but that won't give email and internet. And why should I, the N1 is touted as an international phone. This news was thoroughly disappointing because I will now have to rely on my crappy Blackberry for email (which is the reason I switched to Android in the first place). If there any international travelers here please let me know if there are any tricks that I should be aware of. Otherwise this is disappointing that a GSM phone can be used outside the US only if you willing to be bent over the table without any... you get the point.
i went to australia earlier this year and encountered the same problem.their international plans suck major ass.only thing i could do was pull sim card and run off wifi using any hotspots that i could find.
yea blame T-Mobile...I'm curious what other carrier in the US has a international roaming plan?
ram130 said:
yea blame T-Mobile...I'm curious what other carrier in the US has a international roaming plan?
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One of the reasons I have TMO is because of their fantastic international roaming coverage. That is why I was surprised to see that they have none for the Nexus.
As far as international roaming plans, every carrier does, just not for the Android. So yeah I'm putting that blame on TMO and Google.
I'm pretty sure every carrier has insane pricing for international roaming.
The benefit of gsm phones is that you pop a sim card for wherever you're going, not that you're carrier will support you in east bumblefuck.
All carriers are like that. That is why when the iphone first came out people were returning home with $3K phone bills. http://boingboing.net/2007/07/31/att-iphone-intl-roam.html
http://gizmodo.com/297999/idiots-keep-incurring-iphones-roaming-data-charges
The phone is an international phone but the plans aren't. Get a SIM with a data plan. When I go overseas that is what I do. Typically $100 will give you unlimited data and enough minutes and texts to last your whole trip. At the end of a trip overseas I usually have minutes left over.
Yeah, I don't see why you think you won't get internet over there from a local phone company, since they would be the one providing internet to you anyways with your T-Mobile card (They just charge T-Mobile a small amount, and T-Mobile jacks up the price to make money off you).
Just get a pre-paid sim card with internet access.
JCopernicus said:
bumblefuck.
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LoL gotta save this one to my "cursing without getting banned " stack
I'd recommend you to buy a new prepaid sim card with a data plan.
Here in India, we get a new sim card for Rs.20 (every street has ~5 shops) and 2GB data for Rs.90 and there are no stupid contracts (even if there were, we'd buy it on fake identities)... Thats the benefit of living in a developing nation
1 American Dollar = 45 Indian Rupees...
superg81 said:
i went to australia earlier this year and encountered the same problem.their international plans suck major ass.only thing i could do was pull sim card and run off wifi using any hotspots that i could find.
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faraz1992 said:
I'd recommend you to buy a new prepaid sim card with a data plan.
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+1 Same thing here if you were visiting Australia. You can buy a Telstra prepaid sim for $2 which when charged with some credit gives you exceptional coverage and good data speed. Works best on the 900mhz AT&T phone although will still work well on the 850mhz T-Mobile model.
Thanks everyone for your feedback, much appreciated.
logger said:
+1 Same thing here if you were visiting Australia. You can buy a Telstra prepaid sim for $2 which when charged with some credit gives you exceptional coverage and good data speed. Works best on the 900mhz AT&T phone although will still work well on the 850mhz T-Mobile model.
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T-Mobile = 900/AWS(which is 1700)/2100
AT&T = 850/1900/2100
Ah yes sorry. Had that rrrrrs about. Should have said "Works best on the 850mhz AT&T phone although will still work well on the 900mhz T-Mobile model."
The phone is a fine international phone. The carrier sucks. How is the phone to blame if TMO doesn't offer an international plan?
I travel from Romania to Netherlands and every time i'm in Netherlands i insert my prepaid Vodafone NL card and i activate the internet for 10 euros. 500mb - 1GB of data per month.
If i'm using more than that i buy again for another 10 euros. Is that simple. That's what you should do. A local prepaid sim with an internet service is ALWAYS going to be cheaper than an international plan from TMO.
too bad you guys in US have very bad telcos, here in malaysia we can roam data for less than USD10 unlimited data per day.
but of course not in all countries in the world.
faizalmzain said:
too bad you guys in US have very bad telcos, here in malaysia we can roam data for less than USD10 unlimited data per day.
but of course not in all countries in the world.
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$10 x 365 days = $3,650 per year. Geez you must have deep pockets. You can buy a car for that in Australia.
Do you perhaps mean $10 per month or $1 per day?
logger said:
$10 x 365 days = $3,650 per year. Geez you must have deep pockets. You can buy a car for that in Australia.
Do you perhaps mean $10 per month or $1 per day?
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He's talking about roaming... If you do that without a dataplan a couple of hundred megs would probably set you back several thousand $.
Yeah, ditto re: getting a prepaid SIM card on arrival. I haven't tried it in Asia, but in the UK, £5 will buy you 1GB of data to be used in 30 days, on Vodafone. I didn't even have to pay for the SIM card itself. Very pleased.
If you speak the language in China, just go to a China Mobile store, pick up a SIM card and put some yuan in it and you'll be good to go. I go to China every summer and have taken my G1 and my N1. You'll be stuck on edge but its enough to get you places. China Mobile stores are everywhere too, some have employees that speak english for just this purpose.
I pick up pre-paid SIM cards when I land at the airport in the airport store... Or if it's an area I'm familiar with, i.e. Australia, I just head to a local carrier's B&M once I'm in the city...
Then anyone who is half-way important... I send them an e-mail with my pre-paid SIM card's number. If it's important to text or call me, the caller can pay the Int'l charges.
Cheers,
Kermee
Sorry if this a bit OT.
I'm off to Florida on Hol soon and need advice on which P&G sim to pick up when I'm there to stick in my HD2 (O2 prices for data are extortionate).
Calls not needed really but some included data allowance is a must.
What radio is best for Florida please and who offers the best speeds.. O2 offer free wifi zones for me, if a USA provider offers that mores the better. Finally, Preferably at the most reasonable price. Advice on where I'm likely to find said sim would be great.
Not a problem if it needs activating, my mate is going a fortnight before me and can pick me one up.
Thanks again for looking in.
Hi
Did you have any joy with this?
If you did which sim did you go for?
I've just landed in the states, and would be good to have a local sim, your help will be really appreciated, thanks!
prepaid sim
Most prepaid sim's in the United States do not include data. The only option, which is expensive, for prepaid data in the states is AT&T. They do have a prepaid plan which is 20.00 for 100 MB of usage, available at any AT&T store.
Hi,
I will be traveling to Greece (Paros, Naxos, Santorini) and Berlin next month.
I already have a SIM unlocked Motorola Milestone. I want to purchase a European SIM.
1) Can I expect to use the same SIM card and plan when both in Germany and Greece? Or am I better off just getting 2 different ones?
2) What are good companies and plans? I don't really need voice... but I expect to use a lot of data for Internet access and hoepfully tethering. I found out about
WIND Paygo in a different thread, but no details on what to expect price-wise.
Anybody (either local to these countries or a fellow traveler) have any experience with this?
Thanks
Caz666 said:
1) Can I expect to use the same SIM card and plan when both in Germany and Greece? Or am I better off just getting 2 different ones?
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Click to collapse
You should get a separate SIM card for each of the countries... they are two different countries after all, and carriers will charge you higher roaming fees if you want to use their SIM card in a different country. The EU did regulate a maximum for roaming fees just recently, but you'll still be better off getting a new SIM card there.
2) What are good companies and plans? I don't really need voice... but I expect to use a lot of data for Internet access and hoepfully tethering. I found out about
WIND Paygo in a different thread, but no details on what to expect price-wise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Germany, I'd go with a prepaid data flatrate plan, e.g. http://www.simyo.de/tarif/flat-internet.html (€15/mo up to 3GB @HSDPA/7.2 Mbit, after that GPRS), or e.g. http://www.klarmobil.de/tarife/datentarife/Internet_Flat_5000/index.html (€20/mo for up to 5GB HSDPA speed, after that GPRS). These are just two examples for pure data flats (since you said you didn't need voice).
I think you can get these types of discount carriers at gas stations and supermarkets. There are a lot to choose from; just make sure it's a prepaid data flat. The major carriers like T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 (that have their own POS stores) are usually more expensive for prepaid as they focus more on 2y contracts.
No idea about Greece... maybe someone else can help you out there.
Hope this helps.
bobblack said:
You should get a separate SIM card for each of the countries... they are two different countries after all, and carriers will charge you higher roaming fees if you want to use their SIM card in a different country. The EU did regulate a maximum for roaming fees just recently, but you'll still be better off getting a new SIM card there.
For Germany, I'd go with a prepaid data flatrate plan, e.g. http://www.simyo.de/tarif/flat-internet.html (€15/mo up to 3GB @HSDPA/7.2 Mbit, after that GPRS), or e.g. http://www.klarmobil.de/tarife/datentarife/Internet_Flat_5000/index.html (€20/mo for up to 5GB HSDPA speed, after that GPRS). These are just two examples for pure data flats (since you said you didn't need voice).
I think you can get these types of discount carriers at gas stations and supermarkets. There are a lot to choose from; just make sure it's a prepaid data flat. The major carriers like T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 (that have their own POS stores) are usually more expensive for prepaid as they focus more on 2y contracts.
No idea about Greece... maybe someone else can help you out there.
Hope this helps.
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Click to collapse
This REALLY helps, at least for my week in Berlin. Thank you very much.
For Greece, I would advise you to choose COSMOTE Internet On The Go Prepaid. You may find more information on their website:
http://cosmote.gr/cosmoportal/page/...p/section/Internet_E-mailwithLaptop/loc/en_US
You are better off buying two seperate SIM-cards (one for each country), as cheaper data-roaming options typically are only available with contracts.
In regards to tethering, this shouldn't pose a problem - european providers typically don't police a "one-device-policy", especially not with internet-on-the-go-type products.
An alternative to COSMOTE is Vodafone KartoInternet, but their prepaid plans are a bit more expensive and COSMOTE is said to have better coverage in general: http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client/cms/viewCmsPage.action?pageId=8638&request_locale=en
Both sell SIM-only starter packs which include their sell-value (EUR 20) as prepaid-balance for internet use.
PartyMango said:
For Greece, I would advise you to choose COSMOTE Internet On The Go Prepaid. You may find more information on their website:
http://cosmote.gr/cosmoportal/page/...p/section/Internet_E-mailwithLaptop/loc/en_US
You are better off buying two seperate SIM-cards (one for each country), as cheaper data-roaming options typically are only available with contracts.
In regards to tethering, this shouldn't pose a problem - european providers typically don't police a "one-device-policy", especially not with internet-on-the-go-type products.
An alternative to COSMOTE is Vodafone KartoInternet, but their prepaid plans are a bit more expensive and COSMOTE is said to have better coverage in general: http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client/cms/viewCmsPage.action?pageId=8638&request_locale=en
Both sell SIM-only starter packs which include their sell-value (EUR 20) as prepaid-balance for internet use.
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Thanks for the tip. I looked both web sites and they are what I am looking for. The prices seem similar enough for my purposes...MUCH better than roaming
I do have a follow-up question:
Both companies have DAY PACKS for 1Euro per day that includes something like "unlimited data" but is throttled after a specific amount of data is consumed. Does anybody know the specific of the the Thottling? I don't mind a bit of a slowdown...but how crippling are we talking about? Are they booting me down to 2G speeds?
I couldn't find any details on either web site about the specifics.
Just an update after my trip. Germany was a problem as a lot of the prepaid carriers don't have English customer service. I bought 2 different SIM cards and could not get them activated. I didn't have much time to mess around, but I was really disappointed.
Greece was good. As suggested in this thread, I went to a Cosmote store and got great service. I got a data only sim and an additional regular sim. They activated them for me with my passport. My only problem is that the data only sim ran out of cash and it is not possible to refill them from most outlets....I used the cash on the other sim, but the price per GB is not the same.
The moral of the storey for me: go to a carrier store directly and get as much as you need right away. Being in remote locations can make it hard to refill prepaid cards.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
Has anyone ever used an unlocked GSM phone outside the U.S. with a Verizon LTE SIM card? VZW has an OK short-term overseas roaming plan that TMO doesn't, and I'd just as soon put the VZW card into my Nexus 4 while overseas. (The N4 recognized the SIM when I tried it in the U.S.) I could (and have) gone the prepaid SIM route, but I'm wondering if this is an option.
fredz024 said:
Has anyone ever used an unlocked GSM phone outside the U.S. with a Verizon LTE SIM card? VZW has an OK short-term overseas roaming plan that TMO doesn't, and I'd just as soon put the VZW card into my Nexus 4 while overseas. (The N4 recognized the SIM when I tried it in the U.S.) I could (and have) gone the prepaid SIM route, but I'm wondering if this is an option.
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It'll be 10x cheaper and easier to get a local carrier's sim card in whatever country you're going to. Verizon's plan is wayyyy too expensive in my opinion. When I went to the UK, I put in a Orange Mobile sim card and put 10 pounds on my account. I got 500 free texts, a few hundred minutes + a certain amount of "free international" calling, and 500MB of 3G data.
Rarscaryfrosty said:
It'll be 10x cheaper and easier to get a local carrier's sim card in whatever country you're going to. Verizon's plan is wayyyy too expensive in my opinion. When I went to the UK, I put in a Orange Mobile sim card and put 10 pounds on my account. I got 500 free texts, a few hundred minutes + a certain amount of "free international" calling, and 500MB of 3G data.
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Yeah, I get that. I guess the question was really what *can* I do, as opposed to what *should* I do. If I stuck to what I should do I wouldn't have so many phones lying around.....