Scoobydo

Hi we are on holiday from the UK and we have Tracfones and when we come over we just get a tracfone top up card but on this trip the SIM card have expired and since this has happened to 4 phones we have to have 4 Sim card delivered- no address???
This is not possible as we need them now.
Any suggestions of better ways to have a cell phone to use in USA without going through this nightmare of re registering and losing our cell phonenumber as SIMM card has expired.
Any holiday makers know of any easy solution?
As we have wasted time and $$$
Thanks to all

Moonshadow_Girl

DH and I were looking for a similar solution for when we visit the UK later this year. In the future, I would suggest purchasing a Ready SIM card through Amazon.com (your account should link up with your amazon.co.uk account) have it sent to you in the UK, then activate it when you get to the US. (Very easy to activate, although data won't be as fast as advertised.) Granted, you'll have to get a new number each time you purchase the cards, but there is no registration, just text your zip code to a 4 digit number, and voila, you get your number texted to you and you're ready to go. You'll find that the US generally sucks when it comes to cell phones in general. You're probably not going to find a PAYG plan and keep the same number unless you use it on a semi regular basis.

DH will be purchasing SIM cards from Vodafone and having them sent to his brother's house for when we arrive.

Scoobydo

Thanks for your reply😀
It appears that the Tracfone Cards are only valid for a year?
When we called Tracfone they would send to an address but how much are they on Amazon?
Surely there has to be an easy way.
We have P A Y G for our sons
UK mobile and he hardly uses it but they don't give his telephone number to someone else and make you get a new Sim. Mmmm 😒

Bob

Go into any shop and get a tracfone/virgin/art etc payg phone for atenner for a sit basic one, $20-50 for a semi decent one...

The Englishster

Agreed. I know it seems wasteful but just buy a new tracfone on each visit. Set up a group email list before you go and just email your new number to people who plan on calling you.

robin1234

I'm thinking, why do you need four phones when away on holiday? Surely a family could just share one phone for a week or two?

In fact, in this day and age of wireless Internet and tablet computers, why do you need a phone at all while traveling? Keeping in touch with aged relatives at home is the only real reason I can think of .. Not to say that the OP doesn't have very good reasons to need a phone, but just thinking out aloud..

Michael

T-Mobile had a great plan but it is now cancelled for new subscribers. Once you paid $100 for minutes, you could top it off with $10 per year to keep the number active for another year and all unused minutes are carried over.

I don't use cell phones much and about 6 years ago, I signed up with the initial $100 and each March I added $10 to keep the phone active. However last year, I forgot to top it off until April and by then the number was cancelled.

Also if you have T-Mobil as your plan in the UK, you can use it in other countries but the cost may be prohibitive if it is used too much but if not used too much, it could be cheaper than reactivating a new phone every time you visit the US. The following link indicates 55p for making a voice call in the US which isn't too bad if it is for unlimited length (doesn't say but suspect standard minute charges will also be applied if you don't have unlimited minutes on your plan). Other carriers may possibly have similar plans.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/business/s...exting-abroad/

A friend of mine uses her US T-Mobil phone each time she leaves the country but she only uses it to call home every few days so the cost is minimal.

WEBlue

It's simpler for each person in the group to have a phone, especially travelling with older children, in case of getting lost or some unexpected trouble arising. Every member of the travelling party may not a tablet with them--I don't own one, for instance, though others in my family do....

When I travel to the UK, I do what others have recommended to the OP i.e. I buy the cheapest Tracphone type of basic phone, just to use for calls and texts during my visit.

One used to be able to rent a local basic mobile phone at the airport, I think, and then turn it back in when flying out of the country. but I don't know if those services still exist at major airports. In any case, just buying a local phone may cost around the same.

Scoobydo

Thanks for all the replies,
Yes this is exactly the reason why we needed 4.
We are a Family of 4 , 2 adults and 2 older boys. We go shopping and like to separate and meet up later. They have iPads and a galaxy mini pad and not always carry them around. Not everywhere does eg: Free wifi Orlando Premium Outlets.
We came last yr and purchased 4 tracfones because of this and if we left our boys in the villa we could call them and vica versa.

Today was typical example we all had to stay together whilst shopping, and also if you order anything that you would like delivered to your vacation home you need a cell to call you on for delivery purposes.

Can anyone tell me if tracfones last a year or is it that the Sim would last longer if you topped it's up regularly?

Thanks once again for your replies

Michael

According to their web site, the 60, 120, 200, and 450 minutes airtime cards add 90 days to your end service date. I suspect the 1 year air time card adds one year to the end service date. So I suspect you can keep it going for ever if you keep topping it off before the end service date.

http://www.tracfone.com/pay_as_you_go.jsp

Bob

Yup.... but it would be cheaper just to buy refurb phones than keeping 4 phones topped up all the time.