ireland132

I have just moved to Los Angeles with my wife and we are wanting to get two mobile phones. She is not working and I will be based in an office. They are going to be pretty indispensable as we are expecting our first child on November 10!

Don't think we'll be very heavy users of them, so would probably want pay as you go. Also, this avoids contracts, credit checks and hefty deposits.

I have been looking at Virgin and AT&T's GO service. Anyone got any comments or advice?

Thanks.

scotch03

Virgin mobile to a pay as you go and if you are low users it is a good deal.

Virgin Megastore in Burbank sell them as do Best Buy and some other electrical places.

Welcome to LA! Before you get your mobile go to Cold Stones in Glendale and have the best ice cream ever!

ladyofthelake

Welcome to the US! Hope the move went smoothly and all is fine.

As for cell phones, I have a pay as you go too, as I only have it in case of emergencies. Mine is with Verizon - Free Up. One thing to be aware of is that some of the companies have an expiry date on the prepayments. For instance mine runs out after 2 months and has to be "re-upped" again regardless of the amount used previously. Could be worth investigating if any others have this or not.

snorkmaiden

I have the Go phone, it's a bit pap to be honest. I only got it cos they wanted $500 deposits on the contract phones. I found out a few days after I got it that you can't send text messages back to the UK using the Go phone either which is a pain as my sisters and I regularly send text to each other.

I contacted Virgin and they apparently do have the capability to do this, also, the GO phone is ugly, and seriously my old Nokia 3210 back in England kicked the pants of this thing.

The Go phone has a monthly charge, it tops up whether you are out of credit or not, it's a pain as it seems you can only check your balance online.

I'd go with something else if you could, the Virgin looks o.k but I haven't tried it.

snorkmaiden

I have the Go phone, it's a bit pap to be honest. I only got it cos they wanted $500 deposits on the contract phones. I found out a few days after I got it that you can't send text messages back to the UK using the Go phone either which is a pain as my sisters and I regularly send text to each other.

I contacted Virgin and they apparently do have the capability to do this, also, the GO phone is ugly, and seriously my old Nokia 3210 back in England kicked the pants of this thing.

The Go phone has a monthly charge, it tops up whether you are out of credit or not, it's a pain as it seems you can only check your balance online.

I'd go with something else if you could, the Virgin looks o.k but I haven't tried it.

scotch03

Pap - LOL - not heard that word for ages - cannae stop laughing!!!!

ireland132

Virgin does seem like a pretty good deal and their phones are decent enough (not nearly as cool as our UK phones, but hey!)

In answer to the earlier posts, our move to LA has been pretty smooth to date. We found a place to live in 2 days and are moving in on Monday. We have - however - been doing things non-stop to get our new lives started - from buying electric kettle to attempting to get a SSN.

For those always asking about moving money across, our Citibank US dollar account has been really useful. Have been withdrawing cash from ATMs, using cheques to pay our landlord and can get funds paid in in England and then we can transfer them to dollars at a good rate. Great internet access too. Recommended.

Rockgurl

I have a Virgin pay-as-you-go in the States, as I'm not there all the time and it comes in useful when my girlfriend picks me up from the airport. It is a bit expensive as you have to top it up every 3 months and you can't do it for less than $20, so right now I have about $60 credit on my phone that I'm not using, but when I actually move over I'll use it up. The call charges aren't too bad...something like 10c a minute, but the thing I hate is that you pay when someone calls you as well! And I seem to get a lot of wrong numbers! It's really been invaluable though, so I won't complain, and the coverage has been excellent. The phones are all pants though...the US hasn't really caught up to technology like the UK has, and they don't do texting.

m4rk0

Does Virgin (or any other provider) sell sim packs?
I recently bought a new tri-band phone, and was hoping to just buy a sim card with pay as you go when I arrive..

reaper27

yes, GO-phone is sim based and a sim can just be bought. Most stores sell the pack a phone with the sim. However, you can just go into any AT&T corporate store, usually not the kiosks at the mall and activate an AT&T sim for go phone. The best part about go phone in terms of prepaid is that it has unlimited nights and weekends, which no other prepaid offer. So all the people who have triband phones can use them with AT&T . International Text messaging is available for certain carriers. Right now the only UK carrier supported is Tmobile, but that will change slowly. Check it out.

scotch03

Virgin in CA is not GSM yet so no SIM.
ATT here is GSM as is Cingular and T-Mobile but the GSM network is limited.

ireland132

Do all pay as you go networks charge you to receive calls?

Is that the same if you have a contract as well?

Even with these facts, Virgin still seems the best overall.

smiler125

I will be moving to Lubbock, Texas and currently have a U.K tri-band phone.
Does anyone know the best pay as you go type deal for me to get a SIM?
I want it for emergency use only or do any do unlimited national U.S calls at weekends or evenings?

Thanks

smiler125

Hi

Can you advise the cost of a mobile SIM pack?

Thanks

datcha

We're in LA and both running Virgin Pay As You Go and I must say I'm very pleased with them - no contracts, etc. I've got an Audiovox 8500 tiny thing and the missus has the K7 Rave.

Coverage is superb and their website is easy to get around. Yes your credit does "expire" in 3 months but (and I still can't believe this) you pay to receive calls as well as make calls so it does disappear at a nice pace. Plenty of cool ringtones on their site which are easy to download - the wife has The Exorcist on hers.

One thing though that we did was buy them from a Sam Goody store. We signed up for their Reward cardand instantly got free airtime and a money back certificate - handy if buying CDs or DVDs.

Whereabouts are you in LA, ireland132? Also, what about you scotch?