Snowbird cell phone

[Wasp]

I'm looking for some sort of disposable cell phone that will either have nation wide coverage in the USA or just cell phone coverage in AZ, Utah, and Nevada. I only need it for a month, so a long term plan is not necessary. We will need to purchase 2 cell phones as well since our Canadian cell phones are locked to the service provider in Canada. Adding an international package to our plan is just to expensive due to the short amount of time we need it.
Anyone have any suggestions?

[spokewench]

I'm not sure about disposable phones, etc., but a warning about Northern Arizona, and southern Utah, don't know about Nevada. Verizon works the best, since cell phone towers are not as prevalent and these are rural areas, only certain services work in certain areas, i.e. Verizon works the best in northern az, but it doesn't work very well on the rez in naz. It also does not work well near Las Vegas in the rural areas there; but works fine in Las vegas

[Helene2013]

If you are not using the phone a lot, this is what we do:

We purchased an AT&T sim card to put in our iPad. It is a monthly plan but you can cancel anytime and the card is always valid if you need to "re-activate" it.

We use our iPad to make calls with either the wi-fi, or 4G (from iPad). We do this for our summer trips we take in the USA (we're also Canadians) and it works great. Ideally you use wi-fi to make calls since it is free in hotels, etc. 4G is excellent when on the road. We use the application MagicJack for the calls. Works very well. You need to have you iphone headset connected to the ipad and voilà!

The card is $30 for 3gigs. Good enough for the type of needs we have on the road.

Just food for thoughts.

[Irulan]

I guess. Few months might be different, but when I go to Canada I can pro rate the plan for the length of my trip. They usually short trips, though. Question about the iPad thing for Helene2014- if one has a non phone (wifi only) iPad, I take you can't do this because there's no card slot and no phone on the OS, right? I've never seen the phone keypad etc one on, only FaceTime.

For OP, check with Radio Shack. They have a lot of non contract options, or pay as you plans. spoke wrench is right in that coverage is going to vary a lot by carrier, with many rural or undeveloped areas not having very good coverage.

[Helene2013]

Yes you can still do it with wi-fi. But only if wi-fi is accessible where you are. No need for 3 or 4G for this. But you need to make sure you are able to download the app. Still need to have an iPhone headset I believe (this I'm not sure). But the app has a phone keypad look so you can dial in. You need to make sure your wi-fi connection is excellent, so not to be cut (like the old cell phones!) when talking or not hearing properly. If all conditions are met, it is a great tool for free calls (although it using your megs!)

[Eden]

You can get a cheap disposable pay as you go cell in most grocery stores here… The company that services them (at least in this area) is TracFone and they are nationwide coverage - all calls local/long distance cost the same as far as I know. You can buy them online too.. they have reconditioned phones as cheap as $10

[Irulan]

Couldn't you use SKYPE over wifi and forget SIMM card?

[Helene2013]

By the way, let me specify that the AT&T card cannot be purchased in Canada to use in the USA. You have to go to an AT&T store only in USA. tips we got from campers heading to the USA. We did not say we were Canadians (or would have been refused). They gave it to us for free. Some stores will charge, others not. I guess it depends who you get to see. We told them we would do the registrations ourselves on line. We gave the campground USA address and it worked. Just before crossing back the Canadian border, we cancelled the plan. And as soon as we get back on the USA side, we re-activate it (pay $30 good for 3 gigs and/or 30 days). If you use all your gigs up (which did not happen to us) you can add some more and it is not expensive (well compared to our Canadian plan if we were to get some roaming in it). In Canada we get so ripped off with phone plans vs the USA. Nothing much to do at this point. :(

[Pax]

You can buy a disposable cell phone at almost any truck stop in the country. Buy it, activate it, add minutes if needed, done.

[Wasp]

We actually need 2 cellphones (small compact easy to carry around). At times during our trip were going to be separated in different locations and need some sort of way to communicate. The international rates Canadian cell phone providers charge are pretty steep so I started looking for a cheaper alternative. I think the disposable cell phone/pay as u go would be more than adequate for what we need it for. Getting ahold of family ect back home while were gone we use skype.
Thank you for all your great advise.

[OakLeaf]

Just, as Spokewench said, pay close attention to coverage maps before you choose. Some rural areas just have no coverage at all, but many other places are reachable only by one carrier. That seems to be improving as time goes on, certainly in the eastern mountains - it's been a while since I've been west.

[Wasp]

It looks like Verizon is the company we will be going with. We expect to experience no coverage in some areas but that shouldn't be a huge problem.

[Wasp]

Update...turned out I had accumulated points with the cell phone company were currently using and could use those points to add USA cell coverage for the entire time we were away.
I have to say, our trip to Nevada, Arizona, and Utah was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Every person we met from clerks in stores, gas stations, restaurant, hotels, airports, and all the people we encountered along our travels everyone was friendly and helpful. And of course we fell in love with Arizona, wow what an amazing place!.

[Irulan]

What about just getting a US SIMM card? My son went to UK a few weeks ago and put a UK card in his phone. He was really glad he did, between map use, making calls and general making life easier.