US Cell Phone

We will be driving from Montreal too Florida, January - April.  We would like to purchase a cell phone (no contract) for the drive too and fro.  We'll have wifi at the campground so I can use my magicjack/iPad.  We are looking for something cheap per month.  Don't think we need data just be able to call incase of emergency. Suggestions please.

Thanks

Probably the simplest thing is, once you cross the border, to stop at a Walmart, Target, or grocery store and buy a Trac Phone or similar. There's quite a selection at some of those stores.

Same suggestion as Larry N!! Exactly what we do!! Except that we will be there before you, we leave Nov 15 or so!! We also have the IPad and MagicJack. Our MJ has a Montreal number so we transfer our land line over to it and answer any Mtl calls  in Florida as well. Makes it easier for the kids and Mtl friends too (not to mention the aluminum window salesmen!!).

We also use Tracfone.  They apparently have relationships with various carriers and use the best in the area where you are.  It may vary as you travel if one carrier that they use is better than another.  We have had service when others did not and I think their setup works well.  We buy a $99 card which can last for 12 months which is pretty cheap.  They have many others for shorter lengths of time.  Phones from almost free to a semi-smart one we use that is $29 and we get it at Best Buy.  LG840G.  Does far more than we know how to get it to do.  Good camera and Wi-Fi, etc.

Careful!!! Not all Tracphone model phones will work in all areas it seems!! The one COMer mentioned (LG840G) does not work in my area in Florida (34114) and, as a result, is not available there. I was not aware of this until I got curious about this particular model after he mentioned it, I ass u med that all Tracfones worked everywhere because of their variety of service suppliers but apparently not, at least according to Walmart.

I did come across this provider that seems reasonable, very interesting to me,  if you have an unlocked phone already or are willing to buy one of theirs at $49.00: G3 Wireless 

The Tracfones usually work in an area even if they aren't sold there. Tracfone sells both GSM and CDMA phones and it often costs Tracfone more per minute if the phone is used outside its primary coverage area, so they don't sell the same models everywhere. However, if you already have one they usually work. Of course, if you have a GSM phone and the area doesn't have usable GSM service, it doesn't make much difference what the brand is.

Walmart now pushes their Straight Talk brand of cell phone service but its actually a Tracfone. They offer different models in different areas and purchase time on both GSM and CDMA networks.

This review of StraightTalk seems pretty much on target and applies equally well to Tracfones.
http://dealnews.com/features/Lets-Discuss-Is-Walmarts-Straight-Talk-Wireless-Service-Any-Good-/669205.html

Straight Talk - Tracphone.

It depends on what area I'm in if it will work?  It's a lot of different locations from Montreal - St. Pete's.  Do I buy the phone or the area it will work the most in?  And, what's the point if it doesn't work in the area you need it in?

Check out Roam Mobility. You'll get your own sim card and phone there are cheap but rudimentary.

If you have a cracked phone, you'll be able to use that.

Unlimited text and phone calls in North America and data is pretty cheap too. Only pay when you use it, but if you're down there for an extended time, something else might be cheaper.

Roam Mobility?  Is that Bell or a US company?  We'll be away approximately 3 1/2 months.

You can always check the coverage maps for the carrier you are considering.  I have used my Tracfone everywhere and in some areas where others did not have service.  I consider it the best deal for using anywhere you may want to.  I travel a lot and would quickly get rid of it if I was ever seeing areas where it didn't work.

Tracphone work well for us also.  We buy the $99 365 day card.  Our phone has triple minutes, have never had to buy more than 1 card per year.
We travel most in the west and have had no problems.  The only thing I can find fault with is we can not sent text mesg to Canada.  We can receive them, but not send.

Have a great day

I saw the Straight Talk phone ($149.00 new one and bigger screen) at Walmart last weekend in Plattsburgh but didn't see the 365 day card for $99.00.  Does anyone know how many minutes this is or is it unlimited without texting Canada for a year?  It seems Straight Talk and Tracfone are basically the same?  I was also told the more expensive the phone the better the processor?  So just a much better phone?  Are there better deals the farther south you go or it's basically the same USA wide?

Yes TracPhone is the service behind Straight Talk, but the billing plans are different.  Straight Talk normally is $45 per month for unlimited voice, text and data or $30 for unlimited voice and text and data is extra.  TracPhone charges per minute for voice and by message and by the megabyte for data.  TracPhone is a pay as you go plan that costs $8 to 10 per month for limited service.  Straight Talk would be more for heavy users.

As Gary said both use CDMA (Verizon) or GSM (AT&T/T-Mobile) as the underlying carrier.  So with either Straight Talk or TracPhone it matters which phone you buy as to which network you will be using.  I live in Southwest Florida and have been quite happy with CDMA service (Verizon) although I buy my service from Page Plus Cellular which is another TracPhone subsidiary.

For the cheapest service, stick with TracPhone over Straight Talk.

Msbudlite said:

I saw the Straight Talk phone ($149.00 new one and bigger screen) at Walmart last weekend in Plattsburgh but didn't see the 365 day card for $99.00.  Does anyone know how many minutes this is or is it unlimited without texting Canada for a year?  It seems Straight Talk and Tracfone are basically the same?  I was also told the more expensive the phone the better the processor?  So just a much better phone?  Are there better deals the farther south you go or it's basically the same USA wide?

Click to expand...

The $99.00 card is 400 minutes for 1 year. Here is a list of some of the available cards from Tracfone: Tracphone Cards

Walmart does run out of cards from time to time but some are found in the electronics section and others at the cash so you have to look in both places. The cards are available everywhere, not just Walmart and the phone selection apparently can vary from area to area as well.

The rates are the same everywhere in USA. Don't worry about which phone, if you are only going to use it for 3 months, but make sure you buy a phone that has "double minutes" or "triple minutes" then buy the lowest amount of days you need. Every time you add days, your hours purchased  will be doubled (or tripled) automatically. You can buy, for example, 3 -30 day expiry cards and add then to your phone at any time before the  current day allowance is up and the days (and hours) simply add on to give you 90 days. Or you can buy any 90 day card  and with a double minutes phone  you should have plenty. You can add minutes if need be.

For our use, we always run out of days long before we run out of minutes.

The only problem we have with the less than 1 year plans is that shortly after the purchased time period is up (30 days?), the phone no longer works and you have to get their less than ideal customer service involved to re-activate. In our case, they would NOT send me a Sim card to Canada and so we had to wait until we arrived at our destination to re-activate and thus travelled without a working phone.

With AT&T and my own unlocked phone, although I needed a new Sim card,  I could activate from Canada over the internet. Down side, 90 day plans, I need 150-160 days. and a new Sim each year. The Sims were available on ebay, cheap too, and shipped anywhere. I bought 5 but at the time they were free from any AT&T store. Don't know about today. I still have an unused one!

We use the 365 day card which when added to our LG840G gives us 1200 minutes.  We also can wait until they have one of their frequent specials and get an additional 250 minutes added.  The 1450 minutes lasts us awhile as we use texts now quite a bit.  Need to be able to communicate with a granddaughter.

So Tracphone with either Verizon or AT&T (Florida).  Just have to decide which phone and I don't quite understand the double and triple minute deal.

Thank you for all the help. 

We are presently selling and buying a home (Montreal) too and at this age it's really getting stressful.  Moving used to be fun!    Plus 2 of 3 kids don't agree with the house we bought!  What a life sometimes!!

    We too have the LG840 that came with triple air time.  I've used it all over Florida and have never been without service.  With our Majic Jack, we use the cell only limited, so last year I bought 1 year time without air time and still have well over a thousand minutes left.
    We cannot Text to Canadian phones, so we don't text at all.

Ed

The various Tracfone phones tell you when they advertise them what the special deals will be.  The LG840G says on the list of benefits that it provides triple minutes for life.  Each time I buy a card, when I load it, the phone tells me that I have three times as many minutes as I loaded.  I get the 365 day 400 minute card which loads as 1200 minutes.  They also often have specials where they will add a bonus 250 minutes to your purchase so I have 1450 minutes to use for $99.  The bonus minutes do not triple, only purchased ones.

Msbudlite said:

So Tracphone with either Verizon or AT&T (Florida).  Just have to decide which phone and I don't quite understand the double and triple minute deal.

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Click to expand...

Each purchase of a card  has 2 elements: the number of days of use and the number of minutes you have purchased to use within that period. This is the case for any card purchase, 30 day, 90 day, 365 day...

When you purchase a phone (hardware!) with the "double minutes"  (or triple minutes) option built-in, each time you add an amount of time (minutes) and days, the amount of time (in minutes) will be doubled (or tripled) automatically when you activate the card. Example: purchase a card with a 30 day limit and  100 minutes of time, the amount added into your account upon activation will be 200 minutes, the number of days will remain at 30 days.

One other feature is carryover: If you purchase and activate another 30 day card  before expiry of the first, the remaining days of the current period and the unused minutes will automagically be added to establish the new expiry date and minutes available. If you let the days expire before adding more time, then you loose the carryover of the remaining minutes to the next period.

To further confuse things, for someone with a phone without the built-in "double minutes" feature, it can be added by purchasing a "Double Minutes" card.....

So the moral of the story is find a phone you like and verify that it comes with double or triple minutes and .... enjoy!!!

Since these often come boxed, try and have a close look at the phone first. I received a (Samsung) warranty replacement flip phone from them and the display is terrible. The Options screen is yellow with white writing and is close to being impossible to read.

Would anyone know if the LG306G Tracfone (triple minutes for life) works well?  We will be travelling from Montreal - St. Petersburg, FL.  Should we take Verizon or AT&T?  The LG840G is sold out at the WalMart we go too in Plattsburgh.  Still not understanding triple minutes for life!!  Help...