WTB: Good prepaid SIM card for someone who never uses their phone.

January 11, 2010 9:49 AM

What's the best option for prepaid cell minutes in the USA (Philadelphia) if I already own an unlocked GSM phone?

I've never been a big fan of phones. I hate land lines and I hate cell phones even more. Of course, as a nod to practicality, I still maintain a phone number.

For the past couple of years I have used a bottom-of-the-line Virgin prepaid model as my sole phone. It's a piece of crap, but all-in-all I've been pretty happy with it. Sadly, it has reached the end of its life. It's casing is cracked, it's battery keeps dislodging and I swear the whole thing will just up and break in half if I so much as think about putting it in my pocket.

Now the obvious thing to do would be to just drop the $10 on another of the same model. But, there's another option. A friend of mine just purchased a swanky new phone and has been kind enough to offer me his old unlocked GSM phone for free.

I understand that I would need a SIM card to use this phone. Unfortunately, in all my looking I've been unable to find a prepaid SIM card that meets my requirements. Specifically:

- Cheap rate for minutes: I pay 10 cents/min with Virgin and would rather not see that increase significantly.
- No (or very long) expiry of minutes: I use the phone as rarely as I can get away with. In the average month I use about $10 worth of minutes. Some months, I'll use less than a dollar. If I buy 200 minutes, I want to be able to use them over three months or longer.
- Good coverage in the Philadelphia area.
-Ability to do roaming in Canada, specifically Toronto. (Virgin doesn't offer this. That's the one big black mark for the phone I currently have).

Does anyone know of a provider that offers a prepaid SIM card that can make me a happy?

ASIDE: I haven't really considered any contract plans. I've been assuming that given how little I use the phone, there would be no monthly plan that would be a good deal for me. If you know of a plan that costs $10/month or less and has no or minimal early termination charge (there's a good chance I'll be moving back to Canada within the year), please let me know.

posted by 256 to shopping (6 answers total)

If you want to use GSM in the US, you have two options: T-Mobile and AT&T.

I used T-Mobile pay as you go for years. The key to it is to always refill minutes $100 at a time. It's usually pretty easy to find 7-15% discounts on minutes from online retailers (I used callingmart, and usually was able to pay about $90 for a $100 refill card, which was delivered immediately by email). The Howardforums site generally has links to the best deals available.

If you always buy $100 refills, your minutes will cost ten cents or less, and won't expire for a year (and whenever you refill, the expiration of ALL minutes is extended to one year).
posted by toxic at 9:58 AM on January 11, 2010

Ouch.

I just looked at that T-Mobile plan. It charges $0.50/min on top of the usual rate for calls to Canada. I should have mentioned in the original post, but about half of my minutes are calls to Canada.
posted by 256 at 10:08 AM on January 11, 2010

You might want to consider a contract, as they're easier to get out of than you think.

I had a contract on my phone (with Verizon) when I lived in the States, and then moved back to Canada. Most providers will waive the early termination fee under certain conditions, with the relevant one being: No termination fee if you are moving to an area they don't have coverage in. When I canceled my contact, I paid the $175 fee and then just had to fax them proof that I was living back in Canada and they refunded the amount.

Easy.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:47 AM on January 11, 2010

but about half of my minutes are calls to Canada.

Cellular companies make a lot of profit on international long distance. You're not going to find a ten cent minute to Canada, unless you sign up for an international plan (which generally costs $4-5 a month -- and even then, it's likely going to be more like a twenty cent minute).

Or...

Buy a calling card, use Jajah, or Google Voice. In each of those cases, you'll be making (or receiving) a domestic call at your normal cellular rate, and then paying 2-3 cents per minute more to connect your call to Canada.
posted by toxic at 11:43 AM on January 11, 2010

Try eCallPlus (http://www.ecallplus.com/). It isn't a SIM card but it is non-contract and some of the deals are good.
posted by y6t5r4e3w2q1 at 12:35 PM on January 11, 2010

I've done a lot of research and in general - T-Mobile is the cheapest.

You can get T-Mobile prepaid minutes down to 8.5 cents a minute if you add in $100 increments. (Even less if you buy them at a discount from a vendor like CallingMart).

Minutes last for a year after you put at least $100 in and can be extended another year just by adding to your balance.

Definitely get a calling card if you're going to call Canada often.
posted by wongcorgi at 3:57 PM on January 11, 2010