Phone plans

[MaximKat]

Hi!

I am thinking about phone plans for international students.

First of all, what surprises should I expect? For example, in my country all incoming calls/messages are free, whereas in US they are not. Are there any connection fees for each call?

Now, what operator and plan should I choose? I have no credit history, so I suppose contracts are out of question (I might ask some remote relative to co-sign if it is absolutely necessary, but I already have a phone (not locked), so if the rates difference is not extremely large I would rather not)

What I need is a little of everything: calls (~100-200 minutes, 300 tops), messages (~50-150) and internet (~20-50 MB). Free calls to several favorite numbers or the same operator phones would be good.

Most plans that look good with respect to calls/messages have ridiculous rates for the internet: either 1-2$/MB or offer it in big packages of 100MB/month.

Any advices?

[washdc]

Well.. I'm not expert but.. I have T-Mobile, and what I would suggest is buying a phone in-country (here in the US). For me I asked for their international plan- so my outgoing calls are something like .26 cents a minute and each text message is .15 cents. But if my mom or boyfriend, for instance, call ME- it just uses up my minutes.. and I don't get charged the .26cents ^^ so I have 2000 minutes (because I had a 1000 and I was talking to my boyfriend wayy too much). I also have free nights and weekends, so if they call me at night, or on the weekends- none of my minutes are used.

It was a work in progress because my first phone bill was 1500, my second 800, and so I'm slowly getting everything figured out. But the way I have it set up, is so that I never call them, and rarely text- to keep my phone bill at a minimum. And I do have internet on my phone here (I have a Blackberry so I think the per month is like 30 bucks or something along those lines). Hope that helps!

[MaximKat]

Thank you for your input

Forgot to say that I don't need international calls, I have skype

How does plan changing work in US? If I have a sim card from some operator and don't have 2yr contract, can I change to another his plan anytime I want (not in the middle of the billing period of course)? Are there any repercussions for changing to a cheaper plan or removing additional features, like unlimited messages? Is it possible to change between pay-as-you-go and monthly paid plans?

Btw, slightly related question. With unlimited US&Canada calls with skype for $3/month and a phone number for skypeless people to call you at for another $3/month why do people even bother with landlines at home?

[washdc]

How does plan changing work in US? If I have a sim card from some operator and don't have 2yr contract, can I change to another his plan anytime I want (not in the middle of the billing period of course)?

Again, I'm no expert- but, since you don't have a contract, changing plans shouldn't be a problem. If you have an unlocked Canadian phone then you should be able to switch sim cards. I've changed plans (within the same phone company) during billing periods- once I had such an outrageous international bill$$ & they immediately changed my plan to international and it automatically took off 300$ within that same billing month

Are there any repercussions for changing to a cheaper plan or removing additional features, like unlimited messages? Is it possible to change between pay-as-you-go and monthly paid plans?

I have no idea about pay as you go but I imagine pay as you go is a very flexible program. You can totally remove features if you'd like, without incurring additional costs. I once removed my internet for one week while I went to Europe so I wouldn't get charged expensive roaming fees- and then had them put it back on after that week-

Btw, slightly related question. With unlimited US&Canada calls with skype for $3/month and a phone number for skypeless people to call you at for another $3/month why do people even bother with landlines at home?

Well, I don't have skype.. never had, and I've heard the wonders about it too. But here I am It takes me awhile to switch to new technology-

[Bumblebee]

Hi! I have a question concerning phone plans in the US. I have been living in the country for 3 years and I have a pay-as-you-go phone with AT&T. But now that I'm going to grad school, I want to get the iPhone. I have a SSN but I don't have a US credit history (I'm allergic to credit cards, I don't like them at all). Would that be a problem to get a contract with AT&T? Will I have to pay a deposit? (I will run short of money at the beginning of the year if I have to).

Note: Despite my allergy towards credit cards, I'm aware that I will need one if I want to live in this country, so I'll be getting one in August (sigh), but I'm afraid it won't help towards my credit history.

[red_crayons]

Hi! I have a question concerning phone plans in the US. I have been living in the country for 3 years and I have a pay-as-you-go phone with AT&T. But now that I'm going to grad school, I want to get the iPhone. I have a SSN but I don't have a US credit history (I'm allergic to credit cards, I don't like them at all). Would that be a problem to get a contract with AT&T? Will I have to pay a deposit? (I will run short of money at the beginning of the year if I have to).

Note: Despite my allergy towards credit cards, I'm aware that I will need one if I want to live in this country, so I'll be getting one in August (sigh), but I'm afraid it won't help towards my credit history.

It shouldn't be a problem. You might have to pay an additional connection fee of $20-40 - I did with Verizon, when I was in a similar situation. Good news is that a phone account will build your credit history. It helped me when I got a car loan recently that I've had a phone in my name for 5+ years, although I've only had a credit card (that I don't really use) for about 2.

[diehtc0ke]

Hi! I have a question concerning phone plans in the US. I have been living in the country for 3 years and I have a pay-as-you-go phone with AT&T. But now that I'm going to grad school, I want to get the iPhone. I have a SSN but I don't have a US credit history (I'm allergic to credit cards, I don't like them at all). Would that be a problem to get a contract with AT&T? Will I have to pay a deposit? (I will run short of money at the beginning of the year if I have to).

Note: Despite my allergy towards credit cards, I'm aware that I will need one if I want to live in this country, so I'll be getting one in August (sigh), but I'm afraid it won't help towards my credit history.

I don't know if this has changed but when I got my iPhone last year, Apple wanted a $500 deposit because I also had no credit history. In the end, I put my dad down as the primary user to get around that.

[Bumblebee]

Thanks for your replies. Do you know if the 500 deposit also works for the rest of the phones in ATT? There's no way I can afford a $500 deposit, especially at the beginning of the school year, with so many expenses.

[diehtc0ke]

Thanks for your replies. Do you know if the 500 deposit also works for the rest of the phones in ATT? There's no way I can afford a $500 deposit, especially at the beginning of the school year, with so many expenses.

The deposit came from Apple so I don't think other phones will have the same problem.

[Bumblebee]

The deposit came from Apple so I don't think other phones will have the same problem.

Thanks a lot for your info! I guess I'll go for a different phone, then.

[dant.gwyrdd]

Hey guys, I also have a question regarding phone plans. After an inordinate amount of research (picking a phone plan is so much simpler and cheaper where I come from), I decided on one of T-Mobile's Even More Plus plans (namely, Even More Plus 500 Talk + Text) which seems to be the best for me. Since I'm an international, I won't have any credit history and I was wondering do you think they would do a credit check and deny me on those grounds even for an Even More Plus plan? The EMPlus plans are without an annual contract and I wouldn't be getting a phone with the plan from T-Mobile. I would hate to be stuck on prepaid since so far it seems definite that prepaid would be more expensive for me per month.