Choosing how to stay connected while traveling in the USA is not easy. There are many options available, varying in price and depending on many factors, such as the purpose of your stay, how long you are in the US, and the features you need from your sim card. Today, we’re going to look at a few sim card options for use in America so you can always stay in touch with your family and friends.
First, let’s take a look at the more classic sim card options you can get for traveling to America.
Option 1 is a national sim card
There is a nuance, if you want to purchase a national sim card in the US and get USA numbers, you must have a credit history. However, if you are a tourist, you cannot have a credit history in most cases.
Option 2 -is roaming
Roaming is one of the most popular options for staying connected in America. However, this option can be expensive and sometimes inconvenient. Your home carrier’s roaming rates may be too high.
Option 3 is buying a Local SIM card
If you’re in the US for a long trip, you can use local cell phone carriers. Such sim cards require a more careful approach to connection. Let’s consider the three main carriers in America.
- AT&T
AT&T is one of the largest American communication companies and the second-largest wireless service provider in the US. The carrier produces a special SIM card variant to activate American smartphones.
With an AT&T SIM card you can connect unlimited calls in the US, Canada, Mexico, connect a local US number at a cheap price, by the way, the tariff may include a free WI-FI distribution option.
It is also worth mentioning the disadvantages of this company’s tariffs: AT&T supports only Apple smartphones, the sim card is difficult to purchase over the Internet, so, most likely, you will have to buy and install it yourself. You can buy an AT&T SIM card with enabled Internet in various shopping centers, mini-markets and even at gas stations.
The cost of tariffs varies from $30 to $50, the cheapest tariff does not include mobile Internet, and the most expensive one includes 8 GB of mobile Internet.
- T–Mobile
T-Mobile is known all over the world and supplies SIM cards for most European countries and America, a German company owns it. You can buy SIM cards in special sales offices, shopping centers, in mini-markets, in the company’s representative offices, in stores selling household appliances, as well as in a store with cell phones. The main pluses are that the company includes taxes in the price of the tariff plan, so you will immediately receive the full price for services, you can get up to 100 GB of high-speed mobile Internet every month, and also the user gets a free Netflix account as a gift. However, there are downsides: When buying a SIM card, the owner must register their ownership. If the card is registered but not used, penalties may accrue, depending on the plan.
The tariff starts at $15 with 2 GB of data, the most expensive tariff costs $40 for 10 GB of data. The number of calls is unlimited.
- Verizon
This is the largest telephone company in the United States. One of the main activities of Verizon is selling cell phones with its logo. Therefore, the equipment sold in Verizon offices can be cheaper compared to the same devices without the logo. The main advantages are that the company has excellent coverage throughout the United States, the highest speeds of connection and communication thanks to 5G UWB technology, unlimited tariff plan from $30 per month. It is also worth considering some nuances: the SIM card is difficult to purchase online or with the help of a consultant, in 2023 there was a slight increase in the price of Verizon SIM cards. Therefore, before buying, familiarize yourself with the current tariffs of the company.
The company currently offers the following plans and prices. The cheapest tariff will cost you $35 with included 1 GB of mobile internet, the tariff of the middle price category costs $40 with 6 GB of internet. The most expensive tariff costs $50 with 16 GB of mobile internet included.
Option 4 is connecting a virtual SIM card
A virtual card is a digital version of the classic physical SIM card for data transfer. Instead of a physical card that you need to insert into your phone, you can write data with a new phone number on the built-in chip.
You can pick up a data plan from your carrier and choose the best sim cards for the US, connecting a virtual sim card is done through an app you need to download to your smartphone. This option is the most economical, for example a number at ESIM PLUS for the USA can be for 4.5 euros with 1 GB of mobile Internet. Virtual SIM cards with high traffic are required for those who want to be online all the time. With a virtual card, you can always decide or change your tariff to a more suitable one.
As a result, there are a lot of options for connecting a SIM card in the USA. However, only you will be able to pick the ideal option, based on your plans when visiting the U.S., your habits and budget. For our part, we advise you to take a closer look at connecting a virtual card, as this is the most economical and reliable option.