I currently live in the NL and I have a Dutch phone. I'd like to have a US phone for various reasons. I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of signing up with a US carrier. I believe there is such a thing as a "pay as you go phone", but where to get one? Would I have to buy it in the US?
I would also like to be able to keep this phone so I'd have a US number that could be used for secondary security confirmation codes.
I tried to get into my old US T-Mobile account, but you guessed it, it wouldn't let me log in without the security code which it send to my old, cancelled phone number.
Posted by
1366 posts
Yes, there are “pay as you go phones”. As far as I know, you can get them at stores such as Target, Best Buy and Walmart. I don’t know if you can get them outside the US with a US SIM card.
Posted by
Palm Desert, CA, USA
94 posts
Amazon also has a variety of “pay as you go” phones that should work for what you need.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11315 posts
Kateja, I believe you can buy an unlocked cell phone where you live or online as long as it is compatible with the US network standards and then get something like this as your SIM. I just did a very cursory search but you may find other options. That is what we do when we come to Europe: bring our unlocked cell phones that are compatible and buy a SIM and service for use while there.
Posted by
OP
Amsterdam
556 posts
I am in uncharted waters here. My concern is that with a pay as you go phone, the number won't be accepted by my credit card company, bank, etc. I tried adding a US phone number to my Skype account, but it was rejected as "not confirmable"
Posted by
Washington DC
27110 posts
Until last spring I had a pay-as-you-go plan with T-Mobile. I never had any problem with acceptance of that telephone number. I used the PAYG plan for over ten years and then switched to a monthly T-Mobile plan, using the same number.
Just before my 2015 trip I bought my first smartphone online from (I think) BH Photo Video. One thing I learned at the last minute--don't know whether the situation has changed since then--was that I needed to use the phone in the US at least one time before traveling to Europe and popping in a European SIM. I guess the first use of the phone needed to be with a SIM from the same country??