Question on cell phone plans that work between USA and Argentina

[pmacay]

Welcome to the 21st century! Ron bought his first smart phone. We’re looking for the best way to use it here and in the USA. We talked to a Verizon guy in the USA and it seems like we would need to get a new SIMM card every time we returned to the USA, activating it with a new number (since we don’t want a monthly plan in the USA that we pay for all year and only use once or twice a year), that seems a little ridiculous.

We will not be making a lot of phone calls here in Argentina, it’s more for emergencies. We don’t want a monthly plan, we would prefer a pay as you go plan. I have PERSONAL here with no monthly plan on my cell phone, I just put some money on it at a self serve kiosk when I need to use it. However, when we go to the USA I have to activate it, get a new SIMM card and a new number, and it’s costly, so I want to find a better option.

So I “think” what we need is a pay as you go plan here in Argentina (because we won’t be making many voice calls), and then when we go to the USA we’d like to use it so we can make calls when we’re visiting.

I know when friends visit from the USA it’s not a big deal to contact their provider and be able to use their cells in Argentina. But we don’t have a regular plan in the USA.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Pete & Ron

 

[BAJeffpat]

Congratulations!

As you probably discovered, the problem is that sim cards can expire if you don't use them: The carrier gives your number to someone new. However there are tricks to get around this. For example, you can get a T-mobile month to month plan. $45 for 4GB and unlimited calls usually covers my needs while I'm in the States. Then, when you come back to Argentina, you can convert the plan to a simple prepaid plan that is $3 a month. As long as you have money on your account to cover the monthly fee, you can keep your number. You end up paying $33 dollars for the 11 months of the year you are not using the line, versus the $10 to buy a new sim. If you don't to hassle with setting up call forwarding via a skype or google voice number or don't care about keeping the same number, this is a reasonably cheap and easy solution.

 

[Ceviche]

i have been using Magic Jack number via a app on cell phone for last 8 years. It really works like "magic". Pun intended. Its the best solution to have a permanent us phone number. I pay about 100 usd for a single 5 year subscription.

 

[ben]

VoIP plans (of which MagicJack is an option, by no means the best one) will solve the problem of being reachable from the US (by getting you a US phone number). It will not help you be connected while in the US.

If you expect to be in the US often, I'd recommend getting a Simple Mobile plan. Costs $50 per month, includes unlimited data (and with $10 IIRC can be used as a hotspot as well), and - get this - unlimited roaming in pretty much all of Latin America.

To be clear, the fine print notes as follows: "Not for extended international use; you must reside in the U.S. and primary usage must occur the U.S. Device must register on our U.S. network before international use. Service may be terminated or restricted for excessive roaming or misuse".

How strict they are about abuse, and what precisely do they consider abuse, is an open question. The company that owns Simple Mobile also owns Claro, so cost to them is pretty much nil. I'm pretty sure that before getting service cut off, you would get a warning or two. At that point, you can get yourself a local plan, port your US number to a VOIP service, and have that number forward in one way or another to your local Argentine cell. And buy a US SIM card for the occasions when you travel to the US.

If you need this, get in touch. I can set you up with a Simple Mobile line here, in Argentina (normally I sell these for Argentines traveling to the US).

 

[Ceviche]

Magic Jack works awesome.

when I am in USA I buy a randon t mobile chip and my permanent us number ( via magic jack) remains active cos of the 4 g network in us via t mobile as well.

 

[ben]

Magic Jack works awesome.

when I am in USA I buy a randon t mobile chip and my permanent us number ( via magic jack) remains active cos of the 4 g network in us via t mobile as well.

It works (so I hear) better than it did last time I tried it, a few years ago.

But the lack of flexibility is astonishing. If I'm using VOIP, I'd love to have at least the benefits thereof.

Does MagicJack let you forward calls to an Argentine number? How about even a US number? Can you drop their app, in favor of an app of your choice? (Acrobits Softphone, as an example)? Or in favor of a dedicated IP phone?

If I'm going with VOIP, I for one would much rather pay $60 a year rather than $100 for 5 years, but have infinitely more options (expandable: can add more numbers, including intl; digital receptionist; screening calls based on day/time/caller ID/incoming number/any combination of the above; DISA - can use as a calling card when no Internet; etc).

MagicJack is really the basic of the basic, entry-level, beginner's options. Not to mention that they tried to screw their customers a few years back, by starting to charge, per minute, for any phone call placed to a number not operated by one of the original Baby Bell providers.

Anyways, back to the point, if having a US number is not a deal-breaker, Simple Mobile will have you reachable here. If you want your phone to be Arg based, Movistar offers a fairly decent roaming package: a few dollars a day for unlimited calls to the country you are in and Argentina, and 200MB of high-speed data. And no SIM swapping required.

Or just keep buying a SIM when you travel. I sell those here.

 

[sts7049]

i switched to google's project fi just before i moved down here. you don't have as many choices for phones but it works great everywhere i've been in the country. and far cheaper (with mobile data) than having an international plan on the big US carriers like verizon.