Massachusetts Travel Forum

Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 07:22 AM UTC

My son will be in America for about 5 months so we have decided it will be easier if he just buys a mobile phone when he gets there, rather than taking an old unblocked one and buying a US sim card etc.

My first question (which may sound silly!) is do you sell pre-paid phones in America? I am assuming that you do, but my husband just thought that maybe you dont, and maybe they are all on a plan.

If you do sell pre-paid phones, then what would be an average price for a pretty basic phone? In Australia, you can buy a very basic pre-paid phone for about $80-$100 and a better one for about $150-$200, with top of the range about $300-$400. So, Im hoping that he will be able to pick one up for under $200US.

If so, where would be the best place in Boston to buy one? ie. the cheapest place? Somewhere like a phone warehouse, or else a department store.

Looking forward to your ever so helpful answers. Thanx!

14 replies

[Reply]

Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 01:05 PM UTC

There are several companies that offer pre-paid phones in the US. You should be able to get one for under $30 plus minutes. US phones in the US use 850/1900 MHz so an unlocked phone from AU may not work in the US

WalMart is a good place but there are no WalMarts in downtown Boston. I think he can get one in a CVS drugstore. I'll check after the holiday weekend.

I use t-mobile prepaid for everyday use because I don't make lots of calls.

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/prepaid.aspx

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/user/home/home.jsp

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 01:12 PM UTC

oh, sometime t-mobile's web site has free prepaid phone after rebate but presently they only have a free $25.00 minutes card when you buy a phone over the internet.

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 02:53 PM UTC

There are a lot of pre-paid phone plan choices these days.
The major companies are Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile, Sprint.

Review their plans and see which works best.

You can buy pre-paid phones in alot of stores.

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timessquare

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 01:02 AM UTC

Thanx Mike and timesquare
I had a look at both those sites Mike, I couldnt see any mobiles on the CVS site but I looked at the T-mobile site - the phones are dirt cheap, much cheaper than here in Australia, so Ben will have fun choosing one of them!
I guess his best option is to ask at the Boston Hostel when he gets there as to where is the best place to buy one. So, would you suggest that T-mobile would be the best company to go with? Probably another silly question from me, but will he be able to call back home to Australia on that phone? Or is a different kind of sim card that he needs to buy? Sorry for silly questions, but Im pretty clueless when it comes to that sort of thing, as if you hadnt already worked that out!!!

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 05:47 AM UTC

Mike, Ive also seen that there are 3 T-mobile stores in Boston, also several authorised dealer stores, so I guess his best bet is to go to one of them.
Thanx once again for the site links.

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[Reply]

Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:44 PM UTC

I think the dealers can only sell a monthly plan. I'm not sure about the T-mobile stores as I always got one by the internet. However, I think he needs a non Post office box address to get one over the internet.

I like T-Mobile because I do not use it a lot and in only cost me about $30 a year. Once you add $100, you only need you add $10 a year to keep the number and any unused minutes. You can also get discount prepaid minutes over the internet. I'll find the address later and post it here.

You can read what the companies offer over the internet and decide which company is best for him.

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:52 PM UTC

It will be a little expensive to call AU using T-mobile prepaid.

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/prepaidrates.aspx

The cheapest way is to use his computer at school and use something like voipdiscount.com

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 05:14 AM UTC

Ah you know what ... he can work all that stuff out for himself when he gets there! Im a little bit sick and tired of doing all his *** and not being appreciated! But thanx a lot Mike anyway!!!

PS he went up to the US Consulate this morning for his visa - they approved it no problems and will send it back to us soon, so praise the lord that is now done!!!

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 06:09 PM UTC

I checked the CVS drugstore across the street from the Government Center (City Hall) "T" stop (subway) in downtown Boston. They had the TracFone and Version Mobile prepaid phones. The Rite Aid drugstore near by has these and Virgin Mobile prepaid. I think the inventory changes over times and other stores should also have some. I did not see T-mobile in the stores I checked. He may have to go to the T-Mobile store on Washington Street to get one of those.

The cheapest phone I saw was $15.00 but the cost of calls may be more. You son and google the different companies to see which one has the best plan for him.

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:02 PM UTC

thanx Mike. Once again, great info from you - I will pass it all onto Ben and he can decide what he wants to do!

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 09:51 PM UTC

almost anywhere will have Net10 or Trak phones. Buy an upgrade phone for about $40 and you get double minutes on additional purchases of minutes. Get a pre-paid calling card to call home- I use www.cloncom.com

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gamma28

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:00 PM UTC

Thanx Ellen, I shall note all of this info down for Ben.

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 03:45 AM UTC

Another option is too look into buying phone cards- especially when calling abroad.
If he buys a cheap Virgin Mobile phone, which can cost as little as $10USD, that would be great for making local calls. These phones can be bought at stores like Radio Shack. Also it is good to know that the more the prepaid voucher costs, the better the rate. For example, Virgin sells $10 cards which get 20cents a minute, but if you buy a $20 card you get 10cents a minute.
But back to the phone cards. You can buy international phone cards at most convenience stores for cheap and get great international rates when calling from a LANDLINE or payphone. A $2 card can let you talk for 12-14 minutes or more and $5 cards can let you talk 35-45 minutes. You will find that if your son is using prepaid cellphone vouchers to call international the cost is going to be prohibitive.

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tzmpenzi

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Re: Best place to buy pre-paid mobile phone in Boston
Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 06:39 AM UTC

Thankyou very much Joshua - I had never really thought of this option, and if it works out cheaper, then that is great! Ben will have a lot to ponder once he hits Boston!!!

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