Prepaid 4G SIM card in the United States: How much does it cost? Where to buy it? What speed?

If you want to be able to use the internet, send SMS and make calls during your stay in the USA, you will need a SIM card.

Here are the different solutions available to you.

Having a Free Mobile subscription, we did not use local SIM cards. This article presents the offers that we discovered on the spot but we did not test them.

Buy a SIM card on Amazon

If you don’t want to bother, it is possible to buy a SIM card on Amazon before you leave.

The offer which seems to me the most interesting is that of Most SIM(Amazon link) which uses the T-Mobile network.

You will receive your SIM card at your address in France and can activate it on the date of your choice when you arrive in the United States.

You benefit from unlimited internet, calls and SMS. The prices vary according to the duration of the offer and are consistent although a little more expensive than what you will find on site :

5 days : 25,98 €
7 days : 29 €
10 days : 32,98 €
12 days : 35,65 €
15 days : 38,98 €
18 days : 43,98 €
21 days : 46,99 €
25 days : 52,98 €
30 days : 55,99 €
45 days : 79,95 €
60 days: 102,95 €
90 days : 151,95 €
120 days : 199,95 €

The Free Mobile solution

If you have a Free Mobile subscription (we do) at 20€/month, you are entitled to free roaming in the United States, it’s an ideal solution that will be the most economical! Indeed, mobile offers are rather expensive in the United States.

Free offers you 25 GB of data to use in the United States as well as unlimited calls and SMS to France and the United States

The SIM card connects in 4G to the AT&T operator’s network.

The flow test does not give an incredible result but is still quite acceptable.

The only drawback of Free Mobile is that you will only have your French phone number, which isn’t ideal if you need to be contacted by locals.

If you absolutely want an American phone number, you need a local prepaid SIM card.

Buying a SIM card at the Miami airport

At the airport arrivals, small stands offer at the exit the purchase of local SIM card.

When we arrived at the Washington airport, the rates were not indicated, we had to ask for an advisor. We did not have frankly the time so we did not raise the prices. If you have them, do not hesitate.

Buy a SIM card at the Las Vegas airport

At the arrivals level, you will find this vending machine where you can buy a SIM card.

There are several offers between 10 and 80 dollars. Knowing that the 10 dollar offer only allows you to make phone calls and not to use the internet.

Buy a SIM card in a T Mobile store

While walking around New York City, we passed several T-Mobile phone stores that offer a great deal for tourists. For $40 (+ tax), you are entitled to 10 GB of unlimited data, phone and SMS in the United States for 30 days.

It seems that you have to add the price of the SIM card of 10 dollars. We have not tested this offer but it can be interesting.

Buy a SIM card in CVS stores

In the United States, you will find CVS convenience stores everywhere. They are a kind of grocery store/pharmacy open 24 hours a day and there is no real equivalent in France.

There, you can buy a SIM card for about ten dollars for the operators Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Once you have a SIM card, you must purchase a card to credit your SIM and purchase the plan you are interested in. I didn’t have the opportunity to test it but I guess it is a code that you will have to enter to credit (unless you have to give your SIM card number to the cashier?).

The difficulty is that there is… a lot of choices.

T-Mobile seems to be the most interesting operator:

It offers the cheapest offer: for 25 dollars, you are entitled to 3 GB of data, SMS and unlimited calls
It offers an unlimited offer for $50.

Beware however, unlimited offers are rarely unlimited in the United States, you will surely switch to a reduced speed after a certain level of consumption. It will be enough to use GPS, exchange instant messages or consult websites. Maybe not for watching videos or making WhatsApp calls.

Did you like this article? Check out all our articles (travel diaries + tips) for the United States here, our 14-day Roadtrip to Florida, and our guide for a week in New YorkCity

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