Job Discussion Forums

alaskad · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 20 Location: austin, tx

How much did you pay for a cell phone? And can you carry it throughout South America or just in one country?

sorry if this question is stupid, i have never had a cell phone even in the states.

deborah

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:27 pm Post subject:

$30-$200, depending on the fun features you want. And yes, you can carry it through South America, or anywhere else you want. It will probably only make and receive calls in the country where you bought it, though. Very Happy

Seriously, prepay phones have gotten so cheap recently that a lot of travellers just buy a cheap one for $30-40, then sell it for $20 when they change countries, and repeat the procedure in the next country.

Regards,
Justin

alaskad · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 20 Location: austin, tx

okay, thanks for the reply.

how much do ya'll pay a month for your plan? and can you call up to the states for free on the weekends or whatever?

Gracias!

Deborah

alaskad · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 20 Location: austin, tx

also is it a bad idea to purchase the phone there in the airport? where did ya'll buy yours?

d

amy1982 · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 192 Location: Buenos Aires

if you have a phone with a SIM card, you can bring it to south america and get the SIM card changed in whatever country you are in. this will give you a local cell phone number.

as far as the other questions you're asking, they may vary from country to country... here's my experience in argentina - you can buy a decent new cell for 150 pesos (about US$50), and that includes 50 pesos of talktime. however, i brought my phone from the US so i just got the SIM card changed...

it cost me 10 pesos (~US$3.50) to change my SIM card and that included 10 pesos of talk time - so it was essentially free to change the card. as far as i can tell, if you aren't a native or legal resident of argentina, you can only do prepaid, not a monthly plan. i don't have free outgoing calls (and haven't heard of anyone who does), but incoming calls are generally free. whenever you're running out of minutes, you just buy a new card and then it's free to text or call in the pin # to recharge your phone. you can buy phone cards all over the place - not just at cell phone stores.

i wouldn't buy one in the airport, but that's just me. i've never seen anything in an airport that isn't a HUGE ripoff, and if there's a problem, you'd have to go back to the airport... as long as you're going to a decent sized city, you should have absolutely no problem getting a cell phone there.