Prepaid SIM card for USA?

[Lesster]

We are told you can use your pay as you go phone in the USA if it is unlocked and you get a temporary Prepaid SIM card. Where would you buy this card (near K-W)? Do you have to go to the US to get it? Will your phone go back to normal once you put the original SIM back in? We don't want to change our regular cell provider in Canada, we just want the safety of having cell phones on a vacation.

Thank you.

[Thaiwoo]

A different SIM card isn't going to change your phone's settings.

If you use a prepaid service and plug it in into your phone, some of the features live voice mail, internet - e-mail might not work.

What pay as yo go service do you have?

Don't some of the Canadian pay as you go services let you roam (for a MODEST fee per minute) in the US?

[Lesster]

Thanks for your response, Thaiwoo. We don't care about the other features, we only want to make or receive phone calls. We have Rogers Pay as U Go and they now have US roaming but it costs $2.49 per minute, and I think there may be air time on top of that.

[Lesster]

Am I correct in assuming that the SIM card is the "software" that tells the phone how to communicate with the tower(s) for the company that the SIM card represents?

[Thaiwoo]

You are basically right but it's more like an ID card.

There are several Pay as you go service providers in the US. Don't know which ones uses SIM cards for it though.

I'm currently working in the US and any Walmart and many other big stores or gas station chains sell pay as you go phones. Make sure you get one that works well for the areas you're going to use in.

So once you hit the US you can go and buy what you need.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=133261

[FBI]

You also need to unlock the rogers phone before any of this can happen

[dbusguy]

If you're going for a short time, just pay the Rogers price.
You can also go to Bell and get a calling card that will charge calls from pay phones and hotels to your home phone at the regular price Bell charges.
If you're going to be gone for a while, then maybe look into getting a perpaid US carrier phone like suggested.
Check with Virgin as they are in both Canada and the US