Only at Newark they were still selling prepaid sim cards for USA. I checked the airports of Dallas, Las Vegas, Washington, Atlanta and Newark. This is a sim card vending machine at Newark Airport, Jersey, a popular airport to fly to when visiting New York. Most shops at International Arrivals were temporarily shut. NOTE: I was visiting the USA during the pandemic and most international flights to Europe were still canceled because of COVID-19. In the rare occasion you will find a T-Mobile shop at an airport in the US consider yourself lucky. Unlike any other country around the world it is NOT easy to find sim card shops or resellers at international arrivals in most USA airports. TIP: Make sure your phone is unlocked, before buying a USA sim card! Buying a tourist sim card for USA on arrival For tourists visiting the USA that means there are only 2 options left: T-Mobile and AT&T.
Which basically means that they don’t use a sim card and that international phones are not compatible with their network. This is just a prepaid sim card, no data, calls, text included! VERIZON does NOT offer prepaid USA sim cards for tourists in stores, but you can order them online.Ĭlick here to buy the Verizon sim card for the USA offer on Amazon. These two USA mobile internet operators use a different technology like the rest of the world: CDMA.Īlthough I knew about this I just wanted to make sure and visited this Verizon shop in Atlanta, Georgia to get the latest information. Unfortunately if you are looking to buy a sim card for the USA we can already forget about Verizon and Sprint. In a country with more than 300 million people it almost unimaginable that there are only 4 main mobile internet operators: Personally I would just not want to rely on WiFi. That said, all hotels, restaurants, bars and even some taxis have mostly a proper working internet connection. Being connected the internet makes traveling so much easier and also safer! Therefore my advice to always buy a local sim card even if it is only for emergency use. What about ordering an Uber, finding a restaurant nearby, using Google Maps, etc. WiFi is everywhere these days, but when traveling in the USA, you want to be connected on the road. If you go for a weekend, you can actually just rely on WiFi. I know it is a little more hassle, but when you are spending a couple weeks in the USA it is more than worth it. However, my advice is to always buy a local sim card over an international sim card. Click here for more than 10 prepaid sim cards with data for traveling in the USA.
You will find many options online and a sim card for use in America will be send to your home address. If buying a US prepaid sim card on arrival is too much hassle then check out my article about the best international sim cards for travelers, although when you read the article you will find out I rate some of these global sim cards as SCAMS! This article is updated with the latest information and prices as per September 2021. In 2021 I traveled a couple weeks around the USA, visiting 16 different States in 3 weeks and looked for the best prepaid sim card USA for tourists.
In total I wrote more than 150 local prepaid sim card guides for places and countries like: Canada, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, Turkey, Cairo, Paris, London, Johannesburg, Thailand, Vietnam and so on. The network coverage will be the best, the data speed optimal and calling is mostly included and unlimited… even in the USA, where prices for prepaid sim cards are NOT competitive!
However you can also buy international sim cards that cover the USA, but more about that later… VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED BTW! :)Īs a full time world traveler trying to visit every country in the world I can only recommend you buying a prepaid sim card in every country you visit. Just don’t expect to have a lot of options! In world’s most famous country you only have two options when buying a USA prepaid sim card! YES you read that right… TWO OPTIONS! But don’t worry, it isn’t that complicated either! Buying a sim card in the USA is the best way to stay online and avoid high roaming costs. Stay connected when traveling to the USA! It sounds easier than it actually is, as the American sim card market isn’t as advanced as in Europe or in other parts of the world.