Hello,
my girlfriend is planning a trip to USA and Canada this summer.
We have several triband-GSM-Phones here but no quad-band.

Is a triband sufficiant for USA (She will be in Minnesota/near Minneapolis and Vancouver) or should we get a cheap quadband (Like Benq Siemens A31) before the trip?

We ordered a Yackiemobile card -- lets hope it will still arrive before the trip ;)

Thanks,
Chris

1900-only can be enough if you don't plan to travel far from cities and the main roads. The more into the countryside you get the more important 850 becomes. While Cingular has the most 850 coverage there are also a host of smaller carriers with both 850 and 1900. These smaller carriers may have no international roaming, other than with Canadian carriers.

Thanks for your reply.
I think i'll get a A31 then - it cost around 80$ including shipping here in germany.
if the yackiemobile card does not arrive in time -- is it easy to buy a prepaid-SIM in the US? I'd go for a cingular card (with the unlimited option) then i think.

Chris

Like Dr. said, you should be fine with a phone with only a 1900 band if you are mostly in urban areas. One of my phones (nokias 3120) has only the 1900 band. I have pretty good coverage with my tmobile sim in it. With my riiing sim in it, it goes back and forth between tmobile and cingular. Since you would be using Yackie (if you get it on time :-)), they probably have roaming agreement with both cingular and tmobile.

I do not know of a single person that has received their Yackie sim yet. So, it's good that you are already thinking about alternatives. Yes, prepaid sims are easy to get, especially tmobile. Search ebay.

yeah, better always keep an eye open for backup options ;)
Well, on ebay most sellers have a big "only ship to the USA" on their auction texts.
I'll keep my eyes open (or try to beg one of our companies cingular or t-mo us cards)...

Chris

See if this fellow still has the cingular sims available.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/inde...showtopic=1163

You may also want to consider ordering a Canadian Fido or Rogers Wireless prepaid sim card for Vancouver. Neither the US Cingular or T-Mobile prepaid cards are likely to work there. Fido or Rogers cards can be bought inexpensively over ebay or from other internet merchants. A mobile phone kiosk or store in a shopping mall could also sell her a sim card once she gets to Vancover.
I agree on having a contingency plan in case the Yackie Mobile card doesn't arrive in time (I've been thinking of ordering one myself but want to wait until I read reviews on how well their cards work once they start delivering).
Also don't overlook low tech prepaid calling cards for international calls from hotel phones or payphones. Many have extremely low rates.

Thanks for the info about canadian cards.
Canada will be only 2 weeks and she'll stay at her sisters house. So there we do not need the card that urgent. For Canada we can go along with SMS on our german SIM-card or call the landline. USA is more interesting as it will be more than a month :)

Chris

A lot of those ebay sellers do not know that it will cost ONLY an extra $0.39 stamp to mail a sim card to europe...may be 2 extra stamps max. It costs only a first class ($0.39) stamp for anywhere in the US. See if you can contact one of those sellers and inform them how much it costs to mail stuff to you and that you are willing to double it or so. Most of them are just not informed.