My previous non-profit supports dozens of international wildlife conservationists, who come to the states 1–4 times each year for about 1–2 weeks each. As we all know, it is super useful to have a working mobile phone with data plan, especially for on-the-go logistics planning.
FreedomPop is a good solution to this problem. I just signed up myself and—while the process was a bit cumbersome—I now have a working SIM card in my backup phone that does basic voice, text and data. And I only had to pay a nominal set up fee. Oh, and you will need a US credit card with a US billing address to sign up for an account, so in the case of my org, the US-based program manager would be the one to do it on behalf of the partner. But it will ultimately be in the name of the program manger.
Keep in mind that their business model is to use the free plan to get people to sign up, and then try to keep them on a recurring paid plan. They do this by initially assigning a premium plan to your account with one month free, and hoping you never bother to call in to downgrade to the free plan.
The other thing they do is try to send you additional SIM cards on your account which are also assigned a premium plan and will start charging your credit card after a month. Every time you call in, there is a voice menu option that makes you choose “Yes” or “No” to another SIM card. You can say no to these, andI suggest you do unless you have a specific use in mind. I’ve no doubt if you ever want to add another line to your account, they would be happy to do so at any time.
I had technical problems signing up using their web site (despite trying a VPN and several different browsers including private/incognito windows), so I ended up buying the SIM card from Best Buy (they are also at Target and probably other brick&mortar stores) and then calling their Sales dept to activate it.
The card itself cost $1, and the activation was $11, which I think is a pretty good deal. If you can get the online order working, be sure to look around on DealNews, RetailMeNot, or just a web search. They often run promos for 1¢ (and maybe this link is always live).
While I didn't try it, you might be able to request that they downgrade your service plan to the free one immediately when signing up. If not, just be sure to call back before the 30 days are up and get through to tech support, who will do this for you. There is no way to do it online, and the wait to get through to support will probably be 20–30 minutes. Use a headset and multitask on your computer while you wait. This is the cost of “free”. 😊
Finally, make sure your mobile phone is unlocked and will work on a US network. If not, FreedomPop also has some decent deals on phone/SIM bundles. (Their current deal is for a refurbished Huawie Union for $20.)
As always, I’d appreciate hearing if any readers use this and how it worked out.
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