SIM cards for USA/Canada

[NaturallyGullible]

We are heading to Canada and the USA to visit family for Christmas. DH and I have iPhones and iPads, and the DCs all have Blackberry phones.

I would like to have at least one USA sim card so that I can get maps, Internet, Facebook, and also data tethering to let everyone else access the Internet. I anticipate making some phone calls, but not many so am willing to pay normal international rates if necessary. The main thing is data.

I've googled and found plenty of suppliers, but the whole thing seems very complicated.

Does anyone have good experience of a particular supplier? I really value personal experience over what the suppliers say about themselves.

In anticipation, I have arranged for my iPhone to be unlocked and have completed that process today.

Thanks for any help. :)

My phone is now unlocked - is on Vodafone, but asked for it to be unlocked and have check it by putting in DH's O2 sim. Jailbreaking sounds scary.

I think I can now put in any SIM but would love to know how this works in North America.

When we last lived there, the SIM cards were built into the phones, so you couldn't chop and change. Here, you can get SIM cards from a vending machine in Heathrow.

We are paying over £5000 for flights, so I don't mind spending £100 or so for a phone/3G service. I don't want to rack up a £1000 bill though.

With reagrds to making phone calls, you would be far better off buying an international phone card from somewhere like Walgreens than paying usual i.e expensive international rates. You could buy a $20 phone card which would give you at least 3 hours of talk time.

Data to download is expensive in the US; be careful you do not end up with a large bill for downloading data.

Thanks, Attila.

I think we will be fine in Canada, as there are plenty of wireless hotspots, and we will also be extremely busy. If we need to make calls, it will be because we really need to (lost or running late), so can use our UK service.

I'm more concerned about having data when we are bored out of our minds at the PILs in the USA. Ideally, I want about 1GB with tethering. Not sure how feasible that is.

I bought a Rogers SIM the last time we were in Canada, but the safe place where I have put it is proving to be too safe :(