Traveling to US- which SIM card??

I'm not sure if this goes here or in electronics...  We are traveling to the US and have an unlocked phone.  Does anyone know the best SIM card to take along?  I won't be using it much but incase wouldn't mind getting a better deal.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

My husband has 0₂ and when we went earlier this year it cost him £1 to just call our home and get 'welcome to BT answer 1571' and hung up. Honestly, I have 2 phones, 1 Virgin Mobile US and 1 Virgin Mobile UK since niether one of them do the other's networks. I keep my US one just for visits to the States since we are planning on once a year and I usually spend about $20 on it each time we've gone.

Is it just one of those PAYG from Target or something?  Does it expire at all if you don't use it?  We always had contracts there and now we have PAYG here.  I've always only gone for a couple weeks so it hasn't been a problem but this time we are going for longer so something of my own would be better for everyone.  Thanks for the help.

It depends on what you need your phone for in the states. If its to have a number for US people to call you, emergency use, etc- then its really easy to go in and get a PAYG phone. For the states for me, I have an AT&T PAYG sim card- bought the phone in a convience store for about $8.00.  I've added like a certain number of minutes on it that don't expire for like a year. Works for me- because my UK phone charges me £2.00/min in the states!!   I just switch out the sim card into my UK phone, because the $8.00 phone is a POS.
I haven't needed to call the UK for any reason on it while in the states though, so if you need to that, you may need something different.   

I think that is what I need.  Especially if I can take out the SIM and put it in the UK phone.  Is it just any AT&T PAYG phone?  I can use a calling card to call the UK or send a quick text if needed.  I'll check into it more.

Is it just one of those PAYG from Target or something?  Does it expire at all if you don't use it? 

See that's the problem that I had. For a while I tried to keep a US number - PAYG - with Virgin so I'd always have a phone when we were visiting, but the credit didn't last without regular topping up and we only go once a year or so, so I ended up having something stupid - like $60 worth of credit and yet STILL having to top up! So I gave up and now I just use my UK mobile when I'm there - I think I end up paying maybe £20 on top of my normal bill (contract) on average which isn't that much if it's only once or twice a year. And your provider might be able to give you a decent rate if you phone them up.

Also, be aware that you need a band 3 or 4 phone if you're going to use it in the US (I think most are now, but worth double checking) regardless of the sim card.

We do have 3/4 band phones already and are on PAYG here.  I was looking into it some and discovered what you just said.  So if I top it up do keep the same number and everything and when it expires does another top up just turn it all on again??  I'll be there for 6 weeks but don't need to use it tons, I just thought something would be better than my UK Sim now.

I had Cingular convert my number from pay-monthly to PAYG when I moved to the UK, and now I use my old phone and SIM when I go home, and just top up the credit whenever I need more.  Cingular (now AT&T) has a deal where if you buy $100 worth of credit, it's good for a year - and since I'm usually in the US more than once a year (so far, anyway) that's worked perfectly for me. 

I think I last topped up in September 2007 and have spent about four weeks in the US since then and still have around $40 of credit left - and I still have the same number I've had since 2002, which is much less confusing for my family and friends.

There was an older thread in the Expat Life section, but I personally recommend the T-mobile pay as you go option.  We bought our sim for about $10-15, which comes pre-loaded with about 30 min on it, then added $100 credit, which keeps the number active for 1 year.  This is great for us, so we don't have to keep topping up each month to keep the number active or go and get a phone reactivated each time we go over.   

There was an older thread in the Expat Life section, but I personally recommend the T-mobile pay as you go option.  We bought our sim for about $10-15, which comes pre-loaded with about 30 min on it, then added $100 credit, which keeps the number active for 1 year.  This is great for us, so we don't have to keep topping up each month to keep the number active or go and get a phone reactivated each time we go over.   

This is exactly the same deal as the Cingular (AT&T) sim-only plan I talked about above.

Thanks for the help- I think that i am going to do this too.  I looked online at T Mobile and they have a SIM card for $6.99.  Just a quick question- if the number expires do I just top it up again to activate it or do I have to get a whole new one.  Its not a big deal but was just curious incase it expires.

Thanks for the help- I think that i am going to do this too.  I looked online at T Mobile and they have a SIM card for $6.99.  Just a quick question- if the number expires do I just top it up again to activate it or do I have to get a whole new one.  Its not a big deal but was just curious incase it expires.

I have the T-Mobile one and I am sure the number you get is permanent. Your minutes expire within 90 days if you aren't a Gold Member. Once, you achieve this by spending $100 on minutes, any minutes you buy here on out expire in 1 year.
Put it this way, I topped up last month and before that I topped up in May so the number is good for at least 5 months 

If your minutes expire you have to go through the process all over again, unless you top up to keep the number current.  That's where the Gold Member offers are a good idea, if you don't want to have to keep getting a new number every time.