Phone for short US visits

A bit of a reverse question...

I used to have a US and UK mobile, but upon moving to the UK, I handed off the US mobile to my grandfather. So now I have no US phone and my UK mobile charges lots for me to use it in the states. Does anyone know of any cheap pay-as-you-go option for US mobiles?

I found one that I thought looked good with Virgin Mobile until I read that if it remains unused for 90 days you lose your credit and then at 150 days you lose your number. Similar with Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile said the credit would expire, but I couldn't find any information about if the phone number would be lost as well.

I don't get to go back that often, so I'd like something that won't expire the phone number, at least. I had my UK mobile in the states for almost two years with barely any usage and nothing expired - something like this must exist in the US?!

My mom has a GoPhone through AT&T. She bought it 2 years ago and put $100 on it and I believe that she still has a remaining balance that she is using. I do recall that she may have said that she needs to put more on it after the first year, but I'm not sure.

ETA: I just had a look and the $100 she put on it was good for 365 days, after that she put another $100 for another year:

Card Denomination Expiration Period
$15 30 days
$25 90 days
$50 90 days
$60 90 days
$100 365 days

One-year expiration period on $100 refill cards

I have an old Virgin US PAYG phone & I just reactivate it online, get a new number assigned to it & top it up $20 which will last me for when I visit and if I need more credit I just top it up while I'm there. I've not had any problems other than having to remember a new number each time.

Last summer I bought an AT&T GoPhone at Target.  It's a cheapo PAYG phone, and the minutes expire after 30 or 90 days unless you top up (and the number is lost 60 days after that).  But if you put $100 on it, then those minutes last for a year.  I probably won't use all of my minutes before they expire and I need to top up, but as long as I top up $100 annually, I don't lose my number and won't get charged a reactivation fee.  

I'm guessing someone will be along with a cheaper solution.  I have to admit I didn't do much  (any) research.  I just wanted something quick and easy for when I'm home a few times a year.  

ETA:  I was typing while WebyJ answered.  Same plan!

Here is what it says about that phone and expiration:
Amounts deposited into your account expire as follows: cards less than $25, 30 days; cards $25 to $75, 90 days; $100 cards, 365 days. Unused account balance is forfeited upon expiration. If money is added to your account before the current balance expires, the existing balance will carry over to the new expiration date. Pay As You Go accounts will be canceled 60 days after expiration. A service activation fee and new wireless phone number will be required to reactivate service. Account balance limit is $500; any amount over that limit will be deducted from your balance.

So it doesn't look like you actually need to use the phone, but you have to put in $100 a year to keep it active, and can have a maximum of $500 on it, so basically you have to use it every 5 years before they actively steal your money.

Try Cricket they were cheap and easy for the inlaws to use while over for the wedding. http://www.mycricket.com/

The Cricket map shows it has coverage in the areas I need it, but then when I type the zipcode to look at plans it says it doesn't? 

*sigh* Looks like I'll just have to top up from afar or simply reactivate each time I go back. Or perhaps I'll just forego the phone and be one of those annoying un-contactable people. 

Does anyone know of any cheaper options? I'm a poor student and triple digits scare me, lol.

We did the GO phone thing as well for one year. I found that I could still retrieve the same  number after the $100 credit expired at three months later.

With two weeks in the US in February, I ended up buying the cheaper $15 cards, and spent $45 in calls over those two weeks (car broke down--had a lot of emergency calls to make). Looking back on it, I might as well have just gotten the $100 card as I'll be back again before another whole year goes by, and I could have just been sure to have the credit and the same number... oh well...  

Looks like the Cricket one expires too. I've never found a pay as you go system in the US that is like the ones here. They are much stricter about how often you need to top up and by how much, and it's so easy to forfeit your account and money. Plus there is that horrible thing of paying for calls you receive. Stupid US mobiles.

T-Mobile US offers basically the same deal like AT&T GoPhone - pay $100 and you keep your credit for a year.  We've done this for the past 2 years and use it when we go back (about once a year).  This year I may decide to let it lapse if I don't go to visit and then faff about with a new mobile number.  We usually just use one of our old unlocked handsets when we go to visit.

Otherwise I would say use a cheap UK SIM, but then it would still cost anyone trying to get a hold of you from the US an arm and a leg.   

Good luck!

I hate how US pay as you go works because everything expires.   

However, I have a tracfone, and while the phone itself is really a bit naff and it won't let me use the sim card in a better phone, I am able to retrieve the same number and top it up online before I go to the US. 

A potential solution to the ever-changing telephone number problem is Google Voice. It's conceivable that you might have to be in the US when you set up the account, but then it's a number you can hang onto indefinitely. Get a new PAYG number? Just log in to Google Voice and change the number it forwards to. People in the US can then just call the same Google Voice number and reach you whenever you're in the US. They can also leave voicemails for you any time and you'll be able to listen to them online.

What you could do is get Skype, get a permanent US number (that way your family and friends can call you here for free), get a cheap PAYG phone, don't worry about losing the number if you don't top up, activate it every time you go to the States, and forward your calls to that phone.

Unless someone can find a flaw in that system, that is totally what I would do if I didn't want to keep switching numbers.

Ok I am in the same boat...Except I don't need tons of minutes as I am texter and web person...

I need a phone for 2 weeks with unlimited data/text <crossing fingers> I would pay for a whole month even $50 for those 2 weeks for what I need but I don't want to fork out $79 bucks for a phone.

any ideas?

I do have an iphone 3G but I can't find out if I can get a SIM card there to swap.
I do have my old sprint phone but I am sure its locked and I woudl rather kick sprint then try to use them again.

I just went to Wal Mart and bought the cheapest pay as you go and some top up time....it was WAY cheaper than using my UK one..and I gave it to my niece to use..

I just went to Wal Mart and bought the cheapest pay as you go and some top up time....it was WAY cheaper than using my UK one..and I gave it to my niece to use..

Dh & I bought a pay as you go from Walmart on our last trip home we kept it an will use it again when we are home in Nov.