US Sim card for short visit?

We will be travelling back to the US next month for a short visit.. me 2 weeks and hubby 1 week.  Does anyone know how we can get US sim cards to use while we are there? We both have unlocked iPhones 4 & 5 and want call and text (and maybe data) I know here you can buy them anywhere but I don't recall that being something that you can do in the US?  Any help is appreciated!
 

I had H2O SIM cards delivered to where I was staying in the US, and then topped up and activated online. I have kept the same US number for over a year now by topping up $10 online every 90 days. Www.h2owirelessnow.com

Does it work on your UK phone? if i just trade out the O2 sim for the US one?  did you have to pay for the sim? 

I have an iPhone 4s and yes, I just switched out the sim. I didn't pay for the first one as I ordered it from H2O, but didn't realize that I could top it up from the UK and let that one expire. Before my next vacation to the US I ordered a bundle of 5 sims from Ebay and paid $1 including postage. (The reason for getting 5 sims is that I needed them for other family members as well). I probably could have ordered them from H2O, just take a look at their website to see their current deal, and if PAYGO would work for you. I top up $10 at a time and use Whatsapp and iChat on 3G to keep in touch, or phone calls at 10c per minute. The rate to call back to the UK is very reasonable too.

You'll need access to the internet to set up the SIM card, and the only slightly tricky thing is getting the settings to access the internet. This should happen automatically but I had to call H2O customer service, and they were very helpful.

Once you are back in the UK you'll have to reset your data settings but that's easy too, once you know how. I hope this helps:)

im looking at the website you posted and it is asking me to pay for a sim card and states: Please note that this Micro SIM Starter Kit is only for those who already have an unlocked GSM phone for H2O® Wireless service.
so i am confused.. this shouldn't be that hard right?

You have an unlocked phone. You can buy the sims on ebay for $1. Not too hard?

(You will find that most USA providers charge for SIM cards, perhaps I was mistaken when I said that I could have had one free).

OK, Thanx, I just keep finding them for $10-20 with little or no credit on them at all... its just the sim starter kit.  So buying one from ebay its just an empty card and you but the recharge online or in the states?

Something to keep in mind for the future, I have 3 as my sim only plan here in the UK.  I can use my plan in the US for no extra charge (their Feel At Home deal while traveling).  My plan is £13 a month which includes all you can eat data.  I can't call US numbers for free but can continue to use my data for WHATSAPP and Viber calls.  My husbands O2 contract is up in Oct and he's going to switch to 3.  I was told bad things about their coverage when I moved here but have not had any problems in my area.

thanx, I checked that out, but they still charge 13p a minute to make a call while in the US.  O2 is about the same.  that is a bit pricey for a 2 week visit with family and friends.   

Have you tried the International Favourites from O2?  it £10 a month and gives you a US # that your friends can call you on. (you cant call them, but atleast they can call you)  You pick any 3 #'s that you want and you can call them for free.... you get 3000 minutes of landline calls and another 100 minutes of mobile calls for the extra three numbers
Its a fabulous deal for friends and family in the states!

Yes, buy an empty sim and charge it up. I use hardly any air time but do use skype, Whatsapp and FaceTime to make calls.

Something to keep in mind for the future, I have 3 as my sim only plan here in the UK.  I can use my plan in the US for no extra charge (their Feel At Home deal while traveling).  My plan is £13 a month which includes all you can eat data.  I can't call US numbers for free but can continue to use my data for WHATSAPP and Viber calls.  My husbands O2 contract is up in Oct and he's going to switch to 3.  I was told bad things about their coverage when I moved here but have not had any problems in my area.

Second the recommendation for Three. If you have Google Voice, you can install their app and use it to text back and forth with US numbers for free using the data allowance included in your Three plan.

This deal with 3 looks great, I may choose them when my deal with TMobile is up in November. Thanks for the recommendation

I loved 3 as well. One word of caution though. While it works fine in larger more populated areas, I had almost no coverage in the suburbs of Newport in Wales. That was 2 years ago now though. So things may have changed. It worked great for me otherwise in both London and Cardiff.

We've used T-Mobile PAYG and Smart Talk in the US. Both can be bought in Walmart or the T-Mobile one in their shops obviously.

I know I am a bit late, but I use http://www.readysim.com/ [nofollow]