I bought the Telestial Passport Sim last year for use in the USA, since i live in the caribbean. Mine comes with a dual number-a US # and a global, (+44) #. The marketing tag is that receiving calls to the global number is free, so naturally I asked persons to call me on this number instead. Only to find out that the global number assigned to me does not work. At first, when the number was called-another person (not me!!) answered the call. I emailed customer service-a lady called to say the global number is working as she just called me on it-so it may be a routing problem. Further calls to the global number still does not work. I think this is a complete rip off.

Coleen W

easy to use and great customer service

the dual global/US-based phone number is also handy if you have family and friends calling you from the US

Bad customer service. We three a adults had a very difficult time deciphering instructions. We called customer service. Worse than useless person, Felix, did not help and did not seem to know what was up and did not seem to care. Eventually did sort it out. But can see why some give up in frustration. Phone works fine. Instructions a complete befuddlement. Lots of details but leave out key point that US number is used calling from not to the US. Oh well. Have a back up plan for contact if phone fails you.

I'm based in the UK and had to be in the states and Canada for business for 2 weeks so having a US number worked out very well for my business partners who needed to get in touch. It has been reliable so far.

Another good thing is friends and family can call you on your UK number which means the cost is low for them. It is also very easy to top up on the internet and I can provide a straight forward usuage statement to my company.

As to text messages, I received one from a UK mobile but it never came through to my phone and I only got it when I checked on my account online. I'm not sure if this is a one off or if that's the norm.

Another minor thing is that although the SimCalling card is advertised for $19, take into account tax and shipping when you first purchase it, mine came to $29.67 which is an extra 50% more than what I initially expected.

SIM arrived on time and set up is straightforward (even for technically challenged). Easy to use and add credit. Had some problems but customer service were able to resolved them in about 24 hours. Probably a bit expensive to use for short calls but texts are reasonably priced

I needed a phone I could use in USA/CANADA and purchased a Simple Calling Card. It worked good,it is a bit pricey but it does what I need it to do.

Phone was terrible. Did not hold a charge so it couldn't even be used. Touched the screen and it cracked. Customer service is terrible. Pricing is Terrible. Stay Away

3 star so far, so far so good, card came on time, is easy to set up, still out on whether or not the charging process is worthwhile, but i am hopeful, especially on the 'not free' almost 'toll free calling ' from family. this might b e great while i am away. I just think it should not be called free since it costs the receiver money.

we will see.
sue

Too bad you don't have a negative 5 star rating- They sent me a crappy packaged sim card- must have gotten wet or something cause it stuck to the backing. The Pin and PUK numbers were obliterated and when I tried to return it they kept me on hold for 20 minutes and then said too bad.. guess it's buyer beware. I'm out $47 for a crappy non-usable sim card. Don't buy from this company

Telestial is a superior low-cost solution to the cell phone dilemma of how to get the best coverage at the lowest cost. I bought a $28.00 Blackberry on eBay and this card and I now have 400 minutes of airtime for a total investment of $86.00. I recommend it highly. Steve Miller

I come to the staates for about 2 month I looked for a good solution using my mobile phone. Telestial offerd the best supply and it is the best solution for all tourists and backpacker. I strongly recommend Telestial. For interested germans I will write a few senctences in german.

Telestial kann ich nur weiterempfehlen. Die Lieferung war sehr schnell, das System ist einfach und die Konditionen passen. Also wenn ihr für ein paar Wochen in den Staaten bleiben wollt, hollt euch diese Sim-Karte.

Greetings
Grüsse

My husband ordered this SIM for me. I popped it into my quad band Blackberry from AT&T, and it works so far in the US!
Like what my husband says, you can get free incoming calls in select countries in Europe (we have the Passport Lite option--if you go with the more expensive options, you can get free incoming, and cheaper rates, in more countries).
We are leaving for Europe today, and this gives us great peace of mind, especially since it is a post paid account so we won't have any nasty, unknown fees! Texting and recharging seem like a breeze too, as we can do it online or over the phone for free.

So far so good with Telestial!

I received my phone in about 4 business days, as promised, from their site. Their customer service is very good too--they were courteous and knowledgeable.

Their rates are on par with the competition, but I really like the 30 minutes of free calling for friends and family, and the free incoming calls while in Italy, France, Spain and the UK. that means your friends who use Vonage can call for free! Plus, you can get free texts, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I haven't had a chance to test out the A55, but I popped in my SIM card on my US phone and it worked! (Voicestream service).

Looking forward to a great time in Europe!

We bought this phone in order to communicate with our house sitter and family during our month in Europe.

From the very beginning the phone misbehaved.

Although we understood that the procedure was somewhat complicated, we successfully completed several calls back to the US.

The problem was with the Siemens A55. It would just go dead even though it was fully charged.

The last two weeks in Europe we were cut off (except for email) as the phone would not turn on at all. Customer service determined that it was the battery, but I checked it when I got home and it is fully charged.

I would have had as much luck using my US phone in Europe that doesn't work there either!

I ordered the Siemens A55 phone & passport lite SIM card for a trip to China. The phone was delivered promptly. I did not find the menus very easy to navigate. We had service, however, even though we had the auto-recharge enabled, the phone would cut off our call whenever the balance was low, then we would have to wait for a text message that I had been charged more money, and then could make a call again. This was very annoying. Also even though I had autorecharge enabled it would still ask me to reinput my credit card information, I called customer service and they said they had fixed this, but it happened repeatedly. Also my phone became 'locked' once or twice and I had to call customer service and answer security questions to have it unlocked. Also this phone does not make local calls, except if you have all the local codes to enter and then is charged at international rates. It was hard to hear as the volume was very low even when set on loudest. The travel journal was a nice feature, which tracked where we were every hour or so, however the journal is very confusing to navigate. My friends had trouble logging on, the links sent by the site didn't work, and when they found the journal could not understand or find our entries. Overall I was frustrated by this phone & service, I had to call customer service many times, usually they were helpful, sometimes not so helpful or they would have to put me on hold to put me through to the real customer service. I was able to make most of the calls I needed to, it was expensive, and we did have a travel journal if not able to update it and understand the dates.

My experience with Telestial so far has been first class. The Simple Calling SIM I ordered was delivered (in the UK) by Royal Mail within 48 hours. The travel journal is a bonus I'll certainly be making use of, and even offers the benefit of being able to post pictures by e-mail from a mobile. The online user interface is good, with clear "help" tips to explain features. Calling costs look competitive from the albeit limited research I undertook before buying. All good so far.

The Siemens A55 phone and passport-lite SIM card arrived quickly. I don't anticipate having to use it much on our trip to Europe, but at such a low price I may order a second for my wife!

I've got the SIMple calling - the prepaid sim card for mobile calls in the US and Canada. I have a Nokia 6288 phone and it's been working very well. Although, I wouldn't recommend to use it to call overseas mobile number as that didn't work well for me - the signal was so awful that I couldn't make out what my friend was saying at all, completely wasted the effort. But with texting, calling landlines, this service works well. Quite dependable.

All the basics works for me. One thing that didn't work was those "easy dial" numbers - I have tried to get my balance using 187 and it just won't go through. You can check your balance online quite easily, but that means you need to have internet access while abroad - an extra cost and would be very expensive if this is the only thing you want to do.

Overall, I would recommend it to people who wish to have a cheaper calling tariff while travelling in the US and Canada.

We make 1 or two trips a year to EU and find Passportlite the best way to go. Always several carriers available and the service is great.

I needed a SIM card to use in the US in an old, unlocked Nokia, visiting from the UK and didn't want to wait until I got to the US to buy one. The research suggested that the Telestial SIM was the best value. Ordering one on the website was very straightforward, although the pricing could have been clearer for UK purchasers, forgot that sales tax is added to the price in the US, usually included when a price is shown in the UK. Delivery was within 2 days, glad I didn't opt for the more expensive 'tracked' option. Phone accepted the SIM with no problem, all I need to do now is use it in the US, but not expecting any difficulties.

I bought a Passport Plus SIM mainly for trying out its GPRS service. The service is now proved to work in the US, but I need to prepare for a much higher rate per KB use comparing with a local wireless provider. My first 10$ credit went out in a 2 minutes of using the data service with my GPRS enabled phone.

I have tried their other product Explorer which seems realizing what they claimed as a global SIM. I carried it through 15 countries and was able to use it in all but one, Rwanda, where MTN is the only provider. So I have the same expectation for this Passport Plus SIM, too.

XFC

Just bought my ekit for forthcoming trip and am looking forward to using it for my travel journal.
Update:
Took my phone on my trip - not only did I not have a travel journal - the @#%$ phone didn't work!

The delivery was very good. Quick & fast.

In the coming days I will be using the card.

Regards from Belgium

It is a great product and its easy to use. Thanks telestial!

Great price easy to use....

i ordered the sim card and it was delivered in time. great service, i totally recommend it for use.

Great call rates,very easy to order sim card fast delivery- mine was delivered in 2 days!Would recomend Telestial to any traveller!

Used lowest price $9 shipping option , the telestial passport lite sim card arrived within 3 business days. After inserting sim card in a used cheap unlocked gsm cell phone and punching in four number pin, the phone locked on to an avaiable network. Couldn't be easier.

SIM was delivered in 3 days as promised but USD $14.00 for 3-day delivery in the US is high. Activation is easy and network coverage is good.

my sim card was delivered quickly and it saved me money compared to the US carriers

My SIM card came overnight and the questions I had were answered quickly and efficiently by their customer service. Very satisfied customer!

I have done alot of research. this company was reccommended by Clard Howard (local talk show host). I will reserve full judgment until my wife's trip to the UK is over. So far so Good. Arrived in three days as promised. Easy instructions that you NEED to read.

I ordered the TELESTIAL US & Canada SIM from Australia and it arrived the next day by Express Post. Activation was simple and I could actually send a TXT message from the internet although the phone will not work until my arrival in US or Canada.

I did a great deal of research looking for a SIM card that would be good for a very light user of cell phones in the US and Canada. Telestial's USA SIM card appeared to offer the greatest deal that would allow for minimal usage at reasonable cost with a long period before any balance was lost. You can actually put your phone away for up to 9 months before you have to use it before losing any balance. The longest period I have found which works great for light users moving around the US and Canada.

Good service. I just dont like that the refill packages aren't small. I bought a $5 SIM and I am able to refill it at least $30. They should have smaller/cheaper refill options.

I am a frequent traveller and constantly need to swap SIM cards when living in different countries so that I can get a local phone number. This is accomplished easily in many European and Asian contries, but in the US you a re usually required to obtain a contract and a new phone or buy expensive prepay services that require the use of a new phone.

But Telestial's simple service provided me with a hassle-free way of obtaining a local US based number and SIM card for my phone with VERY easy set up and competitive pre pay rates with no commitments or activation fees! This really fills a dire need in the US market.....highly recommended!

If you plan on traveling in different countries purchasing a passport sim chip is a great idea. This sim chip works great in my Motorola Razor V3. The phone cost per minute is reasonable and the toll free numbers for friends is great costing you .39 per minute but saving your friends and family.

I'm using my Telestial SIM card while traveling around Europe. I love it because it gives me the peace of mind that I know what I will be charged when using it for all the different countries I will be in. Free incoming calls are also great. It is a bit expensive, especially since you are billed by the minute and not the second. However, other providers are not that much cheaper and the price is well worth the convenience of not switching SIM cards in every country. Great customer service!

Previously used their sim product when traveling to Germany with no problems and good customer support for answering my questions. So when coming back to US I needed a US sim card I turned to them after researching various rates. My only negative is that the 3-5 day shipping did not arrive until 10days and had to be express shipped to me in the US for an additional cost.

Telestial is easy to use and gives the longest service around for a prepaid sim card. We have used the ekit service when traveling in Europe so we were confident that we could trust telestial service.

I purchased a Motorola v915 with Telestial around 2weeks ago and have been happy so far....!!!

This company is GREAT!!! The customer service is awsome!
always helpful whenever I call in for any reason! They really know how to take care of a customers legit concerns.

I definetley recommend them for first timers and budget people like myself.

Duc Huynh

I love telestial. great deals, great phones, great overall service.

My wife and I travelled from Germany to the US in early January this year and we both took our tri-band phones with us in order to keep contact. Through Telestial I had ordered USA SIM Cards and had them delivered to a friend's address in Texas. So far so good. But then-----.
Our US phone numbers had a 323 area code which seems to be somewhere arond Los Angeles, and it wasn't long before the nuisance calls started coming in. First a school-district, then a insurance company, etc.- etc., ad infinitum ad nauseam. And every time I was out 59 cents because I'couldn't always check first who is calling. I contacted Telestial and they insisted that they do not hand out these numbers to anyone else. Sure- and I believe everything I'm told.
The quality of the transmission was horrible, like one of those old one-way lines where only one person could speak at a time. You try that with your wife at the other end!
So Telestial take note: Never again!

Although I think this is a great value, it would have been more convenient if my phone number had a US orientation. Since I live in the US and most of my incoming calls will be from the US it is extremely cumbersome for folks calling me. In other words, this has a UK base phone number which means folks in the US have to use over 20 numbers to get to me!

Just reading through the messages to try and glean information. I see many recommendations for a company telestial. I want to share our story so others won't share our fate. Our daughter purchased a Motorola v600i with Passport Plus plan from Telestial for use on a trip as an intern in Uganda working on TB research. She chose this phone after careful consideration because she would need the phone in London for a few days, then Dubai and then Uganda. She worked on line and with calls to the company who assured her the phone would work in Uganda.

She arrived to find her cell phone did not work. On Sunday morning we called Telestial in Boston (since she can't call) and, with our daughter on chat (sporadic internet service), worked through a number of proposed solutions, none of which worked. The support person said a technician was required The call never occurred, nor did they call me as the additional point of contact to say the call would not happen.

Once I called the company back, they said the technician really would call so we set up a chat near a phone in an office with somewhat regular phone service. They called back to say that, despite their website stating they carried service in Uganda and multiple assurances from their phone reps that they carried service in Uganda, it seems they actually don't. Her phone is useless. o

I called Telestial to see about the refund and it was denied by management (with no contact to us), who refuses to discuss issues with customers. The only way to get a refund is to pay international shipping charges from Uganda, and wait for the phone to arrive back in US, if it ever does. Telestial recommends not sending from Uganda.

So, a young woman is stranded in Uganda with no working cell phone due to false advertising and a poor customer support network. All calls and help were generated and coordinated by us. Telestial takes no ownership of the problem they created and are keeping hundreds of dollars hostage, nor do they want to see an equitable or appropriate outcome to a bad situation.

I strongly recommend not using any Telestial product.

We spent a long time researching various companies in relation to getting an American sim card for our trip to the USA and Telestial came out at the top of the list. They were very easy to deal with and the Sim card we ordered came with full instructions and arrived within only a couple of days.

I am incredibly disappointed in Telestial.com.  I do not recommend using them.  I placed an order to rent a phone for some international travel on 23 Dec. 2008.  I indicated on the order form that I needed the phone delivered on 02 Jan 2009 (my flight departs very early on  05 Jan 2009).  The order came back w/ a 3-business day shipping at a charge of $16.  Shouldn't be a problem, right?  The website clearly says that phones shipped by 3 business days come via Fed Ex.  I just called to check on the status of the phone, had it been shipped, and could I get a fed ex tracking #.  I was informed that the phone was shipped by UPS (not FedEx) and would not arrive until 05 Jan 2009 by 4:30PM.  Obviously after I will have departed.  So, they didn't follow their own business practices as outlined on their website.  I politely asked them to put a phone into FedEx for me w/ next day delivery at their cost because of their mistake, and they refused!  They may have "saved" themselves a couple of bucks by using UPS instead of Fed Ex, but they have lost me as a customer FOREVER!  You can't rely on this company to deliver on time.  BE FOREWARNED AND STAY AWAY!!!!

Excellent support, answered all my questions. SIM card
delivered in two days.

I researched tons of options for a international phone options. This phone enables me to have access to calls in Tokyo and India, and not be stuck with a contract for a phone company here in the states. First trip abroad, we'll see how it goes, but I feel a bit more "available" because I have the ability to make calls. Phone arrived quickly, now if I could just figure out how to use the phone. Looking forward to it though!

Order shipped promptly. Extremely friendly & knowledgeable customer support. The customer service support is a free call in Australia, and they always answer within less than 5 minutes.
Highly recommended (& cheaper than eKit).