90 days stay in the US; best solution?

[MikeMystery]

So here's the deal:
In September I'm going to the US for a 90 day stay (studying one semester) and I will be mostly
in and around L.A. except for one week in N.Y.
Having looked around on the big carriers' sites I'm really none the wiser when it comes to which
I should choose. I would love to bring my own device (Lumia 800), but if it's not possible I'd rather
not have a smartphone at all. What are my options for having a phone in the US for about 3 months
that is easy to opt out of when I leave? Pre-paid or plan doesn't really matter, as long as I have a phone!

 

[Curtieson]

So here's the deal:
In September I'm going to the US for a 90 day stay (studying one semester) and I will be mostly
in and around L.A. except for one week in N.Y.
Having looked around on the big carriers' sites I'm really none the wiser when it comes to which
I should choose. I would love to bring my own device (Lumia 800), but if it's not possible I'd rather
not have a smartphone at all. What are my options for having a phone in the US for about 3 months
that is easy to opt out of when I leave? Pre-paid or plan doesn't really matter, as long as I have a phone!

You can get super cheap phones from AT&T if you buy ahead of time, for like $15 and it will only make calls for you. I believe your Lumia 800 should have no problem running on AT&T or TMobile's network though, should be just fine using it.

Alcatel 510A GoPhone - Prepaid cell phone from AT&T

As for the plans...all the minutes plans are similar...and being in LA and NYC you will get premium coverage from all the big carriers. AT&T offers a pre-paid $25 plan where you get 250 Mins, unlimited texts, and $20 for 300 MB of data. AT&T is not your cheapest option, but there are stores EVERYWHERE so there are a lot of people that will help.

One of the more (most?) popular pre-paid service is Straight Talk, because that uses AT&T OR Verizon towers, but is ran through WalMart. Basically, it is just very accessible. Others are Net10 and Page Plus (that last one is CDMA only though, I think).

 

[Musicman247]

Walmart offers a T-mobile pre-paid plan that gives you unlimited data and texts with 100 minutes of talk for $30/mo. You would need to check your phone's radios to see if they are compatible with T-mobile's signal. If they are then this is easily the cheapest plan if you don't plan on calling that much.

 

[palandri]

Stop by an AT&T store and get a Pay As You Go SIM card or stop by a Best Buy store and get a H20Wireless or a Red Pocket SIM card.

 

[MikeMystery]

Thanks for all the answers! I'll be sure to look into these options to decide what's the best deal for me.