TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Sim Card, Chippie

Has anyone used the website MRSIMCARD to order a Chippie SIM ? It appears they will ship it to you then activate when you are ready. We are looking for an alternative since Sharon's great service is no longer available. Need service on the French side as well as the Dutch and if this could be purchased and kept active all year cheaply it seems like a great plan. I appreciate any feedback.
Thanks

I'm interested in what you learn.
I want to buy one before we arrive and have to search for a place that sells them.

We ordered one last year and it all went well, without any hitches. The card arrived before we left and we followed the included instructions once on the island to activate it.

Our plan was to keep it activated, but I fell down on the job and let it lapse by not adding money on time once we get back. We plan to use them again this winter. (And hopefully I will remember to keep it activated.)

They do have an upcharge, you can buy the simms on island for less

Do you recall how often you need to fill it back up and cost? Just trying to see if its worth doing. It would be very convenient to keep the same number every year. We have an old flip phone we would keep as our Island phone! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />
Thanks

I looked into it about two years ago, but then bought my own Chippie on the island. The Mr. Chippie upcharge and wait time were not worth it to me.
You can top up, or charge the card at the Mailbox in Simpson Bay.
Then use that online to add $1 every 60 days to keep your number active.

You can go online to: utschippie.com . You can extend your sim for free, until you return to the island. Last price I know to purchase a sim card was $11. with time on it. I have had my sim card for years.

For us, going with MrSimCard was worth it because we have it on arrival, we don't rent a car, and we stay in Orient where there is not a Chippie store close by. I also like to have all of these sorts of things taken care of before we leave home.

There is a cell phone store at Hope Estate, but I have never checked to see if they sell Chippie cards.

UTS charges $16 for a sim card and it has $11 worth of credit on it.

So I have an Apple phone with Verizon. Anyone know what the options are now that we have lost Sharon. I don't even know what a SIM card is. Thanks for your help!

Is your phone paid off? If so, you can get it unlocked. That little slot on the right side under the on/off button is where you sim card slot is.

Otherwise, buy a cheapie unlocked phone from Amazon and buy an island sim.

All Verizon phones are sold unlocked, so his doesn't have to be paid off.

We have done this for years. Used to add money to our top-up card at Sharon's, but now will do it at the Mailbox. I just transfer $1 from the top-up card to the phone once a month when I close out my bills for the month. You do only have to do it every 60 days, but I don't want to take the chance of losing my phone number. By doing it every month, if I forget I have time to recover. Works like a charm. Still, very sorry to lose Sharon.

We have the same iphone with Verizon. We just use Verizon international service. It's $10.00 a day. Just let Verizon know you want it and the service starts when you first use your phone on island. We've used their service in Asia and Europe as well. It always works really good.

There might be cheaper alternatives but we've never looked into it.

Not in my experience... I had a war with them over that.

How long ago was that? Verizon phones have been unlocked for several years now.

Back in the day, I used to load up my chippie at the Chinese bodegas. Guess that's changed.
irina