When you travel to New York, you may want to have access to the Internet on your smartphone but also to call with it in France or the United States. There are prepaid SIM cards that can be purchased locally in NY and installed in your phone (Visit
https://www.simoptions.com/ for more). I will try to explain everything and give you the main rates by operator.
Which mobile operators exist in the United States?
Now the main ones are AT&T and T-Mobile. So I decided not to talk about the others especially because their offers are less interesting for you and especially are really not clear about all the options. I prefer to do this and not tell you any nonsense, so we're going to bet on the 2 big ones.
How does it work to buy a prepaid SIM card?
You simply have to go to an agency of one of these American telephone operators, and apply for a prepaid SIM card as a tourist. After following the operators, the name of this card may change, but don't worry, the seller will know what you want to talk about. Just your accent will tell him almost everything! Then you will have to say which phone it is for because the size of the SIM card is different. And finally, you will have to choose the type of package you want to take for your trip to New York. This is exactly the one I took from T-Mobile:
Will it work with your phone?
Yes, it will work if it is unlocked. To unlock it, you must ask your telephone operator. The unlocking or unlocking of a mobile phone is free if you have had the mobile phone for more than 3 months. On the other hand, if you have had it for less than 3 months, this service will be invoiced to you by your telephone operator.
What will be your phone number to receive calls?
You will be given an American number that will actually be the number of your SIM card. On the other hand, since your French SIM card will no longer be in your phone, if you want to receive calls to your new number, you can either make a call forwarding or leave a temporary message on your email by giving your new number or email.
How does it work if you come back to New York?
If you come back to New York a few months or a few years later, I advise you to keep this SIM card in order to keep the same number and not have to pay it back, especially at T-Mobile.
What is their network coverage in the United States?
If you stay in New York, you won't have any problems, but it's true that if you decide to go to Washington DC, Philadelphia, you have to know if the network will work or not.
Because on my last trip to California, I took a prepaid card from T-Mobile and finally realized on the spot that the network coverage was much lower than AT&T's. So in Yosemite, for example, I never understood.