Reservations

  SIM Rental or Purchase

Occasionally, we have customers ask if they can use their GSM cell phones in Costa Rica and rent the SIM chip only.  The answer is MAYBE. Please read this entire page as there are options! We are sorry it is so long, but there is much information to convey.   Contact Us if you have questions!

SIMS - Overview

1. You can NOT just rent a Costa Rica SIM.  They are not available for rental here. You CAN only rent a cell phone with the Costa Rica SIM installed.

2. If you have an unlocked cell phone however, you can buy (or rent) a multinational SIM that will work in any UNLOCKED GSM phone that has service on 1,800MHZ. This SIM will also work in about 164 other countries world wide. This SIM will use a phone number from the USA, the United Kingdom or from France at your option.

3. If you do not have an unlocked cell phone, we can sell you one, or you can rent one that will accept these multinational SIMs.

It is your responsibility to make sure that you in fact do own an unlocked cell phone.  Unless you are 100% sure that you have an unlocked cell phone (somewhat rare in the USA unless you purchased it overseas or from a company selling unlocked phones) you should probably consider one of the options below.

If you purchased your cell phone in Europe or most other overseas locations, it most likely IS unlocked, but you should still double check.

We cannot assist you with this as there is no easy way to determine if your cellphone is locked or not. We can, however, sell you a new or reconditioned phone.  We do not ship these. They are available only to our customers when we deliver the SIM.  New phones cost about $275, are quad band and are unlocked.  The reconditioned phones are tri-band cost $75.00 and come with a thirty day exchange warranty.

Of course you can also rent a phone here along with the international SIM. See below.

Here are possible options!

The SIM we can rent or sell to you is VERY special!  It will not only work in Costa Rica, it will work in over 160 other countries if you have a quad band phone!  It uses over 360 GSM carriers worldwide. The rates are FAR less than roaming rates offered by US cell phone carriers! Many customers prefer to buy rather than rent. To see in which countries you can use this SIM, click here. This is a .PDF file.

IMPORTANT: With this SIM, you will not get a Costa Rica phone number.  You will get a number from the United States, the United Kingdom or France.

This means that people calling you from the USA, Canada, the UK or France will not pay International toll rates! It will be a local call for them   YOU, on the other hand, will pay for all calls, incoming and outgoing. How much?  Here are the rates for the Costa Rica - USA as an example:

* Note that local calls to Costa Rica while you are in Costa Rica are a higher cost as you are actually calling from the USA.

Rental or Purchase

These SIMs are available for rent or purchase, though purchase is a much better option.

RENTING

If you rent, we charge a daily rate and you tell us how many dollars you wish to have added to your SIM.  When you use up the amount, the phone ceases to work, so you must choose carefully.  There are no refunds for unused minutes.

The rental rate for the SIM is $9 per day.  We require a minimum of $50.00 be added to the card.

Example:

7 day rental @ $9.00 per day:  $63.00

$50 installed on SIM: $50.00

Total cost:  $113.00

There is a $50.00 refundable security deposit for the SIM.  This is refunded when the SIM is returned undamaged.

So, for a 7 day rental, your total cost would be $113.00 (or more if you ordered more minutes!)

Purchase - perhaps a better solution!

You can BUY the SIM with the same $50.00 installed for $79.00 or with $100.00 installed for $134.00.  This is actually cheaper than renting, you own the SIM, and pay no deposit.

Advantages?

• YOU chose the US area code that you want for your US phone number, or chose numbers in UK or France.

• You pay no security deposit as YOU own the SIM

• You do not have to worry about returning the SIM when you leave Costa Rica

• The dollars never expire.  Use them now or in 5 years

• If you are taking side trips to Nicaragua or Panama, you have a working cell phone

• You may add more dollars to your card at any time via Internet using all major credit cards or PayPal

As the cost to buy is actually less than the cost of rental, we find almost all customers chose to purchase the SIM.

Ordering:

If this interests you, send us an email as to what you want or call us.  When you email us, please provide:

• All flight information, flight number, airline arrival airport information, and your complete first day travel plans.  We use this to set up delivery.

• Your first THREE choices for the US Area Code that you desire.  Note, we accept SIM reservations only via email, but we are happy to answer your questions by phone.

• Your complete name, address, and both day and early evening phone numbers where we can call you.

Regular cell phone rental reservations (with or without the SIM) are only accepted via the reservation form.

Payment

Payment for the SIM and optional phone can be made at delivery, or we can invoice you so you can prepay by credit card. The difference is that if you pay cash at delivery, the SIM will NOT be operational nor will you immediately get your phone number.  The driver must first return to the office and management will activate the SIM and email you (or call) with the phone number and other information.

If you pre-pay, you receive all information, normally within 24 hours.

Things you need to know! (Also known as the fine print!)

• You and only you are responsible for knowing without a doubt that you have an UNLOCKED GSM cell phone!  If you want to buy or rent the SIM, we can sell you an unlocked reconditioned tri band cell phone for just $75.00 if available.

• Internet via SIM is NOT an available service (Bluetooth).

• While you need a QUAD BAND UNLOCKED phone for use in all 160+ countries, in Costa Rica, you will only need an unlocked phone that works on the 1800MHZ band. A tri-band phone will work in the majority of countries.

• We will delivery the SIM to you subject to our current delivery policies, but the driver will NOT install the SIM in your cell phone unless that cell phone was purchased from us..

• All SIMS are tested before delivery but ONLY for connection as if we actually make a call, it comes off your balance.

• If purchasing the SIM, you may prepay and receive your phone number before you arrive AND the SIM will be fully functioning when delivered

• If purchasing the SIM and you prefer to pay cash only upon delivery, the SIM will NOT be activated until the driver has returned to our offices and we are able to activate your SIM.
  

• This is a roaming SIM and that if used in the United Stated incurs costs of over $2.00 per minute. In general, use it only when traveling abroad.
  
  
• Terms and conditions subject to change

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