Middle schooler trip to China and cell phone
Hi all,
Our middle schooler will be going to China for 2 weeks with their school. He doesn't have a cell phone but we are considering getting him something for just this trip. We are considering setting up one of our old phones but their battery life are pretty short (like 10 mins- 1 hr). Or getting him a cheap phone for just the trip.
I googled and didn't see much on this already. Any recs on how best to tackle this? Ideally, we would get everything set up before he leaves the US (vs having him trying to buy and set up a SIM card when in China... not sure the school would be game for that).
Our goal is that he'd have a way to communicate with classmates on the trip and with us back home, along with making payments when cash isn't accepted.
Not sure if there are other things I'm overlooking?
And this is the school's first trip, hence when why I'm asking here!
Thanks!
Trying to buy a SIM card in China will be complicated if not impossible. Better get something ahead of time. There are apparently SIM cards that work in China being sold on Amazon. Best is to get an eSim but this require a recent phone.
If this is a school trip, I doubt that he will need to set up electronic payment. For communicating with you, he can just use an iPad over wifi at the hotel.
Esim like Airola is the way to go.
Failing that, the Hong Kong SIM will do, and allow access to WhatsApp, Google etc.
Excellent, thank you all!
What are the other students doing? The group would be together pretty much 100% of the time. I can't see any situation where they have to use a phone to communicate with other students. Nor do I see where students would need to buy anything using Alipay. As said, they can use an iPad and the hotel Wifi to communicate with home.
Trying to learn to use a phone for the first time, and navigate phone use in the China, is a pretty tall order.
The school has said they may want phones to communicate home, with each other on the trip (while no one will be alone at any point, they may want to communicate with someone else on the trip that they're not with), and that they're also often used to make purchases. All needed items are covered but if the kids want to buy souvenirs or extra snacks, they should bring cash (up to $200) or pay via their cell phones (WeChat or AliExpress). A number of parents, including me, are considering sending our kids who don't already have cell phones, phones just for the trip. We don't want to buy expensive new phones, so are considering using old phones we may still have around or purchasing new inexpensive phones.
Hope that extra.context helps.
they should bring cash (up to $200) or pay via their cell phones (WeChat or AliExpress).
I am kind of puzzled by this advice. It's not like they deposit cash into their WeChat Pay or Alipay accounts. These accounts are linked to a credit card, so they are like Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Besides, it's pretty difficult for an outsider to open a WeChat account. If they bring cash (USD), their Chinese tour guides should be able to exchange their currency to Chinese currency. Check to make sure that is the case. It's very difficult for them to make currency exchange on their own. It is still possible to use cash to make purchases in China.
You may want to check out pre-paid smartphones available from Walmart or Target. I see them selling for as low as $50. Then see if you can install an e-sim on them.
Thanks for the insight. I didn't realize it's difficult to open a WeChqt account. I used to have one and don't remember it being tough? Perhaps things have changed? Or maybe the account you can use to pay with (vs just communicate) is tougher?
That said, will check about prepaid phones!
Given what the phone looks like it will be required for, get a prepaid phone that is compatible with e-sims. With an e-sim they will have full internet access. Before the trip to China, set up Alipay and Whatsapp. Alipay to make payments with (it will need to be connected to a debit card - I used a Wise card and that worked fine), and Whatsapp for the students to communicate to each other. Wechat as currently setup is just too hard.
Make sure that roaming is turned off on the prepaid sim. For an e-sim, I used Airalo in China and it worked well.
Thanks for all this great info.
I'm having trouble finding an affordable prepaid phone that takes esims.
So, we are looking into a HK sim card. Are there cards that allow for voice and text/SMS? Or should we just look for ways to call and text via data? Sorry if this is an obvious or weirdly worded question. This is a whole new world for me!
