Can I purchase a cell phone at an American airport?

Depending on the airport – maybe. I know some airports in the US where you would not be able to do this, as they simply don’t have the retail outlets there, but that’s going to be the rule for the smaller regional airports.

Since I’ve never shopped for a phone at an airport, I’m trying to think back on any of my recent travels through JFK and Newark, and maybe just imagining that “you probably could”.

However, if you befriend someone on the plane (possibly even one of the cabin attendants), they might allow you to use their phone to make the call.
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But if that’s all you need it for, the simpler and far cheaper solution is for them to track your flight on planefinder.net (or even enter the flight number into a google search box on the day) and they can track your flight in real time. (All you would have to do is agree to contact them if you didn’t make the flight for some reason.)

EDIT: Even if you did manage to buy a phone at an airport, I don’t know what kind of luck you’d have with purchasing a throwaway / prepaid type that doesn’t come with a contract. Those may not be so easily found at airports.

Alternatively, and maybe easiest of all, perhaps you could have someone in the US buy a prepaid phone on your behalf, activate it (and get the number!) and send it to you before your trip. That way that particular headache is out of the way and you’ll be carrying a charged, working phone with a number that your family will recognize when it comes up on their caller ID. Cheap, quick, easy.

Yes, but you will find it easier and cheaper to go to the first drug store (or Target, or Walmart) you pass.

If you just need to make one call I would simply ask if you can borrow someones phone for a few minutes. I would bet that if you asked ten people someone would let you borrow theirs long enough to call. Or you can find some sort of “business center” at the airport that will have a phone you can use.

@elbanditoroso that’s probably not going to work if the purpose of the call is to say, “Hey, we just landed! Please come and get me now!”

Depends on the airport. If you are coming from outside of the country you are more likely to be landing in one if our bigger international airports and more likely there is a store that has them at the airport, but I wouldn’t count on buying a cell phone there. You won’t want to walk around the airport trying to find one.

There are plenty of stores once you leave the airport that cell them if you don’t find one at the airport. I wouldn’t think twice about it if I were you.

Are you going to be staying in a hotel in America? Are you meeting someone here? Let them help you at the hotel or your friends here once you get state side.

What airport are you landing at? I can try to look up the stores for you there and make a quick call if it is very important to you. Almost all the airports have store info and maps of the airport online.

@CWOTUS The friends can just track the flight.