Hi
My Daughter is moving to Florida in August for 2 years. Looking for advise on cell plans. Been advised it may be cheaper to keep her on a UK plan as cell plans in US can be very expensive, also if she does change to a US provider would she need to change her SIM or phone number. any advise greatly appreciated. 
She should get a U.S. cell phone. Depending on where she lives…the actual provider could vary. Hoping some of the FL folks will chime in. But even within FL, coverage with one provider can be a lot better than another.
She can always communicate with you via FaceTime, What’s Ap, or something like that.
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To be more precise, she should bring an unlocked phone and get a US SIM. Many people in the US won’t be able to contact her otherwise, because international calls/texts are often not included in their plans. And two-factor authentication for banking etc will be more problematic too.
Be aware that iPhones are very common (60%+ of phones) and so iMessage is widely used. FaceTime is more common than WhatsApp, a few people use Signal (not just for chats about war planning 
).
There are some cheap providers like MobileX https://mymobilex.com/ that provide perfectly adequate service by reselling other networks. Free WiFi is very widely available, especially on college campuses so you don’t necessarily need a huge data plan (10GB can be enough if you stream mostly on WiFi although my kids aren’t very careful and often use 20-30GB in a month).
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Her UK plan costs $22 per month that includes unlimited calls, texts and most importantly unlimited data. Any idea the cost for similar plan in US??
looking to purchase a new iphone 14 on arrival.
Take a look at Mint Mobile; my student uses it and found it pretty easy and adequate for her needs. It offers some low cost plans (a lot lower than what I pay with Verizon!). But as said above, be sure the network is robust where your daughter will be. There’s a ‘check the coverage’ tool on its website.
With most of the carriers buying an unlocked phone is tricky, they often include a three year contract with a big subsidy for the phone. But someone who has just arrived in the US might not pass the credit check. Apple stores are the best place for an unlocked iphone, but they are now selling iPhone 15/16 not 14. I assume the cheaper one would be the 16e?
Boost Mobile is $25 plus fees for unlimited. The big carriers are closer to $50 per month.
https://www.boostmobile.com/
Yes. Phone numbers are linked to SIMs, and US providers will provide SIMs that have US phone numbers.
Maybe Visible (Verizon network) and Mint (T-Mobile network) for low cost unlimited data in the US?
Does she need to make international calls and texts (e.g. to the UK) or use the US phone number while traveling internationally (e.g. to the UK)? If so, check the US plans for these features and any additional costs.
I am not techie at all so can’t explain - when my daughter was in the UK last year, she was able to keep her US plan (as she had unlimited texting/data) and use it plus she had a UK Sim with a UK number too - so both on the same phone. A virtual Sim or something like that - the newer versions of the iphone allows for that - super easy to set up for her … but I remain puzzled 
Guessing the same can be done in the US too.
A Google phone (android) can be purchased unlocked directly from them. Then Mint mobile (part of T-Mobile) is $30/month.
I would talk to your phone plan and see what they suggest as well. They might work with a US carrier.
Just saw your buying a new phone once here. See what the college suggest. Maybe they have discounted student plans? Our kid’s were just on our plans.
I can’t imagine not having a US phone number while in the US for 2 years. Just have her sign up a cheap US phone plan and give up her British phone number for 2 years. You can call her through What’s App free texting and calls.