Can someone explain pre-paid cellphones to me. . .

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I always thought that with a pre-paid cellphone, you buy a certain number of minutes (say, 500 minutes) and you then had as much time as you need to use them up, then you buy more minutes.

 

When I shop, though, I see charges for minutes, AND monthly fees. Do you have to pay, say, $50 per month for access, and then pay for the minutes on top of that?

[milovany]

I used to sell cellular phones/plans, and there were never any monthly fees -- just the upfront cost of the phone, and then the minutes that you'd buy and add on. Hmm.

[ondreeuh]

DD and I use T-Mobile prepaid. They have a couple options, but we use the plan that is what you describe. We paid like $40 for each phone, and then I bought minutes. Our minutes expire after a year, so we have to add something to the account (as little as $10, I think) before the year is up and that extends ALL the minutes for another full year. Really simple. I paid $100 for 1000 minutes to get the "gold reward status" or whatever it's called - that's what makes the minutes last a year. If you don't have the "gold reward status" then the minutes expire sooner.

 

Since I don't use my cell much, this is a really good deal for me. I only used about 600 minutes the first year, so I added another $10 and then had something like 450 minutes available for the next year.

[TheReader]

They have several "plans" offered these days. You can pay a fee for a plan, or pay per minute. With the plans you get a much lower per-minute rate and various other perks. The plans are not required though and you can just buy a card for minutes. With AT&T the minutes are 25 cents/per minute if you do not use one of their plans (for instance, a $1/day plan for each day you use the phone, which gives you 10c/minute; or the $3/day for each day you use the phone, which gives you unlimited calling. You still have to buy the cards and load the phone, because it takes the $3/day from that prepaid balance).

 

It can be tricky to figure out which to use, but yes, there are options. However, when we use AT&T, the minutes expire if the phone goes unused for 3 months. The sim card expires and they give that number to someone else. I think if we were using the phone the minutes would not expire so quickly, maybe a year? But if the phone sits on a shelf unused for 3 months, the whole thing expires.

 

We run into this on every trip to the US. Such a pain.

[jplain]

I use a Tracfone pre-paid cell phone. I pay $100 + sales tax for 12 months of service, and that includes at least 800 minutes. Usually it is more like 1200 minutes, because there are frequent promotional codes. I can also buy additional minute cards that extend service for 90 days. Again, using promotional codes I can often get the cost of those minutes down to 10-12 cents per minute.

 

My cell phone is only used for emergencies and "urgencies" and for communicating while on vacation, so I rarely use up all my minutes. As long as I renew, the minutes never expire.

[Ravin]

It depends on the company and the plan. The best deals, depending on your use, are Tracphone (esp. if you text a lot), Net10 (what I currently use), and Straight Talk (great for heavy use, or if you want to do a smartphone prepaid and have internet).

 

With Tracphone and Net10, you pay for a certain amount of minutes, and those minutes come with a fixed number of service days to use them. I usually have to add a card on my phone because I'm low on service days, not minutes. The Net10 card I buy comes with 300 minutes/60 days' service. Someone above mentioned Tracphone offers longer service periods; what balance you need depends on how heavily you use it. These phones are great if you just want it for talk/text and don't use it heavily.

 

Straight Talk offers 2 plans, each based on 30 days of service. One, "All you need" offers a fixed amount of talk time (like 1000 minutes), texts, and data access, the other is unlimited for all three. "All you need" is $30/mo, unlimited is $40, the cheapest unlimited plan out there (cheaper than Cricket, whose service gaps are annoying, or T-mobile, or AT&T...I've priced it all out). Recently Net10 has come out with a similar 30-day plan to Straight Talk's "All you need", as well.

[TheReader]

It depends on the company and the plan. The best deals, depending on your use, are Tracphone (esp. if you text a lot), Net10 (what I currently use), and Straight Talk (great for heavy use, or if you want to do a smartphone prepaid and have internet).

 

With Tracphone and Net10, you pay for a certain amount of minutes, and those minutes come with a fixed number of service days to use them. I usually have to add a card on my phone because I'm low on service days, not minutes. The Net10 card I buy comes with 300 minutes/60 days' service. Someone above mentioned Tracphone offers longer service periods; what balance you need depends on how heavily you use it. These phones are great if you just want it for talk/text and don't use it heavily.

 

Straight Talk offers 2 plans, each based on 30 days of service. One, "All you need" offers a fixed amount of talk time (like 1000 minutes), texts, and data access, the other is unlimited for all three. "All you need" is $30/mo, unlimited is $40, the cheapest unlimited plan out there (cheaper than Cricket, whose service gaps are annoying, or T-mobile, or AT&T...I've priced it all out). Recently Net10 has come out with a similar 30-day plan to Straight Talk's "All you need", as well.

 

this Straight Talk sounds like what we need for our trips to the US -- where is it available to purchase??? We've always gone AT&T, because a family member or two has that plan on their regular cell phone (so we get cell to cell for free) but at $3/day, for 21 days, plus buying the phone -- it adds up.

 

And is the coverage pretty good throughout the US???

 

Would truly love info on where to buy this Straight Talk phone please! WE go to the US next month. :D

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

DD and I use T-Mobile prepaid. They have a couple options, but we use the plan that is what you describe. We paid like $40 for each phone, and then I bought minutes. Our minutes expire after a year, so we have to add something to the account (as little as $10, I think) before the year is up and that extends ALL the minutes for another full year. Really simple. I paid $100 for 1000 minutes to get the "gold reward status" or whatever it's called - that's what makes the minutes last a year. If you don't have the "gold reward status" then the minutes expire sooner.

 

Since I don't use my cell much, this is a really good deal for me. I only used about 600 minutes the first year, so I added another $10 and then had something like 450 minutes available for the next year.

 

T Mobile is the best deal last time I checked. We get 1000 minutes for the year for $100.00 and as long as you refill before the year is up the minutes roll-over:D You just need to check for coverage in your area. I alos heard tracfone (sp?) is pretty good but more expensive. T Mobile meets my needs since I only use the phone for emergencies and I do not text or surf the web on the phone:)

[mytwomonkeys]

we just switched several months ago from verizon to straight talk. my phone is $30 month (no contract) and it gives me 1000 minutes & 1000 text. it will send me an email and a text each month to remind to renew.

 

m husband also has straight talk. his plan is $45 and is unlimited text, web, and talk. he also just renews it monthly & they remind us. if we wanted to discontinue service, we simply stop paying.

 

ironically, straight talk is owned by verizon... so we had been overpaying like crazy for the same service we have now.

[mytwomonkeys]

this Straight Talk sounds like what we need for our trips to the US -- where is it available to purchase??? We've always gone AT&T, because a family member or two has that plan on their regular cell phone (so we get cell to cell for free) but at $3/day, for 21 days, plus buying the phone -- it adds up.

 

And is the coverage pretty good throughout the US???

 

Would truly love info on where to buy this Straight Talk phone please! WE go to the US next month. :D

 

http://www.straighttalk.com or at walmart (walmart has good online deals...that's where we bought our phones)

[Tammyla]

My pre-paid tracfone has no fees. I purchased the phone ($14 w/20 free minutes from Sam's) and loaded the minutes. Every 90 days or so depending on the card, I load another phone card, and I have hundreds of minutes that roll over. They have much higher options like 50, 100, 500, and a 1000 minutes that carry the length of time between needing to add minutes up to a year. There, clear as mud.

 

Each company is a little different.

 

Disclaimer...Dh has a phone supplied from his office that is much cooler according to my ds.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Tammyla

[hsmom]

Now for us we were paying way too much when we used the Tracfone. Now when we did use it we just payed for minutes when ever we needed them, we also purchased the double minutes card. We were paying well over 100 a month for one phone. I just don't see the prepaids as a good deal. Like when we text it would take 2 units per, and such. Then there was the roaming on it. Just a mess. IMO

 

I have not heard of monthly contracts or fees with them though. I thought that was the whole reason to go prepaid. Now if you do get a prepaid, really read and check into it. I know here that they do sell all the ones at Walmart, but there is not service where I live for them. Many people I know that "hey I am getting a great deal" and end up with a phone they cannot use. So, check around and ask people where you live how the service is, etc.

 

 

Now we use our cell phones way to much for a prepaid plan. We use our 800 min a month, plus our unlimited text, and unlimited internet on all three of our phones, which only costs us 150 a month. Which I see as a good plan. Now my step mom has verizon and gets unlimited text and minutes I think with no internet and she pays 100 a month for one phone.

Edited November 4, 2010 by hsmom

[*lifeoftheparty*]

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[jplain]

I just don't see the prepaids as a good deal. Like when we text it would take 2 units per, and such. Then there was the roaming on it. Just a mess. IMO

It really depends on your usage. If you use less than 100 minutes/units per month, like me, a Tracfone is by far cheaper than a traditional cell phone plan. Averaged out over the year, I pay less than $10 per month for my phone. Tracfone doesn't have roaming anymore either, which is nice.

[kat19]

I use Boostmobile. It's $50/month for unlimited talk,text and web.

They just started a new thing so when you pay on time each month after 6 months your bill will shrink by $5. So after being with them for a year and a half your bill will be $35/month for unlimited.

I would like to find something a bit cheaper than $50/month but some of the companies don't have great coverage here.

[mktkcb]

yep, I did tons of research a few years back. T-mobile is cheapest, with tracfone running neck and neck. I use T mobile, and it works great for me. Phooey on those 25c/min or $1 a day thingies. tracfone probably has better coverage overall, if you are traveling, because they buy coverage from other services, but my T mobile has been fine. Well, I did find out that I can't make calls from down in the ravine by the Rose Bowl where my son takes golf classes, but oh well.

[KrissiK]

We have this plan with AT&T. It costs $25 every 3 months. Say I use my phone today. I pay $1 and then 10cents per minute for anyone not on AT&T. Once I pay that $1 I can use my phone all day and only pay the per minute charge. I do have to pay $25 every three months whether or not I use up that $$ in three months and right now I've got about $75 racked up. I never use my cell phone. Anyhow, it works great for me, since I rarely use my cell phone, but it's very nice to have.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Thanks everyone! Whew! This is complicated. :) I SO appreciate you all taking the time to respond with such great detail!

 

I think I understand it well enough to navigate the websites. It all just seems like smoke and mirrors, like there's got to be some hidden costs or fine print saying that if I do certain things (like text between 2 and 4 every other weeknight, my price will be quadrupled, and I'll be hung by my thumbs, or something like that).

 

I do still wonder how the "cards" work. What does that mean, to load up a card, or use a card. What do you use the card for? Is it like a gift card, where you pay to have a certain number of minutes added to your account? Or, do you have to physically go and buy another card, and enter the numbers into your account?

 

Maybe I need to just go talk to a sales person. I just don't have time.

 

This phone is for my daughter. She is going to high school now, about 25 miles away, and we've had several mix-ups regarding pick-up times and places. She really needs a phone to be able to reach us when her plans change, or for us to reach her when we're running late, or early, or whatever. She hates talking on the phone, so I don't imagine she'll use it much. She might text, though. That's uncharted water for her. It's just for six months, also. When Verizon gets the iPhone, and our contract with AT&T expires in March, I plan to switch and put her on our family plan. We just need something to hold us over until then.

 

I think I'll go look at T-Mobile and StraightTalk. I don't think we have Net10 here. I've never heard of it.

 

I'd appreciate any more tips you all might have.

 

I love this place!

[Mommy22alyns]

I do still wonder how the "cards" work. What does that mean, to load up a card, or use a card. What do you use the card for? Is it like a gift card, where you pay to have a certain number of minutes added to your account? Or, do you have to physically go and buy another card, and enter the numbers into your account?

 

 

The cards can work either way. I have a prepaid through AT&T and I used to go buy a physical card and enter the numbers in to add minutes to my phone. Now Target has a card that I just keep in my wallet and scan at the cash register any time I need to add minutes to my phone. Once it's scanned the minutes are automatically added to my account; I don't have to enter numbers or anything.

[4besitos]

We have 2 tracphones. It works for us as we do not use the phones for casual talking or texting. They are for emergencies, when children are ready to be picked up, or calling from the store to see if we are out of milk:001_smile:. If this is the kind of use you are looking for, these type of phones are great. One of our tracphones is an automatic "double the minutes" each time you add minutes for the life of the phone. This was a flip-phone that I got at Walmart for less than $20 as it was on sale. I have actually started making a couple of frivolous calls to use some minutes....don't tell the children!!!:tongue_smilie:So I have to buy a $20 card every 3 months....my minutes rollover. We have had to one phone for more than 4 years; this is a superbasic model and I only paid $12. Tracphone is much more generous about letting you keep your phone number and minutes if you forget to add minutes exactly on the right day....Netzero was not. There are "cooler" prepaid phones....mine is still a basic model meaning I can't take pictures or surf the web....but you can spend more to get that type of phone.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

You should check out Virgin Mobile. They offer $25/month for 300 minutes and unlimited texting and data. I use data way more than voice, so it's a good choice for me. They also have other plans with more minutes.