Cell Phone for Emergencies

[momacacia]

We have terminated our landline, but DH and I both have cell phones. Dd8 also has one of our old phones (no service ) which she uses mostly as an iPod for her quiet time stories, songs and memory work. On occasion, I will run a short errand while my Grandmother (in her 90s, hard-of-hearing, but quite high functioning) is staying with her and the 4yo. My 8yo would know to call 911 in case of an emergency or to contact me or DH in case of a less-than-emergency, but she would not have a phone to do that with.

 

My understanding is that all cell phones can call 911 even if they don't have service, but I have no way to test that. Is that really the case?

 

Can anyone recommend a cheap cell phone plan, pay by minute $10 phone or something like that, for our situation? I'm sure there are things like this out there, but suspect the Verizon or ATT store are not the places to go to find them.

 

Thank you!

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

The ATT store around here has prepay phones, but Walmart and other big box stores usually have a larger selection.

[happi duck]

I've read good things about Consumer Cellular!

[Arcadia]

You can call 911 without service.

"if your wireless phone is not “initialized†(meaning you do not have a contract for service with a wireless service provider), and your emergency call gets disconnected, you must call the emergency operator back because the operator does not have your telephone number and cannot contact you;" (http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-911-services)

 

If you are on ATT, than get your child a AT&T prepaid phone. .

If you are on T-mobile. than get a T-mobile prepaid.

They are sold at Walmart, Target and many other stores

 

It is usually cheaper to have your child's prepaid phone under the same service provider

[TraceyS/FL]

It is usually cheaper to have your child's prepaid phone under the same service provider

You actually can't add a pre-paid phone to a contract, post-paid line - so it wouldn't matter.

 

YOu can put a go-phone Sim in the iPhone (if it is an ATT phone) and use that. It won't get data unless you change the APN (which is what google will tell you to do). There are options on there for what you can do plan wise... my 17yo has the $25/mo 250 minute and unlimited texts. But there is a pay per minute plan and such.

 

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

[J-rap]

We did that for our youngest a few years ago. We got a TracFone for $9.99, and you can go online and purchase minutes for $9.99. (I can't remember how many minutes/texts it covers, but it was plenty for what she needed it for.) The ONLY problem with that is that it requires you to use them up or at least buy more minutes within 30 days, I think. So even if you don't use them all up, you still have to buy more minutes within a certain period in order to keep the phone active.

[Arcadia]

You actually can't add a pre-paid phone to a contract, post-paid line - so it wouldn't matter.

 

It depends on the prepaid plan and the fine print on the plan.

A prepaid AT&T phone calling a AT&T contract line is cheaper than a T-mobile prepaid calling a AT&T contract line. Our prepaid plan is an old plan which has unlimited calling for AT&T to AT&T for $1 per day on days used. Since most of the people we call are on AT&T, that makes it cheaper for us to go with AT&T prepaid.