Prepaid Cell Phones - Comments Page 1

I have a T-Mobile phone card in my unlocked phone. I live in Canada but travel a fair amount to the US. I buy a 1000 minute card for $100 (less on Ebay etc) which is good for 365 days. That way, only once a year must I worry about a refill. The minutes roll over if you renew before the end of term and nationwide calling at the same rate is included.I have yet to run out of minutes and I have called people from Puerto Rico and the islands and made international calls.
This works for me.

My daughter and I were grandfathered into a Verizon account when they bought Airtouch. We got 300 shared any time minutes, which was plenty for us as I do not use the cell phone very often, for about $30.00. This plan worked for us for several years. Three years ago her use greatly increased so we were going over, and she wanted her husband and tween aged son to have phones, so she elected for a family plan for her family. We looked into including me in the plan, but that would cost more than a prepaid. After looking into plans, I decided that T-Mobile made the most sense for me.

I could chose any phone I wanted that uses a sim card. At first the minutes only last for a month, but after spending I think it was $100 on minutes I became a gold member and the minutes last for a year. When I buy minutes before the year is over, the leftover minutes roll over. I think I get 500 minutes for $50 and do not use that many in a year, but that is the cheapest rate so that is what I buy each year.

I picked the wrong phone. I got a camera phone, but it does not have a cord to download pictures to my computer, and since I do not have data service I have no way to send the pictures to my computer. The phone has a lot of bells and whistles that I do not use and have not even bothered to learn. I would have been better off with just a simple phone. But when I finally need a new phone, I will know the questions to ask when I buy it.

I looked into all of the above plans, and ended up going with VirginMobile.com. Unlike the above plans, my prepaid minutes never expire, as long as I make a minimum ($20) payment each 90 days, which is fully credited toward my pool of prepaid minutes. Additional minutes, if needed, can be prepaid online by credit card, or by using cash at any Radio Shack store, or Target store. Coverage is excellent, because they use the sprint network.

My wife & I each use an AT&T plan, which is relatively expensive per minute, but don't use the phone very often. By buying $100 worth of time, the minutes last for a year & rollover. So for the equivalent of $8.33 a month each, we have a decent cellphone service

I've used Tracfone for more than 5 years. Their system for adding minutes has become a lot easier to use in recent years, and their coverage has improved. When I first signed up there was a dead spot south of Cleveland where my sister-in-law lived and where we were frequent visitors. I have also had a lot of trouble resolving problems in the past. In one of these, the person I was talking to in India absolutely refused to carry over minutes that I was entitled to. My big problem with the service is I never use up the call minutes (units in Tracfone parlance) I have had to purchase during the time period in which they were allocated. I can carry over the minutes into a new time period, but it looks like I will never use these minutes up, they just keep accumulating. I would much prefer a program in which I pay only for the minutes used in making calls, without paying for a period of time in which the phone is active. I think I will be looking at Virgin Mobile next time I have to renew my Tracfone. It look like it might be a less expensive alternative - thanks for the info Carl.

The best Ive used has been TRACPHONE. Most of the others charge you $1.00 each day flat before you use your minutes. In other words you don't pay for the day or time until you dial a numnber and then it's $1.00,plus the usage minutes ,30days
in a row and its $30.00...I prefer TRACPHONE especially if you don't need a phone very oten. Will run about
$7.00 a month and thats for 60 minutes. So what,they rollover and one day you might need them all. WALT

I have used Tracfone for years. Since I primarily use the phone for emergencies, it suits me very well. I buy yearly service with 400 minutes for $100 every year. Unused minutes carry over, and I've used the phone in Washington State and Michigan as well as at home and have never had a problem making a connection. I have a handy Motorola flip open phone and all in all am well satisfied.

Make sure you read the terms and conditions. Some ( maybe all) have a time limit on the minutes you purchase so you can't buy, for example, $25 of minutes and not use the phone for 6 months or more. You have to keep the phone account alive by buying the prepaid cards on a regular basis. Depending on the amount of the prepaid card, you must use the minutes within a certain time period unless you buy some more before the current prepaid expires. The idea is to keep you using the phone and not have it ( and your account) sitting dormant.
Another thing to look for is whether the phone company charges you a daily "access" fee ( usually a dollar)whether you use the phone or not. Some only charge you the fee on the days that you actually use the phone.
The bottom line is that they want you to keep buying prepaid cards and they have several ways of "draining" your balance.

For 15 bucks every three months, I get 100 anytime minutes a month, automatic rollover, a decent phone ( Marbyl... basic and reliable ), and no hassles from anyone. I have no problems talking from Wisconsin to Florida, New Jersey, California.
So I have something from Virgin that is rare these days: exactly what I want, it works, and it has a fair price.

I'm curious as to why Virgin Mobile was not previewed? This service,"piggybacks Sprint", which I've used now for over a year and have been very happy with, only cost me $5/month. Simple to activate (not like all those track phone number inputs), no roaming, or changing service areas, & the minutes roll over! Go Virgin!

EDITOR'S NOTE: I didn't include Alltell, Virgin and a few others because I didn't consider them major players in the prepaid cell space. But clearly there are lots of people happy with the Virgin service, based on the comments so far.