Prepaid Cell Phones

[merlinmagic4]

Hello,

Does anyone have any opinions on prepaid cell phones? Pros? Cons? Best phones/plans?

We have some time left on our Sprint contract but we have gone from 3 working phones down to one. I don't want a new Sprint phone with a new 2 year contract so am looking into prepaid phones. We actually don't use our cell phones a lot so having lots of minutes is not important.

Thanks in advance for any help! I'd actually love for this to be a Christmas gift for my DH if I can get it done today!

[RenDuran]

I have used a Tracfone for years now and I'm perfectly happy with it. They've really improved over the past several years....I have caller id, call waiting, voice mail. It's pretty much like what I get on our home phone. I spend about $20 every few months and that buys me 60 units of time. The only thing about prepaid phones is making sure you buy new time before the expiration date. That's displayed right on your phone every time you turn it on, though, so it's easy to keep up with.

[disneymom15]

I have a GO Phone (AT&T). It's about 2 years old. It costs me $25 every 90 days. As long as I activate a new card before 90 day expiration, my remaining minutes roll over. I don't use it very often so I've got close to $100 worth of time (25 cents per minute). Being that mine is a bit older, I find my reception in large buildings isn't that great. In fact, we were just at Disney 2 weeks ago and missing several calls from home because we were inside. Supposedly, the newer phones has better reception. I'm thinking of doing an up grade. Long story short, Yes, I it works for me.

[MsMin]

When my kids were younger I started them with prepaid so I could easily manage their "time" on the phone. As mentioned the only thing that was a bother was renewing timely to keep the minutes active.

[mook3y]

I use Virgin Mobile. $.18 cents a minute and you have to put $20 on it every 3 months. We use them very little (mainly have them in case of an emergency). and have been very happy with their service.

You can also change your service type anytime with no fee's.

We upped ours to 1000 anytime minutes for the month we went to WDW. :)

Then put it back down to per minute after we got back.

Oh, and a very important note about Virgin Mobile. Service was great all over WDW. :)

[merlinmagic4]

Thanks for the input. I sent my DH out last night and he bought a Virgin Mobile. 10.00 for the phone and, yes, .18 a minute.

I realized last night that our 80.00 bill from Sprint last month only had 95 minutes on it! What a waste of money! And actually we are down to one phone out of 3 (my son's phone that my DH was using now has no sound). So, I think I am stuck paying 80.00 for the next 9 months for one phone.

I called Sprint and we have to sign a new 2 year agreement to get a new phone (that works). I don't think I'm willing to do that.

I am considering paying the early termination fees to get out of it. I think I'll actually save money. I did read that Sprint and other companies were going to prorate the ETF so it would be less money as you came closer to your contract end. Does anyone know if this is true?

[Momof2boys]

DH has been using Tracfone for a few years now - no issues, the phone has lasted, and we do the card with the year of service & double minutes so we get our money's worth.

[DizneyRox]

I called Sprint and we have to sign a new 2 year agreement to get a new phone (that works). I don't think I'm willing to do that.

No entirely accurate. You would probably need to buy phones at the non discounted rate, but you CAN get phones back on your policy.

I would serously look at the early termination clause. If it's $175 to get out, and you still have 9 months @ $80 a month, it's a no brainer to get out now. If you only have a few months left, then maybe not.

I like the idea of the pay as you go phones. I don't have a cell phone, nor do I need one. I don't much care for the "screw the customer" practices of pretty much all of the cell phone providers. Somewhere it was lost that it's a service not a necessity.

[merlinmagic4]

No entirely accurate. You would probably need to buy phones at the non discounted rate, but you CAN get phones back on your policy.

I would serously look at the early termination clause. If it's $175 to get out, and you still have 9 months @ $80 a month, it's a no brainer to get out now. If you only have a few months left, then maybe not.

I like the idea of the pay as you go phones. I don't have a cell phone, nor do I need one. I don't much care for the "screw the customer" practices of pretty much all of the cell phone providers. Somewhere it was lost that it's a service not a necessity.

Yeah, I agree but that's 175.00 for EACH phone as far as I know. 525.00 is a lot of cash to come up with even though 9 months at 80.00 is 720.00.

We have cells for emergency only, really. My DH and I do landscape so we need to be available to our kids when we are doing that and I need the school to be able to reach me if I am not home when they call. That's pretty much it.

Pay-as-you-go here I come!

[Noah's Helper]

I have a GO Phone (AT&T). It's about 2 years old. It costs me $25 every 90 days. As long as I activate a new card before 90 day expiration, my remaining minutes roll over.


As mentioned the only thing that was a bother was renewing timely to keep the minutes active.


I have a GO Phone plan as well. AT&T now has an option to automatically renew your minutes before they expire. I signed up for this option just recently, and my first automatic renewal worked fine -- even including an email confirmation.

[thrillme]

Those prepaid phones can be good and bad. It would really stink if you were out in the middle of nowhere and you can't call anybody because you're out of minutes.

My son lost his phone and I am the queen of destruction (I've flushed them, washed them, left them on the car, lost them, dropped them, left them in a cup holder where a saltwater fish bag leaked...If you've done it...so have I).


Anyway...you CAN buy a USED phone from a cell phone dealer they're all over the place. I bought two on Ebay. Just be sure to READ the details about a phone before you buy and request the ESN number (many dealers put the ESN number out there for you to check out). Once you get the ESN number you can call sprint and ask they check it to see if its free and clear. If it is...then you shouldn't have any problems.

If you're not too picky (that it has to have a camera or be bluetooth...etc) you CAN get a nice SIMPLE phone for as little as $10-20 with an $18 activation fee. By activating a new phone you'll have to pay for the "activation" (I think it's $18 now) but you won't add years to your existing contract. HOWEVER...if you were counting on the "discount" on a new phone ("Equipment Upgrade" credit at 18 months with a new contract) activating the "ebay" or other phone will reset your equipment upgrade contract. Since you're looking to LEAVE anyway...that shouldn't be a concern.

You could also ask around friends or family...they may have an old Sprint phone that they'd be perfectly willing to GIVE you. It won't be the latest and greatest but you should be able to activate it just fine (if they've gotten a new phone or closed the contract with sprint that phone should be free and clear for a new activation).

Buying minutes for those pay as you go phones add up.