Pay as you go phone

[holycow]

can anyone recommend a reliable company?

I need to take our daughter off of our plan. She goes over every month and isn't listening when we ask her not to, so the phone is GONE.

I want to buy her a pay as you go so she can learn to discipline herself.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Tracfone. You can get a simple phone for under $20, then add minutes/time as needed or predetermined.

 

[teller80]

I have Straight Talk ($45/mo), husband has Total Wireless ($35). Both have unlimited talk & text, ST has unlimited data and TW has 3GB but you can buy more as needed for $10. Both use Verizon towers, which was my #1 priority.

How old is your daughter?

 

[DawnM]

What does she go over on? Talk? Text? Data?

We have an unlimited talk and text plan so there would be no chance of going over for my kids.

If she is going over on only data, I would be looking at something with no data for a while. I am not telling you what to do, just that I would do that.

Anyway, I would look at maybe going with Republic Wireless. You have to buy a phone offered by them (or get used on eBay but it has to be a RW phone.) For $10/mo. you get unlimited talk and text, no data (wifi only.) For $25 you can get data added (5gb.)

 

[Dizlvr]

I agree with you Dawn, the punishment in my house would be no data. (Not telling you what you should do OP)
I use Page Plus ($30 for 3000 text, 1200 minutes and 10MB of data) but my ds12 just bought an iphone to use on AT&T. Its $30 a month for unlimited talk and text and has no data plan, but after this first month I'm switching it to the 10 cents a minute plan. Its not because he's being punished, I just don't think he has a need for data, he can use wi-fi if its available and if not he can survive without internet access.

 

[Alesia]

I have a tracfone. I never have a problem with service and I only pay $20 every 3 months.

 

[HM]

I use Virgin Mobile. I don't have data on my phone, just talk and text and pay by the minute prepaid. I've had this for over 10 years now.

 

[scrapquitler]

DS 12, has a trac phone. He only texts and calls, and very minimally. We bought him an android phone so he can play games on it (without Data or on Wifi) and it cost us about $130 for the phone. Because his minutes/message use is so low, we got a triple minutes phone and I add a 120 minute/120text/120mbdata card every three months for $25, and he actually gets 3x as many minutes, etc. and any leftover ones carry over.

DD18 has Smart Talk. She purchased the phone herself (Samsung Galaxy s5, $529 out of her pocket) and we pay for the monthly service card, $45/mo for unlimited everything.

 

[icicle]

Platinumtel has a true pay as you go phone-- meaning you pay for each minute, each text and data. I was very happy with them as a company but I ended up switching when they moved from sprint lines to t-mobile. I'm considering going back...

https://www.ptel.com/plans

 

[Alexle2007]

We have BoostMobile and VirginMobile and we are very happy with their service. Both of them use the Sprint towers. DH has BoostMobile and I had VirginMobile. We recently gave DS my iPhone and I got a new one on BoostMobile. We pay by the month but have unlimited text, talk and data (although the data does slow down after we max out.) DS likes to watch YouTube so he managed to hit 85% of his data in about 10 days but then it is on him when it slows to crawl.

 

[dalmatian7]

I am curious to those that use tracphone, are you in a heavy AT&T area? My grandparents are in need of a phone and I have been searching plans. They would only use it to call when traveling 4-5 times a year and to carry in the car for emergencies. My gram also thinks she might like to have a phone with a camera in it. No texting or data needed. The catch is we are in a primarily AT&T area so if there is poor service on AT&t towers it would be useless. Also as far as I have read the tracphone minutes seem to expire rather quickly. I am also looking at go phone from AT&T added to my plan. Just wondering what others may have found.

 

[poohbear2]

Tracfone. I purchased the special from QVC last year. Great value and phone is perfect for my needs. Saving money.

 

[kristenrice]

I have a related question...

When DH and I upgraded our iPhone 4S's to the 6, we gave each of our DD's (ages 12 and 9) our old phones. They are unactivated but they use them extensively on the wi-fi and they've loaded their music and apps so they basically use them as iPods. I'm trying to find out if there is a way to activate them as "pre-paid" phones. I'd like to be able to add talk minutes ONLY that do not expire until used. This way, they can use the phone AS A PHONE in case of emergency. I'm on the fence about texts because they current;y "text" over the wi-fi and if they had the capability to send texts out of range, they may incur overages. Is there a way to do this? So far, the only pre-paid plans I've found either require the purchase of a new phone, or minutes that expire, forcing you to buy more each month in order to keep the phone activated. Any ideas? I don't want to get new phones (even if they are free or cheap...the girls won't carry them in addition to their "iPod"). FWIW, the phones were purchased from Sprint.

 

[supersnoop]

I have a related question...

When DH and I upgraded our iPhone 4S's to the 6, we gave each of our DD's (ages 12 and 9) our old phones. They are unactivated but they use them extensively on the wi-fi and they've loaded their music and apps so they basically use them as iPods. I'm trying to find out if there is a way to activate them as "pre-paid" phones. I'd like to be able to add talk minutes ONLY that do not expire until used. This way, they can use the phone AS A PHONE in case of emergency. I'm on the fence about texts because they current;y "text" over the wi-fi and if they had the capability to send texts out of range, they may incur overages. Is there a way to do this? So far, the only pre-paid plans I've found either require the purchase of a new phone, or minutes that expire, forcing you to buy more each month in order to keep the phone activated. Any ideas? I don't want to get new phones (even if they are free or cheap...the girls won't carry them in addition to their "iPod"). FWIW, the phones were purchased from Sprint.

It's going to depend on the version of your 4S's. Those were available on a few different networks, and the actual phone was different for each one. But, if the phones are unlocked, I'd look into T-Mobile or H20 Wireless. On T-Mobile, you can load up $100 and it will be good for an entire year. Then you can add as little as $10 to keep that balance active for subsequent years. H20 loads are good for 90 days, and each $10 load extends the expiration another 90 days.

 

[bjscheel]

I am curious to those that use tracphone, are you in a heavy AT&T area? My grandparents are in need of a phone and I have been searching plans. They would only use it to call when traveling 4-5 times a year and to carry in the car for emergencies. My gram also thinks she might like to have a phone with a camera in it. No texting or data needed. The catch is we are in a primarily AT&T area so if there is poor service on AT&t towers it would be useless. Also as far as I have read the tracphone minutes seem to expire rather quickly. I am also looking at go phone from AT&T added to my plan. Just wondering what others may have found.

If you get a Tracfone where the model number ends in "G", it will use AT&T towers. If the model number ends in "C", it will use Verizon towers. When you buy from the Tracfone website it will ask what zip code it will be used in most and try to then offer the appropriate phone models. If it doesn't give you the right models, try a different zip code.

Tracfone minutes don't "expire". If you buy an annual card with 400 minutes (most phones are triple minute phones so you get 1200 minutes) and at the end of the year you still have minutes left, you keep those minutes. But you have to buy another card to keep service active.

 

[bjscheel]

I have a related question...

When DH and I upgraded our iPhone 4S's to the 6, we gave each of our DD's (ages 12 and 9) our old phones. They are unactivated but they use them extensively on the wi-fi and they've loaded their music and apps so they basically use them as iPods. I'm trying to find out if there is a way to activate them as "pre-paid" phones. I'd like to be able to add talk minutes ONLY that do not expire until used. This way, they can use the phone AS A PHONE in case of emergency. I'm on the fence about texts because they current;y "text" over the wi-fi and if they had the capability to send texts out of range, they may incur overages. Is there a way to do this? So far, the only pre-paid plans I've found either require the purchase of a new phone, or minutes that expire, forcing you to buy more each month in order to keep the phone activated. Any ideas? I don't want to get new phones (even if they are free or cheap...the girls won't carry them in addition to their "iPod"). FWIW, the phones were purchased from Sprint.

Tracfone has a Bring Your Own Phone program. I know Verizon phones work, and I think Sprint phones do now too. Go to their website, click on Phones/Bring Your Own Phone/Check Compatibility. You can enter the IMEI (found in Settings) and see if it will work with them. DDs and I have iPhones on Tracfone. One note- on a 4S, if Tracfone sends you a SIM card, you might not need it. At least with our Verizon 4S phones we didn't need the SIM cards. I put one in and that was messing things up.

 

[DisHmsklMom]

Another shout out here for Republic Wireless. They have Motorola phones you have to purchase, but the prices are reasonable. You could go with the $10 plan, or go for the $25 plan and then they now have an offer that if you use less than the data on your plan you get a refund. My kids are really good at using free WiFi where ever they go, or waiting until it becomes available. Money is a motivator.

 

[kaismahma]

My 10 year old uses Ting! If you have never checked them out you should. It is similar to a pay as you go but it is more like pay as you use. You pay for what you use. $3 per month for 1-100, then next level is $9 for 101-500 minutes, etc. The same goes for data 1-100 Megabytes is $3 the 101-500 is $12 etc. for messaging $3 for 1-100, or $5 for 100-1000. You also pay a device fee of $6 per month. I can set up each option to give me an email when they are getting close to the limit I set for them so that I can give my daughter a heads up. She does use WiFi when she can. You get charged monthly automatically to however you sign up. They use the Sprint network call towers. We have been using Ting in MN now for about 3 months with no issues. My dad has been using it in Atlanta for just about the same time as we have with no issues. I used an old AT&T iPhone and had AT&T unlock the phone. Ordered a sim card $9 and then we were good to go. If you have a Sprint phone (which my dad used) you won't need to worry about unlocking or the sim card. There website lays everything out very well for and you can even check to see if your phone will work their services. If you want a good laugh watch their ad on the home page. It is pretty cute. My dad had great customer service from them when he had to contact them. If you go thru this link you can get $25 off a phone or just a credit if you sign up https://zcp5gt3pora.ting.com/ (I get a $25 credit too, just so you know-if not allowed please let me know and I will remove the link.)
I just checked and my daughters bill which closes in a few days is $24 for the month. It really is a great little company and I did a lot of research before signing up with them and I honestly could not find a bad review.

 

[tazleiten12]

I have a related question...

When DH and I upgraded our iPhone 4S's to the 6, we gave each of our DD's (ages 12 and 9) our old phones. They are unactivated but they use them extensively on the wi-fi and they've loaded their music and apps so they basically use them as iPods. I'm trying to find out if there is a way to activate them as "pre-paid" phones. I'd like to be able to add talk minutes ONLY that do not expire until used. This way, they can use the phone AS A PHONE in case of emergency. I'm on the fence about texts because they current;y "text" over the wi-fi and if they had the capability to send texts out of range, they may incur overages. Is there a way to do this? So far, the only pre-paid plans I've found either require the purchase of a new phone, or minutes that expire, forcing you to buy more each month in order to keep the phone activated. Any ideas? I don't want to get new phones (even if they are free or cheap...the girls won't carry them in addition to their "iPod"). FWIW, the phones were purchased from Sprint.

I dont know if it still works, but last year you could activate them on Page Plus. They use Verizon towers, and you can put a $10 card on, or go with a plan from $12/month and up.

 

[scrapquitler]

I am curious to those that use tracphone, are you in a heavy AT&T area? My grandparents are in need of a phone and I have been searching plans. They would only use it to call when traveling 4-5 times a year and to carry in the car for emergencies. My gram also thinks she might like to have a phone with a camera in it. No texting or data needed. The catch is we are in a primarily AT&T area so if there is poor service on AT&t towers it would be useless. Also as far as I have read the tracphone minutes seem to expire rather quickly. I am also looking at go phone from AT&T added to my plan. Just wondering what others may have found.

We have very good coverage with both verizon and at&t here, I can't remember which towers the one my son has works off of. The minutes my son has don't expire, you just need to add more every so often (every 90 days for his) and they just keep accumulating, probably forever, he's had it for over a year and the number of available minutes just keeps going up up up because he uses it so seldom.