Cell phone..or trac phone

[DMRick]

Hi, my grand would love a cell phone for Christmas, and her parents ok'd our getting her one. I'm looking into one of the pay as you go phones. (Because I'm afraid if I put her on our phone, I'll not have any minutes left LOL!) I figured the cards will make nice gifts during the year. I know nothing about them, other than I was told Sprint has some empty area in our area so to not get that one. Anyone got one recently? I ask recently, because I had been told the Singular (or is it Cell one now?) has changed, and isn't as good as it once was. That you have to buy a card each month, or lose your leftover minutes. Also, which phone is good for a soom to be 13 year old? It was also suggested that I not get one that tests or takes pictures, since it would really eat up her minutes. But wouldn't that be the fun for someone her age? Help! Trying to get what I think she would want, yet, not break the bank by encourging her to use lots of minutes LOL!

 

[Blondie]

We have two pay as you go phones.

Mine is a Trac Phone. It's all I need and very easy to use. If you have any left over minutes when it's time to renew, they roll over. I only use it "in case" I break down on the road, or need to check in with the boys if they're home alone.

My 15 y.o. has a T-1 Mobile pay as you go. It's more complicated than my Trac Phone in regards to buying minutes. He bought it with his own money, and he buys his own airtime, so I let him fuss with it!

The T-1 Mobile is a fancier phone and I think would be more attractive to a teen. It has cool ringtones, you can play games on it, etc.

But for something very simple and basic, Trac Phone is for me!

 

[granmanh603]

I have a Tracfone and love it. Got it last Feb to replace Verizon...I was paying $40 a month for 300 min that I never used. I get just as good or better service with Tracfone and I live in the woods. I did get the year contract so I didn't have to remember to add minutes every 2 months(phone tell you when you have to add minutes and how many minutes you have to use) I'm already way ahead on the deal . I don't use it very often.
I bought the reconditioned one on line(recommened by another Diser) and got a referral from her and got 100min free when I clicked on the email she sent...see got 100 too. They have a deal on line now for a phone and 40 min for 19.99 but they have other models too if you want something fancier. They also always send you emails for extra bonus minutes when you purchase new minutes. Hope this helps Caarol

 

[NancyIL]

Tracfone's service must've improved in the past 2 years, because it was a big PITA to get the phones activated and minutes added. My FIL bought one and gave up after multiple attempts to get the darn thing activated.

We had a Tracfone for my daughter when she started driving, and eventually switched her to a family plan on Cingular with her sister. The cost wasn't much more, and she had a LOT more minutes to use.

 

[DMRick]

If you add someone to your phone plan, do you share minutes, or can you specify a certain amount of minutes to them?

 

[granmanh603]

Tracfone's service must've improved in the past 2 years, because it was a big PITA to get the phones activated and minutes added. My FIL bought one and gave up after multiple attempts to get the darn thing activated.

We had a Tracfone for my daughter when she started driving, and eventually switched her to a family plan on Cingular with her sister. The cost wasn't much more, and she had a LOT more minutes to use.

If you have trouble activating the phone or any other problem you can call them. I think this phone is good for people who don't use alot of minutes or what to keep control of the cost of a phone. My BIL has one for emergency use and my grand son got one, after he got out of control cose wise on the regular cell phone. You buy what you use and don't pay for what you don't use or can't afford.

 

[NancyIL]

If you add someone to your phone plan, do you share minutes, or can you specify a certain amount of minutes to them?

You share a pool of minutes.

 

[liamandcaili]

I have a Tracfone, which is perfect for me. I hardly ever use it...I just keep it for emergency purposes. I buy the year plan, so having the phone costs me less than $100 a year, and the number of minutes are plenty.

That said, I am not sure a Tracfone would be great for a teenager. The number of minutes probably wouldn't be enough...I think I got 300 minutes for the year, and that was with a bonus code...and the phones are pretty basic. I think mine can text-message, but I have no idea how to do it, and there just two ring tone options: loud or soft. Also, it doesn't work if I am in enclosed spaces like the mall.

As for your question about sharing minutes, I believe if you added another phone to your plan, you would be sharing minutes. I know DSis was thinking about doing this for me, but there was some concern over shared minutes. And if your phone plan is anything like DH's, the phone doesn't let you know when you are over minutes until you get the bill

 

[NancyIL]

If you have trouble activating the phone or any other problem you can call them. I think this phone is good for people who don't use alot of minutes or what to keep control of the cost of a phone. My BIL has one for emergency use and my grand son got one, after he got out of control cose wise on the regular cell phone. You buy what you use and don't pay for what you don't use or can't afford.

My FIL called Tracfone several times...think their customer service representatoives were NOT in the U.S. - and still couldn't get it activated...so he gave up. I'm sure Tracfone's prices have come down since then, and it CAN be a good deal for someone who doesn't talk much. However, the prepaid plans that charge you $1/day for each day you use the phone PLUS a per minute charge are more expensive than signing a contract and getting a much larger bucket of minutes.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

We just got a Virgin Phone for my Mom. It is pay as you go. You have to put atleast $20.00 in every 3 months. It is perfect for her to just have if she needs it.

Plus Target runs a special on the Top-up cards all the time. I just brought a $20.00 top up card for $15.00.

 

[disneyred]

We just got a Virgin Phone for my Mom. It is pay as you go. You have to put atleast $20.00 in every 3 months. It is perfect for her to just have if she needs it.

Plus Target runs a special on the Top-up cards all the time. I just brought a $20.00 top up card for $15.00.

this is good to know.... any idea how find out when they have these kind of sales... do you just check their weekly flyers or ask them ??

 

[d4est]

My DH & I both have tracfones. It is perfect for me because I don't use it a lot, so the costs are low. My DH is using his more & more at work so he eats up the minutes. I am beginning to think a regular phone would be better for him. Either that, or his employer needs to start buying him minutes!

We live out in the boonies, but get good service with the tracfone because they rent from local towers (verison, cellular, etc)...so service is available almost anywhere. They have newer models now that take pictures etc. We have basic motorola flip phones we bought at Walmart.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

this is good to know.... any idea how find out when they have these kind of sales... do you just check their weekly flyers or ask them ??

They are always in the flyers.

They do it about every 3 months or so.

We bought 4 $20.00 cards So it was like buy 3 get one free. And they are good until 2009. I always check the expiration date.

 

[disneyred]

thanks for the heads up !!

 

[granmanh603]

I live in the boonie too and have good service, I get better service with my Tracfone than my daughter does with her phone which I think is Cingular but she does have an older phone, she is always going thru dead zones when I talk to her when she is in the car, in a busy area in Ma often on 495 south of Boston???? even at her house.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

No problem.
We all LOVE to save some money any way we can.

 

[WIcruizer]

A few questions, comments. All the cell providers have "add a line" programs that share minutes. The problem is that the 2nd line generally costs another $30/month on average. The 3rd, 4th lines are cheaper, usually $9.99/month.

What can you do if you already have a phone, with no service of course. Can you get that phone actived with Tracphone or the other providers? $0 every 3 months, or $100/year both seem reasonable. What is the best "minutes per dollar" plan out there?

 

[granmanh603]

A few questions, comments. All the cell providers have "add a line" programs that share minutes. The problem is that the 2nd line generally costs another $30/month on average. The 3rd, 4th lines are cheaper, usually $9.99/month.

What can you do if you already have a phone, with no service of course. Can you get that phone actived with Tracphone or the other providers? $0 every 3 months, or $100/year both seem reasonable. What is the best "minutes per dollar" plan out there?

I don't know if you can acitivate your phone with Tracfone but right now you can get a Trac phone for with 40 minutes for 19.99 and with a email referral another 100. If you like it fine, if not its a throw away. Like I said I was paying Verizon $40 a month so for me if I didn't like it I would just not add any more minutes basicly throw it away. But again I do not use alot of minutes....that is the key your use patern.

 

[ARIEYELLOW]

Is the tracfone for 19.99 deal still going on? If so could someone please send me a referral link? Thanks

 

[Trixiezzz]

Yes, you can still get a Tracfone for 19.99.

www.tracfone.com Some models have a 40 minute free airtime card, plus you can get an extra 40 minutes free with a bonus code that expires 11/30. Also, if you activitate it online that will give you 20 more minutes.

So you can end up with:

100 From referral
10 comes with phone
20 activating online

plus, possibly
40 free w/some phones
40 free if you use bonus code

This was a good deal for us. Our regular cell phone charges us roaming when we go out of our local area. So I use my Tracfone as my "roaming" phone. We used it at Disney World and it worked great, too!

One thing though: Only the Nokia 1100 comes with the free roaming. I think the one that is included with the free 40 minute card does NOT have free roaming. Check it out for your area before you buy.

PM me if you'd like to know about the free 100 minutes.