Help...tracphone. prepaid or other option?

[elmo2wdw]

I would love some help with trying to figure this out. My parents are on my verizon phone plan. They have basic phones and they only use them a little for calls and a few texts with my kids. It is costing them $80+ a month and their budget is tight. I am hoping a can find them a better cheaper solution. They just need basic phones with good reception that they can call and text and no contract, if possible. Where should I look? I know nothing about tracphones or prepaid phones. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!

 

[Nayan]

We have AT&T GoPhones (prepaid) and it costs $15/month for each phone. We buy refill cards at Wal Mart. There are other plans/choices out there and the only reason I went with AT&T is coverage. T-Mobile has prepaid phones with "plans" starting at $10/month. The only downside is you need to buy a phone but something like these two plans sound like a good fit for them.

 

[RitaE]

I would love some help with trying to figure this out. My parents are on my verizon phone plan. They have basic phones and they only use them a little for calls and a few texts with my kids. It is costing them $80+ a month and their budget is tight. I am hoping a can find them a better cheaper solution. They just need basic phones with good reception that they can call and text and no contract, if possible. Where should I look? I know nothing about tracphones or prepaid phones. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!

You might check out PagePlus cellular. They operate on the Verizon network and I think most Verizon phones can be activated with them. They have a monthly plan that is $12 a month and is a couple hundred voice minutes and a couple hundred texts I think. You don't say how many voice minutes they need.

They also have prepaid plans that you can add texting on.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx

 

[Lewisc]

I've read the cheapest way to go, for an emergency phone is T-Mobile.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

$100 gives you 1000 minutes to use during the course of a year. You pay 10c per minute for talk, 10c per text (send or receive) and 25c for pictures/video.

That averages around 80 minutes or text messages a month. Might be enough for your parents. You can always buy more minutes. They won't be paying for minutes they're not using.

 

[hsmamato2]

You might check out PagePlus cellular. They operate on the Verizon network and I think most Verizon phones can be activated with them. They have a monthly plan that is $12 a month and is a couple hundred voice minutes and a couple hundred texts I think. You don't say how many voice minutes they need.

They also have prepaid plans that you can add texting on.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx

yes- they can use their old verizon phones with the pagepluscellular service,and pay very little...30 per month gets `1200 talk minutes-3000 texts! you can go even cheaper....and it runs on verizon network,so great calls!

 

[kiki02]

We have AT&T GoPhones (prepaid) and it costs $15/month for each phone. We buy refill cards at Wal Mart. There are other plans/choices out there and the only reason I went with AT&T is coverage. T-Mobile has prepaid phones with "plans" starting at $10/month. The only downside is you need to buy a phone but something like these two plans sound like a good fit for them.

I think tmobile doing away with the 10 a month and $15 plan. (this was told to me by someone who works there). Will check website.

 

[Plumeria9]

Check out Tracfone. We bought the cheapest one so we could sell a car w/o having to use a real phone# of ours. I don't recommend that phone, but I got a better one that is a slider phone for my middle schooler. This one came w/ triple minutes for the life of the phone. Easy for texting, each text cost 1/3 of a minute. You just buy the minute cards at Target, Walmart, all kinds of places. Just buy another card when your service time or minutes is up. Their phone customer service is good, my DH is old school and likes to call and ask questions. I would recommend it for the grandparents who just don't use this technology, but need it for once in while uses.

 

[JB2K]

You might check out PagePlus cellular. They operate on the Verizon network and I think most Verizon phones can be activated with them. They have a monthly plan that is $12 a month and is a couple hundred voice minutes and a couple hundred texts I think. You don't say how many voice minutes they need.

They also have prepaid plans that you can add texting on.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx

She's absolutely right -- and to carry it a step further, give Kitty Wireless (a PagePlus reseller) a shot -- they'll take care of everything!

 

[JB2K]

...got my MIL a Tracfone (with Double Minutes for Life) and a 1-year service card with 400 minutes (doubled to 800 minues).

Hers is a basic Samsung flip phone, and several months into it, everything's working great!

Breaking-down the costs, the phone, itself was $15 and the 1 year card was $100, which over a 12-month period, costs only $9.58 a month (and 800 minutes equals over 13 hours of talk time! If they're big talkers, you can always purchase smaller denomination cards to add to the 1-year card).

 

[CarlisleMom]

I've read the cheapest way to go, for an emergency phone is T-Mobile.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

$100 gives you 1000 minutes to use during the course of a year. You pay 10c per minute for talk, 10c per text (send or receive) and 25c for pictures/video.

That averages around 80 minutes or text messages a month. Might be enough for your parents. You can always buy more minutes. They won't be paying for minutes they're not using.

This is what my family has. We do the $100 to get the 12 month period. DH uses like $15 a year!!! When I add $$ to his phone before the end of the 12 months, all unused minutes roll over. I wait until he receives a text message and add $10.

DD10 just got her first phone. I figure the $100 will last for months.

 

[3happydancers]

...got my MIL a Tracfone (with Double Minutes for Life) and a 1-year service card with 400 minutes (doubled to 800 minues).

Hers is a basic Samsung flip phone, and several months into it, everything's working great!

Breaking-down the costs, the phone, itself was $15 and the 1 year card was $100, which over a 12-month period, costs only $9.58 a month (and 800 minutes equals over 13 hours of talk time! If they're big talkers, you can always purchase smaller denomination cards to add to the 1-year card).

And...renew your service before the anniversary date means your unused minutes will roll over. We used this for my mom which work out great and we use it for DH, DD, and myself. Keep in mind that we are not big with talking and texting so the usage fits the service!