Prepaid cells

[mickeyplanner08]

OK, can someone please remind me how to port my current cell number to a pre-paid plan.

Anyone want to make some recommendations for the best plan?
Here's what I would like:

100 minutes/month ballpark
No need to text
Would like voicemail, but not totally necessary
Would really like caller ID/call history

Thanks for all your help!

 

[CleoPahd]

We bought my daughter a tracfone. Many of the newer phones are very inexpensive and come with free double minutes for life. This means if you purchase a 60 minute card you actually get 120 minutes. There are ALWAYS bonus codes out there to add even more time to refill cards. 30 minute cards are good for 30 days, anything larger is good for 90 days. A 60 (120 with double mins)minute card retails for $19.99, 120 (240 with double mins) is $29.99. Unused minutes rollover, but you can't let the phone either run out of minutes OR go beyond the end usage date or you will lose your phone number. It's very easy to keep track of because it shows you on the main screen on the phone how many minutes remain and when the end date is up. It's very economical and it does have voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, etc. She can also text for a minimal amount. To port your current number you just need to call the cell carrier you are purchasing your phone through and they can do it for you.

I've price compared many times, and for her small amount of usage, it's really the best price for where we are. Hope that helps.

 

[darthspud]

I gave up my $90 a month cell phone about 6 months ago and got a virgin wireless cell.. I use my itouch for texting (as long as im in a wifi zone) but it has been the best thing ive done.. I put about 20 (200 minutes) every other month or so.. on virgin when you log on (on the website) the first time it allowed me to import my number (if i remember correctly) It saves/ed me a butt load of money on my budget

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I went to T-Mobile Prepaid over a year ago.

I paid about $180 for the phone and 1,000 minutes good for a year.

I do not text and do not have a camera on the phone. I was down to abour 420 minutes remaining and I spend $50 to renew and I am back up to about 950 minutes and good for another year.

I did the purchase at a T-Mobile store. They handled the switchover for me at no cost.

One thing I really like is that I was able to set up my phone directory on their web site using my computer, and then told the system to synchonize between the web site and the phone and it automatically put the phone directory in the new phone.

And if I ever lose the phone or it breaks, all it will take is a few keystrokes to enter my complete directory into the new phone.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am currently on an Alltel plan that I pay only $12.41 for each month that includes 100 minutes plus free nights/weekends. However, since Verizon took over Alltel here, I cannot upgrade my phone without upgrading to a $40 a month plan. My poor phone no longer holds a charge, and it is so old and beat up that I'm afraid it's time to move on. So sad because this has been the best plan for an emergency phone! It will be nice to upgrade to something with caller ID, though. Right now if it rings, there is no voicemail or caller ID, so I don't know if it was school calling about sick kids!

 

[Kellydelly]

I have a cheap T-Mobile to-go phone . I buy the 1,000 minutes for $90 through callingmart.com and that many minutes will last me about a year.

 

[MCazer]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am currently on an Alltel plan that I pay only $12.41 for each month that includes 100 minutes plus free nights/weekends. However, since Verizon took over Alltel here, I cannot upgrade my phone without upgrading to a $40 a month plan. My poor phone no longer holds a charge, and it is so old and beat up that I'm afraid it's time to move on. So sad because this has been the best plan for an emergency phone! It will be nice to upgrade to something with caller ID, though. Right now if it rings, there is no voicemail or caller ID, so I don't know if it was school calling about sick kids!

Any chance you can just buy a newer "used" phone on eBay and stay on the same plan?

 

[corie161]

We've been using pagepluscellular.com prepaid for about 5 months now. It's been going well. They use Verizon towers, so the coverage is the same as we had before, with lower cost. You can use almost any Verizon phones but there are some exceptions. Blackberrys' as well as some other smartphones cannot be used. There are a few that can though.

A good place for information is howardforums.com They have a section designated for prepaid services.