Trac-Phones ?

[maxiesmom]

I was wondering if anyone has one of the new trac-phones, and if you do, how you like the service. If I cancel my Alltel phone it will save me almost $50 a month. I had a trac-phone a few years ago, and while it was great when I was in my home state, the service outside my state sucked. I tried to use mine at Disney World, and not only were the calls constantly dropped, I couldn't even pick up my messages. They all loaded on my phone when I walked outside of my home airport. NOT helpful!

Do they work any better now? I am pretty sure I am outside of my 2 year contract, so I should be able to cancel without penalty. I'm off to look now! TIA!

 

[Robinrs]

I've had a Tracfone for years and love them. I don't use cell phones much and this is the right deal for me and for my 15yo son. I had a 2 year contract with AT&T and was paying them $60 a month for using only 30 minutes... what a waste!

As for the roaming where do you live? I live in Georgia so Florida is not a problem when I go to Orlando. You can reprogram your phone to the 407 area code while you're there and return it to your area code when you return.

Check the www.tracfone.com site for the best deal on a phone and always check http://www.dunringil.com/bonus.htm or momsview for deals on extra minutes!

owner of a Robinfone!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

My DD and I both have a tracphone and I am happy with it. To answer your question, though, I haven't travelled with it so I can't speak as to how the roaming is.

 

[fakereadhed]

Love tracfone. I have had roaming charges at WDW before, but it varies based on the phone you have. Different phones have different plans. My new tracfone has no roaming charges at WDW. Check the plans that go with the phone you buy to be sure. It shows you a service area map.

 

[solfan68]

Been with Tracfone for just shy of two years. Also not a huge minute consumer. Actually, the thing that pushed me was this... I was 'out of contract' with Cingular and called to re-up, hoping for a new phone. Guy offers me deal with thousands of minutes for about $45 a month. I proceed to explain that our plan is through my wife's union and that we don't currently pay that much. He tells me the only reason we still had this deal was that out ATT plan was grandfathered in during the merger. But the new plan has so many more minutes and free this and that. I explained to him that I don't use the sixty minutes a month I have now. So I stayed with the plan we had for another month or so, did some research, and picked up a Tracfone.

For a hundred dollars I got a Motorola flip and a year's wort of time. The V170 works great here in Pennsylvania and was just fine in the Magic Kingdom(work had to call me one day). So now I have ATT service at Tracfone prices. Oh, and the V170 gets free incoming text messages. Yeah, I'm happy. Even if you don't work the bonus codes to the max, a one year card will cost you $100. No muss, no fuss. Break that out over 12 months, and well... you do the math.

 

[LegoMom3]

I have one and really like the newest one I got (just a few months ago). However, with the older one, we also had issues using it at WDW. We were traveling with the in-laws, and were going to use cell phones to communicate when we weren't together. We could call out to FIL, but if he called us, the phone never rang, just went to voice mail. We could retrieve them, but it was a pain in the butt for what we were trying to do! My newer phone does receive calls around here when I'm roaming, but I haven't traveled far out of state with it yet so not sure if the service has improved.

Other than that we like them. We don't use cell phones all the time, just for emergency and the occasional "I'm at the grocery store, do we need anything besides milk?!" I like not having a contract and being able to just buy a small bundle of minutes when I need them.

 

[Mono~rail]

I've had a Tracfone for years and love them. I don't use cell phones much and this is the right deal for me and for my 15yo son. I had a 2 year contract with AT&T and was paying them $60 a month for using only 30 minutes... what a waste!

As for the roaming where do you live? I live in Georgia so Florida is not a problem when I go to Orlando. You can reprogram your phone to the 407 area code while you're there and return it to your area code when you return.

Check the www.tracfone.com site for the best deal on a phone and always check http://www.dunringil.com/bonus.htm or momsview for deals on extra minutes!

owner of a Robinfone!

I have to agree with Robin.

I've had a Tracfone for almost 3 years now, and I'm happy, happy, happy. It fits my needs just fine. I think I'm one of the few people left on the planet who just doesn't enjoy talking on the phone, much less a cell phone. Just not my thing. I only use mine for emergencies. The only exception is when we are at WDW, and it gets more use then.

I use the phone so little that it just doesn't make sense to get locked into a cell plan contract. The thought of paying all that money every month gives me anxiety.

I didn't know you could reprogram the area code. Learn something new everyday.

ETA: I very rarely have to buy refill minutes. Usually I only have to do a refill before we take a WDW trip which is a couple of times per year.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thanks for all the info guys! It sounds like a trac-phone will work for me too!

Another quick question--My contract expires on April 5. Do I have to call and cancel before then, on that date, or what? Will they automatically extend my contract if I don't do anything?

 

[C.Ann]

I just recently purchased a Trac phone, but have yet to activate it or use it.. My cousins Trac phone was great when we vacationed together the year before last - worked in every state and area that my Nextel didn't..

 

[LegoMom3]

Thanks for all the info guys! It sounds like a trac-phone will work for me too!

Another quick question--My contract expires on April 5. Do I have to call and cancel before then, on that date, or what? Will they automatically extend my contract if I don't do anything?

I would call them before hand, at least 30 days (60 might be better?...I'm sure it's all there in the fine print, which admittedly is impossible to read!). It is likely they will continue unless you request a cancellation. Just be clear that you WILL fulfill your contract until the end on April 5, but don't want to continue after that.

 

[johde]

I would look into more than just trac phone. Most all major Cell phone companies offer prepaid cellular. http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm has comparison information of most of the prepaid cellular plans. They all have their various advantages and disadvantages. My main one is through T-mobile. When I purchased the phone I added $100 on the account for 1,000 minutes and to become a "gold member". With gold status any time I add is good for 1 year. So if you have a lot of minutes left you can add $10 and get another year of service.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I would look into more than just trac phone. Most all major Cell phone companies offer prepaid cellular. http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm has comparison information of most of the prepaid cellular plans. They all have their various advantages and disadvantages. My main one is through T-mobile. When I purchased the phone I added $100 on the account for 1,000 minutes and to become a "gold member". With gold status any time I add is good for 1 year. So if you have a lot of minutes left you can add $10 and get another year of service.

Thanks for the link. Very helpful! My current contract with Sprint is up in May and I've been looking into switching over to a prepaid phone. Sprint coverage is horrible in my neighborhood, and getting worse. This helps eliminate the ones that use the Sprint network. T Mobile claims I live in the middle of a high coverage area, so I may have to look into that option.