Tracfone question/help

granmanh603

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
2,250
Hi, I have a NokiaTracfone for at least 3 years....I would like to get a new phone from Tracfone ....I need to transfer minutes(300+) and phone number, has anyone done this and is it hard....I now have 2units a minute and the new phone will be 1 unit and double minutes for life of phone so was thinking it is better to do this than add minutes and time to the old phone . I mostly use phone down at Disney....Thank you for any help....Carol
 
yes it can be done, but dont call the number on the box it is somewhere in the philipenes and they are no help
call 800-626-4883 instead, fl #
 
Yes I know it can be done...just wondering about personal experiences with the process, how done and if it was easy....Yikes just found old paper work and I bought it in 2004!!!! Thank you...Carol
 
Yes I know it can be done...just wondering about personal experiences with the process, how done and if it was easy....Yikes just found old paper work and I bought it in 2004!!!! Thank you...Carol

I did it..was quite easy. I think I even saw a place on the site where you could do it online.
PS..thanks for the US number! The help people are nice, but the language barrier makes som ethings tough.
 

cntrygal- Thanks for posting the U.S. phone #! We have 2 tracfones that I love, but dealing with customer service can be difficult.

Slightly OT, I found a helpful site with current tracfone codes:

http://tracfone-codes.com/

I added 60 minutes yesterday, got 60 minutes free! :thumbsup2
 
YES! I have done this several times with several Tracfones I had since about 2001. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long. :eek:

You can upgrade to a newer Tracfone model, you can transfer the phone number, all the minutes and the expiration date. You no longer have to call Customer Service for most Tracfone upgrades now. It can be done online!!! :cool1:

If you haven't gotten your Double Minutes for Life phone yet, you can read about the various Tracfone package bundles and which carriers work with each phone here:
Current Tracfone Package Bundles.

The "Double Minutes for Life" Tracfone will automatically double the minutes you add on (meaning free minutes) AND you can add on free bonus minutes with a promo code every single time you add on minutes. So, twice you add on extra free minutes, for the price of a single minutes card. :dance3:

The tutorials showing on how to transfer, depending on which type of phone you currently have and will be transferring to are in that thread. Scroll down, in that same thread to the SECOND POST, under the QUICK SUMMARY, it shows "Useful links" and how to transfer from one phone to the other to upgrade to a newer phone or for only transferring minutes & expiration date. Almost all of this can be done online now! :cool1:

Here is a list of the tutorials for the transferring between the different types of Tracfones: CDMA -->GSM; GSM -->CDMA; CDMA -->CDMA; GSM -->GSM
http://thejmart.com/links.htm

The cheapest "Double Minutes for Life" phone can currently be bought from Walmart.com for $9.99 with only $.97 shipping. The phones sold at Walmart all use AT&T as their carrier.

At activation, one gets 20 minutes. Add on, say, a 60 minutes card, get the free double minutes for life, (another 60 minutes) and add on a free 60 bonus minutes and total minutes to start is 200 minutes. THEN transfer your current Tracfone number & service from your old phone.


Another invaluable thread:
FatWallet's Official Tracfone bonus codes Thread
Tracfone always has promo codes for extra FREE minutes, so it brings the price per minute down very cheap.
Number ONE Rule: Always look for a promo bonus code when adding on minutes.
 
Thank you for your replies. I am just nervous as I had read on some forums that it was a problem and then took weeks to change phone # and I go to Disney next month....with was talking about what kind of phone service the old one had and SIM cards....I have no idea of what they are talking about. :)
 
YES! I have done this several times with several Tracfones I had since about 2001. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long. :eek:

You can upgrade to a newer Tracfone model, you can transfer the phone number, all the minutes and the expiration date. You no longer have to call Customer Service for most Tracfone upgrades now. It can be done online!!! :cool1:

If you haven't gotten your Double Minutes for Life phone yet, you can read about the various Tracfone package bundles and which carriers work with each phone here:
Current Tracfone Package Bundles.

The "Double Minutes for Life" Tracfone will automatically double the minutes you add on (meaning free minutes) AND you can add on free bonus minutes with a promo code every single time you add on minutes. So, twice you add on extra free minutes, for the price of a single minutes card. :dance3:

The tutorials showing on how to transfer, depending on which type of phone you currently have and will be transferring to are in that thread. Scroll down, in that same thread to the SECOND POST, under the QUICK SUMMARY, it shows "Useful links" and how to transfer from one phone to the other to upgrade to a newer phone or for only transferring minutes & expiration date. Almost all of this can be done online now! :cool1:

Here is a procedural for one of the phone, but check to find the one for the types of Tracfone you will have. http://thejmart.com/gsmcdma.htm

The cheapest "Double Minutes for Life" phone can currently be bought from Walmart.com for $9.99 with only $.97 shipping. The phones sold at Walmart all use AT&T as their carrier.

At activation, one gets 20 minutes. Add on, say, a 60 minutes card, get the free double minutes for life, (another 60 minutes) and add on a free 60 bonus minutes and total minutes to start is 200 minutes. THEN transfer your current Tracfone number & service from your old phone.


Another invaluable thread:
FatWallet's Official Tracfone bonus codes Thread
Tracfone always has promo codes for extra FREE minutes, so it brings the price per minute down very cheap.
Number ONE Rule: Always look for a promo bonus code when adding on minutes.

Boy thank you.....I click on one link to read and that is one of the problems this GMS or CDMA phone....I have no clue what they are talking about for either phone....I have a (I looked it up) 5 year old Nokia 2285 phone and was looking to get the Motorola W376 for the double minutes. It also talks about AT&T and T Mobile??? I thought I had Verizon??? I really only use it down at Disney. And I do know from you in the past to look for the codes from adding on and have been doing that. Thanks
 
I wish I would have had the US number. I upgraded to a new phone and called the other number. We had trouble communicating with the customer service rep.:scared: I was able to deactiviate my old phone and activate my new phone but I was unable to get my minutes transferred for some reason. We were never able to figure it out and I lost 100 minutes. My new phone did have all my service days carried over. :confused3 Go figure! I probably wouldn't upgrade to another Tracfone - I'd get a different service before I'd try that again. The US phone number probably would have helped!
 
I've done it from the Tracfone website twice in the past month, once with an older Nokia. I didn't have any problems, and I'm pretty sure the website won't let you proceed if there is a CDMA/GMS issue. I believe CDMA phones don't have a SIM card, but I don't know exactly how that affects a transfer.

I also saw posts where people had problems, so I guess nothing is guaranteed. I'm not sure doing it from the website is any riskier than calling customer service.
 
Boy thank you.....I click on one link to read and that is one of the problems this GMS or CDMA phone....I have no clue what they are talking about for either phone....I have a (I looked it up) 5 year old Nokia 2285 phone and was looking to get the Motorola W376 for the double minutes. It also talks about AT&T and T Mobile??? I thought I had Verizon??? I really only use it down at Disney. And I do know from you in the past to look for the codes from adding on and have been doing that. Thanks

The difference between the CDMA vs. GSM phones are that CDMA = no SIM card. Usually the carrier (Through Tracfone) is Verizon.

GSM phones have those little white cardboard SIM cards that you have to place into the phones. The carriers are AT&T or T-Mobile.

Your Nokia 2285 is a CDMA phone.

The Motorola W376 is GSM. So Tracfone will switch carriers on you. You will still be able to keep the same phone number and transfer the minutes. The only difference in carriers is if you know one carrier has better reception than another. (For my area, Verizon works beautifully over AT&T, whether on a Tracfone or on a cellphone that is directly from those companies.) I'm not sure which carrier is better down at Disney. I don't recall anyone really complaining that their Tracfone works badly down there. :)

Here's the tutorial for transferring from a CDMA phone to GSM. NOTE: You do NOT want to activate the Motorola W376 first. If you do activate first, you will have to call the sucky Customer Service to have your number ported over. I'm not sure if you will get the 20 free minutes you would normally get for activating the phone first before transferring.

http://thejmart.com/cdmagsm.htm

BTW, here is a list of the tutorials for the transferring between the different types of Tracfones: CDMA -->GSM; GSM -->CDMA; CDMA -->CDMA; GSM -->GSM
http://thejmart.com/links.htm



Also note: If you are getting the Motorola W376 for the camera, you can NOT directly transfer the pictures directly to your computer via a cable or the Bluetooth feature that phone has. :( (The Bluetooth is only for a headset on this Tracfone.) You have to email any pictures from your Tracfone (using the text message feature.) It costs 1 unit to send the picture, then 1.5 units per how long the actual transfer takes. So, actually it costs about 3 units to send any pictures to your email, (which you can then send or upload to your computer.)

So you might want to rethink and get a the cheapest "Double Minutes for Life" phone instead from Walmart.com for $9.99 with only $.97 shipping. The phones sold at Walmart all use AT&T as their carrier, which is the same carrier as the Motorola W376.
 
The difference between the CDMA vs. GSM phones are that CDMA = no SIM card. Usually the carrier (Through Tracfone) is Verizon.

GSM phones have those little white cardboard SIM cards that you have to place into the phones. The carriers are AT&T or T-Mobile.

Your Nokia 2285 is a CDMA phone.

The Motorola W376 is GSM. So Tracfone will switch carriers on you. You will still be able to keep the same phone number and transfer the minutes. The only difference in carriers is if you know one carrier has better reception than another. (For my area, Verizon works beautifully over AT&T, whether on a Tracfone or on a cellphone that is directly from those companies.) I'm not sure which carrier is better down at Disney. I don't recall anyone really complaining that their Tracfone works badly down there. :)

Here's the tutorial for transferring from a CDMA phone to GSM. NOTE: You do NOT want to activate the Motorola W376 first. If you do activate first, you will have to call the sucky Customer Service to have your number ported over. I'm not sure if you will get the 20 free minutes you would normally get for activating the phone first before transferring.

http://thejmart.com/cdmagsm.htm

BTW, here is a list of the tutorials for the transferring between the different types of Tracfones: CDMA -->GSM; GSM -->CDMA; CDMA -->CDMA; GSM -->GSM
http://thejmart.com/links.htm



Also note: If you are getting the Motorola W376 for the camera, you can NOT directly transfer the pictures directly to your computer via a cable or the Bluetooth feature that phone has. :( (The Bluetooth is only for a headset on this Tracfone.) You have to email any pictures from your Tracfone (using the text message feature.) It costs 1 unit to send the picture, then 1.5 units per how long the actual transfer takes. So, actually it costs about 3 units to send any pictures to your email, (which you can then send or upload to your computer.)

So you might want to rethink and get a the cheapest "Double Minutes for Life" phone instead from Walmart.com for $9.99 with only $.97 shipping. The phones sold at Walmart all use AT&T as their carrier, which is the same carrier as the Motorola W376.

Wow super info, now I get it about the kind of phone service I guess is Verizon I have now (I really can't even use it too well here if I am lucky 2 bars) I live in a rural area... could the service be worse than that??? I guess most new phones are with AT&T?..The Mot W376 is 29.99 free ship and accessories... and as for me using camera LOL my kids laugh at me becase I can't even retieve the voice mail!!!!!! If that give you a clue of how bad I am... but I don't understand about not acctivating the new phone first...if I go to their site or read direction will that help me with that part. I have 300+ minutes on phone now and time expires next month, that is why I was looking on Tracfones site and saw the deal about the phone with DMFL, right now I have to use 2 units for every minute of talk time down at Disney, thank goodness I don't talk alot.
I would like to thank you very much....you did answer my questions and I feel alittle better about the process...but knowing me...if something can go wrong it will happen to me...
Does anyone happen to have that Mot W376 model phone and are you happy with it....Sorry I have alot of questions.... Carol
 
I am thinking about getting a trackphone for my 13 year old son. Can anyone tell me about texting with you phone? I can not find the cost of texting.
 
On our tracfone, one text message costs 0.3 minute to send, no charge to receive.
 
IMZADI Thank you for taking the time and answering all my questions. I have read all the links you posted and think I get it all. I think I will order the phone W 376 and maybe wait to change to it until after I get back from Disney this time. Then I will have plenty of time to play with it and get the minutes transfer and not be in a panic....You have been so helpful...Carol:)
 
granmahn603, I believe if you go on the Tracfone website before you leave and change you zipcode on your phone to a local to WDW zipcode you won't go into roaming down there, so it'll only use 1 unit per minute. Then, when you come back, you can change it back. You can only change it so many times per year, but since you're changing over to a single rate phone, that won't matter.

Disclaimer: this how it used to work when I had my old Nokia phone w/ roaming. Don't know if that changed or not.
 
... but I don't understand about not acctivating the new phone first...if I go to their site or read direction will that help me with that part. I have 300+ minutes on phone now and time expires next month, that is why I was looking on Tracfones site and saw the deal about the phone with DMFL, right now I have to use 2 units for every minute of talk time down at Disney, thank goodness I don't talk alot.

Granmanh, There is a difference between transferring a phone number and porting a phone number.

With SOME of the Tracfones, you can easily transfer your phone number to another model. It depends on which type of phone you get: CDMA or GSM (with the SIM card.)

If you read some of the pages on that link for the tutorials, you can see that most of the CDMA phones transfer the numbers easily.

However, the SIM card phones for Tracfones are trickier. This is because with Tracfones, once you activate a SIM card, that particular SIM card becomes permanently dedicated to ONE phone number. Unlike CDMA phones, where you can easily change phone numbers on the same phone, you need to get a fresh, new SIM card, in order to change the phone number.
(The SIM cards are free and easily obtainable by calling Customer Service at Tracfone.)

When I say activating, I mean registering the phone with Tracfone and getting service and a phone number, not simply turning on the phone and seeing if all the features work.

According to that tutorial, this is why if you get a new GSM phone, you do NOT want to activate it first, because you will receive a new phone number (dedicated to that SIM card) upon activation. You won't be able to transfer your old number with the two particular phones you have and want to get.

PORTING a phone number is totally different. It involves calling Customer Service. They have to manually extract a phone number. The number cannot be simply transferred by the Tracfone computer. It usually involves many steps and many days for the PORTING process to go through. And you would need a new unused SIM card for that, anyway, once they extract the phone number from wherever it was.

If you do NOT activate the new GSM Tracfone first, using up the dedicated SIM card, you will be easily able to transfer your phone number. I did it with my Motorola W376 and it went through in about 5 MINUTES! ( I wanted to get a camera phone finally, even if i have to pay for the extra units.)

There is a feature on the Motorola W376 that is tricky and you may accidentally use up all your Tracfone units if you aren't careful and accidentally press this button by mistake and don't realize it. The phone has limited web access to Tracfone's website. That button is right above the SEND button you hit for placing a call. If you hit it by accident, it immediately deducts one unit, even if you try canceling. Many people at various forums complained about how easily it was to accidentally hit that button and lose precious Tracfone minutes.

There is a simpler, cheaper "Double Minutes for life" phone to get. And it won't have the problem of accidentally hitting the web button. It's at the Walmart website. Third phone down. $9.88 + only $.97 shipping.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=232632


.
 
I am thinking about getting a trackphone for my 13 year old son. Can anyone tell me about texting with you phone? I can not find the cost of texting.

For some reason different Tracfones have different text message prices. No one knows why, other then we believe that's the kind of contract Tracfone was able to get for the individual phones. :confused3

Here is a list of the currently known Tracfone text charges compiled by FatWallet.com members:

How much does the text messaging feature cost?
Nokia 1112,
Motorola C139, C261, V176, W175g, W260g, W370, W376g
LG 3280, 1500, CG225, 200C, 300G, 600G
Kyocera K126C
Rate:
0.3 to send, 0.3 to receive.

Nokia 1100, 2600, 3390,
Motorola V170, C155
Rate:
0.3 to send, Free to receive.

Nokia 5100, 1221, 2285, 2126,
Motorola C343, V60, 120
Rate:
0.5 to send, 0.5 to receive.


Again, all this info is archived on the FatWallet.com thread:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/834707 :thumbsup2
 
Granmanh, There is a difference between transferring a phone number and porting a phone number.

With SOME of the Tracfones, you can easily transfer your phone number to another model. It depends on which type of phone you get: CDMA or GSM (with the SIM card.)

If you read some of the pages on that link for the tutorials, you can see that most of the CDMA phones transfer the numbers easily.

However, the SIM card phones for Tracfones are trickier. This is because with Tracfones, once you activate a SIM card, that particular SIM card becomes permanently dedicated to ONE phone number. Unlike CDMA phones, where you can easily change phone numbers on the same phone, you need to get a fresh, new SIM card, in order to change the phone number.
(The SIM cards are free and easily obtainable by calling Customer Service at Tracfone.)

When I say activating, I mean registering the phone with Tracfone and getting service and a phone number, not simply turning on the phone and seeing if all the features work.

According to that tutorial, this is why if you get a new GSM phone, you do NOT want to activate it first, because you will receive a new phone number (dedicated to that SIM card) upon activation. You won't be able to transfer your old number with the two particular phones you have and want to get.

PORTING a phone number is totally different. It involves calling Customer Service. They have to manually extract a phone number. The number cannot be simply transferred by the Tracfone computer. It usually involves many steps and many days for the PORTING process to go through. And you would need a new unused SIM card for that, anyway, once they extract the phone number from wherever it was.

If you do NOT activate the new GSM Tracfone first, using up the dedicated SIM card, you will be easily able to transfer your phone number. I did it with my Motorola W376 and it went through in about 5 MINUTES! ( I wanted to get a camera phone finally, even if i have to pay for the extra units.)

There is a feature on the Motorola W376 that is tricky and you may accidentally use up all your Tracfone units if you aren't careful and accidentally press this button by mistake and don't realize it. The phone has limited web access to Tracfone's website. That button is right above the SEND button you hit for placing a call. If you hit it by accident, it immediately deducts one unit, even if you try canceling. Many people at various forums complained about how easily it was to accidentally hit that button and lose precious Tracfone minutes.

There is a simpler, cheaper "Double Minutes for life" phone to get. And it won't have the problem of accidentally hitting the web button. It's at the Walmart website. Third phone down. $9.88 + only $.97 shipping.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=232632


.
W
OK I see about the otherhone options on the Wal Mart Sie...I don't need the fancier phone is what you are saying...How coan I find out about what is good or bad about particular models ....do you have the 9.95 one...waht about the DMFL flip one that is 19.99...sorry to have so may questions...
 
If you go to the Walmart page and click on the individual phones, right underneath where it says to enter zip code is a box with very faint gray print. One of those links is the link for "Item Description." I don't know why they made it so hard to find the phone descriptions. :confused3 It would have been more logical to put it on the page where they are advertising the phones. :rolleyes:

I don't have the W175 model, although I did have one similar. One of the main differences between this phone and the W376, besides being a flip phone is that it has real buttons to push when dialing. The W376 has a flat vinyl surface and a touch screen. The touch "buttons" are very small, and if you have fingernails, quite a pain to use. :rolleyes: Again, because of the touch screen, it is very easy to accidentally press the Tracfone webpage button without even realizing it.
 


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