Cell Phone Pay as you Go Plans.....

[Doglover8180]

I have just discovered these pay as you go - prepaid cell phone plans, and the rates seem to be MUCH better then the contracts, there is no 2-year contracts to deal with, no surprises on your bill..... is it just me or is this a great idea that saves you money and gives you more minutes??? I am thinking of switching & am just wondering if anyone here uses one of these prepaid - pay as you go plans and if they really are as good as they seem to be....

Thoughts?

[Gardencook]

We've got a TracFone and it works great for us. I only want a phone for emergencies and an occasional short call, so it works out to about $8 a month, I believe.
Most TracFones come with double minutes for life. Some of the television shopping networks even offer triple minutes. That means each time you buy a card, the number of minutes on the card doubles or triples for the life of the phone. When we got our double minutes card, we paid a lot of money for it.
Our phone is a dinosaur by today's standards, but if you want cameras, texting, bluetooth and wireless, there are phones with the capability.
With Tracfone you can do a month-by-month service with a credit card, you can opt to buy a one year of service card, or we just make sure to buy and add an additional card with minutes at least every three months.
If you buy extra minutes before the three months are over, those months will be added to the time you still have remaining on your phone. If you don't use all your minutes, they keep rolling over as long as you keep your phone active.
DH usually adds the cards to the phone, but he says they have made the process a lot easier than it used to be. He's quite impressed with the improvement.
If you have trouble with a promo code, it can be a problem reaching the overseas call center, but they generally get the problem rectified.
We've only traveled to a couple areas where we didn't have service, so coverage area hasn't been an issue for us.
Seems like it would be a great phone to teach children/teens responsibility. Parents could agree to buy a certain number of minutes each month, then if the child wanted more, he would have to pay for them himself. Seems like it might work out better than getting a nasty surprise in your phone bill.

[smughis]

I recently switched to prepaid plan as all others seem too expensive I usually get the $100 all year card with 1000 minutes on it works for me and don,t have to bother adding or buying cards all the time

[cdarrow26]

I had been with AT&T (and all their previous names) since I got my first cell phone in the early 90's! Well, I finally got sick of paying $65 a month for a basic plan and decided to bite the bullet and terminate my contract. I switched to Tmobile and went with their $30 a month no-contract plan. It includes 1500 minutes of talk or text and a small amount of web.

I would definitely look into coverage for your area. I live in a pretty rural area so not many of the no contract companies have great coverage. So far, Tmobile seems to be ok, not as good as AT&T, but not horrible. I did have issues with their phones (they are cheap crap) and had 2 in the first 2 weeks. I almost gave up and switched back, but since I had AT&T previously, I was able to get my phone unlocked and go back to using that and have been much more happy.

I do like that $30 is $30. There was no tax or additional fees like on a contract plan. I'm less than a month into the switch, but, overall I'd say it's worth it.

[CW&M Mom]

I use virgin it's unlimited text and data (you can get unlimited talk but I don't need that many minutes) no contract. Mine is $35 a month..but it's a pay as you go..so if you don't pay..your phone doesn't work LOL... With virgin you buy your phone, you typically don't get a free phone..you buy whichever one you want...but you don't have a contract and again you can get unlimited everything if you want..and there prices stay the same. They are not like AT&T, Sprint and Verizion who jack you up whenever they have the chance.


I also have a t mobile (that I've had for years)...if you get a $100 dollar card the first time the minutes last a whole year (now I can get smaller cards and they still last a year before expiring). I use both because I live in a really rural area so my virgin doesn't work in a certain city that I go to sometimes so I keep minutes on it..for when I'm over there. I also use it still as my alarm clock LOL. This one isn't a fancy phone..it's a stooopid phone LOL..but I've had it for 6 plus years

[MsSweetCheeks]

I know they have that one at Wal-mart. I can't think of the name of it, but you pay like $40 or $45 for the month and get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data. If I heard the name, I'd know it. I haven't tried it, but it sounds like a really good deal. I think the phones start at $40 for it. Anyone know which one I'm talking about or tried this one?

[CW&M Mom]

I know they have that one at Wal-mart. I can't think of the name of it, but you pay like $40 or $45 for the month and get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data. If I heard the name, I'd know it. I haven't tried it, but it sounds like a really good deal. I think the phones start at $40 for it. Anyone know which one I'm talking about or tried this one?

Straight Talk

[gctattoo]

DH has the Go Phone from AT&T. It's $50 a month for everything unlimited. He loves it and has only lost signal in a remote part of FL where no ones gets signal. We did have to buy the phone, but it was only $50 or so.

[MsSweetCheeks]

Straight Talk

Yep, that's the one!!!

Thanks Dug!!!

[Doglover8180]

is AT&T and Cingular the same company?