Are there still any GSM Pay as you go options?

GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
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379
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My wife and I have GSM Unlocked phones (Droid 2 Turbo) that we keep in our glove compartments for emergencies. I think we talked about 4-5 minutes a month on average, and we paid 5c a minute. That means we paid less than three dollars a year to be able to call for a tow truck, and also a few calls to relatives in a pinch here and there.

We were very happy with this setup through Lycamobile, but last month they dropped their pay as you go service, and kept prompting us to sign up for a $20 - $30 a month service. I don't know, but paying as much in a month as we would have previously in a decade doesn't come across as financially sound. I've looked around a bit, and haven't had any luck finding a service that just lets us pay 10c a minute or less for our actual use. Are pay as you go options like this where we can simply use a sim card and use minutes without any monthly fee (or phone cards that expire after a certain number of days) gone?

Thanks for any help!
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
7,086
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freeupmobile has a free plan. No data though and you have to renew the plan once a month. The sim is $5 shipping unless that changed. https://www.freeupmobile.com/

It's showing 250 Talk OR Text with the free plan. When I recently signed up it had been 1000 talk or text so I'm not sure what's happened. It might be worth waiting for that promo to come back because it had been 500 talk or text upgraded to the 1000 but a ton of people signed up during that promo.
 

GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,387
379
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Thanks, but it looks like you have to jump through hoops to get that free freeupmobile plan. I don't really want that - just looking for something for 10 cents a minute or less that doesn't have a monthly fee.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,580
10,217
126
Thanks, but it looks like you have to jump through hoops to get that free freeupmobile plan.
Looks like you looked at their "reward program" stuff. The free account (currently, at least) does not require any of that. (Participation in any of their rewards program activity.) It only requires that you login to the FreeUpMobile.com web site within 7 days of your renewal date, and click the button that appears, to renew your (free) plan.

Other than that, there's really no "hoops" to jump through, other than what I've experienced, using other (pay) phone plans,
1) Create account, provide e-mail, password for account.
2) Order SIM, provide CC#.
3) Activate phone.
 

Indus

Lifer
May 11, 2002
15,766
10,957
136
T-mobile $3 a month plan but you have to pay $12 at start which covers 3 months and taxes
 
Mar 11, 2004
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A lot of the carriers won't let you have smartphones on non-data plans. Heck my Mom had an old slider phone (that was absolutely not a smart phone, it was a "feature phone" and they made her sign up for a plan that included data). You might be able to get around that, but don't be surprised if it causes you hassle.
 

GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,387
379
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Ended up getting a Tracfone Sim starter kit off Ebay that was Verizon compatible. (since our unlocked Droid Turbo 2 phones were originally Verizon) They have the internal antennas for GSM or CDMA, evidently. Anyway, the starter kit the guy on Ebay was selling for $50 gave us 20 hours of talk time or 1,200 texts. WAY overkill for us, but seemed to be about the lowest we could go to prepay for a year and plenty of time for emergencies if our car went in the ditch.

On the plus side, we get about 4 bars now instead of the 2 that we were getting on these when we were using them on Lycamobile. (GSM over the T-Mobile Network) I've also noticed that when it make calls, it now only takes about 5 seconds to dial, whereas before it took 15 to 20 seconds. Maybe this is because of stronger signal?