Best phone plan for the elderly

[AstroManLuca]

I've been volunteered to help my fiancee's grandpa get a cell phone. Not surprisingly, he wants it mostly in case of emergency, though his ears pricked up when I told him that he would get free long distance as well, so it's possible he might use it a tiny bit.

I was thinking Tracfone at first, because their phones are so cheap and it says right on the phone how many minutes are remaining and how long you have till they expire. But I thought maybe another prepaid carrier might be better for very infrequent use. Tracfone requires a $20 refill every 3 months to keep the phone going, but I guess every prepaid carrier is going to have something like that. They also have an automatic payment system where you pay $10/mo and it adds 50 minutes, which I believe roll over forever.

Verizon's prepaid plans probably have the same sorts of refill requirements, and their phones cost a bit more, but I'm thinking they might have better customer support. And it also seems like Verizon has the best coverage in rural areas, which is important since they live in an area with spotty service. So Verizon or a prepaid company that uses Verizon's network is probably best.

 

[I Saw OJ]

What about a Jitterbug? I'm not sure about the plan options but I believe the phone is designed for the elderly.

 

[rudeguy]

add him on as a companion to someone in the family's account. That usually runs about $20/month and he most likely won't use hardly any minutes. Get him an easy to use phone (Nokia is great for old folks) and call it done.

 

[Slick5150]

Page Plus' 1200min/1200text per month plan is $29.95 (no taxes/fees on top of that). It uses Verizon's network so you'll get the same coverage. It's a nice plan so you wouldn't have to worry about keeping track of minutes used (assuming he's not going to go over 1200).

Or, their true prepaid minute plans are very competitive too, and again, still use the Verizon network.

 

[corkyg]

What about a Jitterbug? I'm not sure about the plan options but I believe the phone is designed for the elderly.

Exactly! Speaking as a senior, I can attest to features most desired. Simple, basic phone - larger buttons, and bold, easy to read screen print. Jitterbug is the shining example - their ads are regularly found in AARP's monthly magazine, "Modern Maturity."

http://www.jitterbug.com/

 

[slackerinabox]

My mom (not elderly, but retired) has an at&t gophone, on the $3 a day unlimited plan - only when you use it. It works for her because she only uses it on emergencies, and the phone is a basic samsung that's very easy to use.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The Jitterbug seems fine except for the cost. The phone is $150 and this guy is a major cheap-ass. Of course he is convinced he will never use it more than a couple times a month. Even if he uses it more, though, it probably won't be enough to justify a monthly plan of more than $10 or $20.

I like the idea of a phone where you only pay for the days you use it. But perhaps the biggest concern it making it easy to maintain the plan. Having to buy refill cards is okay, but a monthly or even a yearly bill would be easier.

 

[preslove]

What's a good pay-as-you-go service? My mom just needs one when she's traveling and for emergencies, but a lot of services require you to continually add minutes or you lose them or have a higher rate.

 

[AstroManLuca]

What's a good pay-as-you-go service? My mom just needs one when she's traveling and for emergencies, but a lot of services require you to continually add minutes or you lose them or have a higher rate.

Well, I believe most phones will work for 911 even without service, as long as they're in range of a tower. But that's strictly for emergencies only.

After doing more research yesterday it seems that about the cheapest you can get is about $100 per year for a phone with service. Normally that only pays for 400 or 450 minutes, but it's about $8 a month, which is well under the cost of any post-paid plan. And if you keep buying those refill cards every year, the old minutes roll over.

Seems the best way to go for a phone that will get really light use is 1-year refill cards. Virgin Mobile (which uses the Sprint network) 1-year cards were $90, but that was the cheapest I saw. Everything else was $100.

 

[rudeguy]

If you want to go prepaid, check out the TracPhone thread over at FW. I had Virgin for a bit and they charged a bunch of extras every month. You can score a good TracPhone that has double minutes for life for very cheap. The thread even lists which phones use which network for your area.

Worth checking out...

 

[Ksyder]

In my research so far, Page Plus Pay As You Go service is the way to go in my opinion. I have been using it for a few months now and for light use it seems to be the cheapest. However, if you go with them, someone like kittywireless.com will be alot easier to deal with than page plus directly.