Pay-as-you-go cell phones

[Riprorin]

Is this is a decent option if you only want a cell phone for emergency/occasional use?

Virgin Mobile

 

[sniperruff]

i like tracfone since their service in my area was verizon. better than the cheapo t-mob plan that i have now. however i think ATT's prepaid are cheaper.

 

[whistleclient]

burners are good for drug dealers.

/for Wire fans

 

[Gibson486]

i guess it is, but don't those plans run out after a certain amount of time? They used to atleast. Those plans are great for people with poor credit though.

 

[Riprorin]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
i guess it is, but don't those plans run out after a certain amount of time? They used to atleast. Those plans are great for people with poor credit though.

After 90 days you have to purchase more minutes to keep service going, but unused minutes roll over.

The bare minimum cost is 4 x $20 card or $80/year.

 

[RossMAN]

I like them a lot and would get a pair if only they offered unlimited cell to cell.

 

[Riprorin]

Ross, as far as I can tell, Virgin Mobile's offers the best deal, but I don't know how good their service/coverage is compared to the others.

"Call anywhere in the country ? midnight or midday, weekday or weekend ? and it's always the same airtime pricing: 25 cents per minute for the first ten minutes each day 10 cents per minute after that."

 

[Relayer]

I am wondering the same thing and did a search and found this thread, so bump.

I am paying $70 a month for two phones and use maybe 100 minutes combined.

I may tried Virgin Mobile.

 

[Koing]

Switch then Relayer if your not using much of your minutes.

They are good for people who do not make many calls.

I make a lot so they are not worth it for me. But before I used mine and it was good for the few calls I did make.

BUT if you are using a lot of calls or pricey calls then going to a full contract is usually better and it lets you have access to 'better' phones at cheaper prices.

Koing

 

[n0cmonkey]

I think they're great for anonymity. :evil:

 

[nageov3t]

I used Virgin mobile through college. not the greatest phone in the world, but it was nice to not have to worry about a monthly fee or anything, and it saved paying outrageous dorm room long distance charges (something like $.35 / minute to call from PA to NJ).

 

[shortylickens]

I love having a trac phone for emergency or backup.
Just get the one year card and forget about it after activation.

I think AT&T has an 80 minute per month plan for cheap.
Lots of calling makes a regular cell phone setup a better deal over time.
(Unless you have piss-poor credit.) 😛

 

[CADsortaGUY]

I have them for myself and my wife for our personal cellphones(work is a different story). We had a dual plan at about $80/month but barely used any minutes so we switched to this.

I've spent maybe $100 filling mine up and I've had it for about 9 months. My wife has spent approx the same. Coverage here in Iowa isn't all that great if you get away from the main Interstates(read: out in the boonies), but it's saved me a couple hundred $ so far. I always figured that if we started to used our personal cells more(to where it is costing us about $40/month) then we'd go back to the "normal" cell carriers.

Not a bad service if you don't talk alot.

CsG

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Is this is a decent option if you only want a cell phone for emergency/occasional use?

Virgin Mobile

we have 'em. I think not bound to a contract has its advantages.

VM is also not too expensive. However, the VM phones could be better....they all are kinda crippled..no real WAP

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Ross, as far as I can tell, Virgin Mobile's offers the best deal, but I don't know how good their service/coverage is compared to the others.

well..its good here wider chicago area. AFAIK they use sprint PCS network.