Best 'pay-as-you-go' cell phone plan

[LynneSin]

No not for me.

My mother is thinking of getting rid of her cellphone plan thru ATT. Reason is she has comcast phone which has unlimited long-distance phone calls. When she had Verizon it was actually cheaper to make those calls on her cell phone.

They don't want to get rid of the cell phone altogether, just something for emergencies when they travel.

I know ages ago before I had a regular cell-phone I had a pay-as-you go plan and the minutes just seemed overly priced and expired if you didn't use them. I just want something reliable and inexpensive without them losing minutes.

Thank you!

[amuse bouche]

1. We've used Tracfones for years

You can usually get a great deal with a bunch of minutes, sometimes triple minutes for an initial 20.00

Then, if you can just pay about 6.00 a month if you don't need more minutes or add minutes as needed. I've never seen a cheaper plan or had any problem in 5 years

They may still have a special where you get an even better deal at a V.A hospital

Just go to their site and check it out. Probably tracfone.com

[a kennedy]

2. Yup, same here with tracfone....husband and I both get triple minutes

and the phones do all the "modern" conveniences.....like texting. I love mine.

[MicaelS]

3. I like T-Mobile, been using it for a few years.

Prices as low as $.10 a minute, AND there is no daily or monthly charge. Once you reach the "Gold Level", your minutes don't expire for 1 year. Plus T-Mobile uses GSM phones, just like AT&T, so your mom should be able to get the old phone unlocked, but a new T-Mobile Sim Card, get their number transferred, buy some minutes, and off they go.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

[LynneSin]

5. I saw AT&T had that kind of plan too and I actually liked it

My parents are pretty extreme low maintenence so loading cards seem a bit crazy for them. I could honestly see them doing about 20 minutes top per month since they'll do most of their calling on the home phone. They don't really travel much. So the cell phone is simply for emergencies only.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. I had Tracfone for years with no problems and...

moved to Net10 (owned by Tracfone) because the minutes were cheaper. Also very few problems with Net10. They both seem to use Verizon and Sprint networks, so you're last on the list if it gets crowded, but that's rarely a problem.

The minutes with both roll over, and you can get deals for lifetime double minutes.

I now have a Net10 android phone that costs 50 bucks a month for unlimited everything. I'm not sure I need that, but it's no contract and cheaper than pretty much anything else for unlimited everything.

[Downwinder]

8. I have a Net 10 LG800g.

I get a $60 card with 900 minutes at Albertsons.

Sound is good and display is large enough for me to see.
I don't use the browser though it is available.
One thing that I like is that it can be set to reject calls from numbers not listed in the directory.

Have been very pleased with the service.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I had one of those and...

it worked well as a phone, but then I found an LGL45C (Android 2.1) phone on sale and it does more stuff. Mostly, it does stuff I don't need, but some things are kinda neat.

[GoCubsGo]

15. That's what I have, too.

Way more phone than I need most days. I have used the browser a couple of times, once to look up an address when a GPS unit got us lost.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I'm going to be checkijng out T-Mobile -- 1000 mins for $100 (incl. long dist) good for ONE YEAR!!!

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Phones less than $50.
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[LynneSin]

7. I think she's going to look at T-Mobile/Att. She liked the 10 cents per minute

She really doesn't want to use the phone except emergencies only. She even said that if people called her on it to chat she'd have them hang up and call on their landline.

[amuse bouche]

13. That's about $8.35 a month

which is still more expensive that the tracfone

[tabbycat31]

10. I've researched these extensively

As I've been put in charge of getting cell phones for campaigns before. (Keep in mind campaign phones have heavy use for phone banking).

For the major carriers (Verizon, AT&T), they have a prepaid where you pay by the day ($2 a day on the days you use it). This is what we did in the district where we did not have access to Cricket or Metro.

We needed unlimited minutes, so Tracfone, Virgin Mobile, etc were out. However if it's just for emergencies, you may want to consider that.

[RebelOne]

11. I had TracPhone and was not happy with it.

If you do not use your minutes within a certain amount of time, you lose them. Since I only used it for emergencies, I lost a lot of minutes.

Now I use Great Call and it only costs me $21 a month.

[amuse bouche]

14. I've never lost minutes

If you have a ton of minutes, you can pay 6.00 a month. It doesn't add minutes and you don't lose them either. I have them do it automatically online until they run low, then I add them

[RebelOne]

18. Maybe their policy has changed because I lost a lot of minutes.

This was a few years ago. That's why I decided to switch to a cell phone with a guaranteed monthly plan.

[datasuspect]

12. emergencies?

any cell phone will connect with 911 with or without active service.

i'm not sure, but i think 511 calls work with or without active service - i'd have to double check that though.

[joelbny]

16. Virgin is cost-effective

If price is no object, probably Verizon or AT&T.

For value, probably Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS, Boost. Phones for 15 or $20, plans for 20-40/mo.

And Clear is good for unlimited 4G wimax if you are in a covered urban area.

But best to search for who has best coverage in your locality too.

[bama_blue_dot]

17. I've been using StraightTalk

for a few years now.. You have to pay for the phone, but I only pay $45/month for Unlimited Minutes/Texts/Internet usage..