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On Tracfone: Smartphones do not show the airtime minutes like they do on those flip phones. Completely different. You receive the updated status of minutes/texts/data via SMS either when you log onto your account on the web (you also see it on the web), or you access the "My Account" app on your smartphone. In either case you get an SMS in addition to seeing it through the application (web or "My Account" app).
Also, to the person who thinks all you get is 60 min for $20: you really don't know or understand Tracfone. A "60 minute" card extends the service date out by at least 3 months. On top of that, minutes are often doubled or tripled and in addition one often gets bonus minutes on top. So that "60 minute card" may provide as much as 240 min of talk time and, more importantly, extends the service for another 3 months, which is the real reason one might purchase this "60 minute" card.
With my smartphone and a 1 year card providing 400 min voice / 400 txts / 400mb of data, it automatically triples upon activation and I get 365 days of Tracfone service + 1,200 min voice +1,200 txts, + 1.2gb of data, all for about $85 on a card from ebay. That's nearly a year's worth for me, with my pattern of usage. I use a lot of wifi, which of course is free.
So my annual cost (still on the VZW network because Tracfone in my area uses VZW) for cell service went from $70/month on Verizon to approximately $100/year on Tracfone/Verizon. and I'm using a fancy smartphone (Moto X Pure 2015).
Last edited by lottamoxie; 05-01-2016 at 09:08 AM..
On Tracfone: Smartphones do not show the airtime minutes like they do on those flip phones. Completely different. You receive the updated status of minutes/texts/data via SMS either when you log onto your account on the web (you also see it on the web), or you access the "My Account" app on your smartphone. In either case you get an SMS in addition to seeing it through the application (web or "My Account" app).
Also, to the person who thinks all you get is 60 min for $20: you really don't know or understand Tracfone. A "60 minute" card extends the service date out by at least 3 months. On top of that, minutes are often doubled or tripled and in addition one often gets bonus minutes on top. So that "60 minute card" may provide as much as 240 min of talk time and, more importantly, extends the service for another 3 months, which is the real reason one might purchase this "60 minute" card.
With my smartphone and a 1 year card providing 400 min voice / 400 txts / 400mb of data, it automatically triples upon activation and I get 365 days of Tracfone service + 1,200 min voice +1,200 txts, + 1.2gb of data, all for about $85 on a card from ebay. That's nearly a year's worth for me, with my pattern of usage. I use a lot of wifi, which of course is free.
So my annual cost (still on the VZW network because Tracfone in my area uses VZW) for cell service went from $70/month on Verizon to approximately $100/year on Tracfone/Verizon.
Wow, that is some cost savings. How do you know whether minutes will be doubled or tripled? If you don't yet have a Tracfone, can you check a city/location ahead of time to see which network they use?
You usually know based on the phone model or type you have and the plan you're selecting, or the card. With my smartphone I already know that particular 365 day card will triple the minutes in each of the buckets of voice, text, and data on a smartphone, so that's what I will purchase again when my one year of service is almost expired in the fall.
As far as finding out what network(s) TracFone uses in a certain area, yes you can check it or at least attempt to, and there is a ton of information on Howardforums.com which has a dedicated TracFone subsection full of information. I highly recommend a visit to that forum.
One more point: I'm saving a lot of money because I use Google voice which integrates perfectly with my smartphone. So, instead of using TracFone's texts, I use Google voice and the Google voice app to send and receive texts which cost nothing. Ditto Google Voice calls.
I have been using TracFone for 5 years now. I am not a heavy cell phone user and TracFone has worked well for me. I did update to an LG34C Optimus about a year ago. I have an older plan which was their only billed to a credit card plan and while they no longer offer the exact plan, they have kept me on it for 5 years. My plan accumulates unused minutes and data. My LG has an app that updates my TracFone account. I just looked. I have 4635 mb of data remaining, 3186 Minutes, 4514 texts remaining. Service End date shows 08/10 but they will bill my credit card (AMEX) and update that at the beginning of each month. They also send me a text when that happens. This plan gets me 100 minutes a month and cost me a total of $11.74 a month or $140 a year. Cheap enough for me.
I have used their customer service a few times and overall it was satisfactory. I did have a time consuming issue one time. It involved reverting back from a new LG to an old Samsung phone as my wife did not like the touch screen. She wanted the old, simple press button phone she was use to and understood how to use. That got a little hairy and required quite a bit of time as the first customer rep reactivated the old phone but with a new number. We chased our tails on that one. If I did not like the way the person was handling it or I could not understand them, I simply asked for their supervisor and if I did not like that supervisor, I asked for another supervisor.
Overall i am happy with Tracfone but as I said, I am a light phone user so I do not know how a heavy use, phone dependent user would find the service.
You don't say what kind of phone you have and whether it's GSM or CDMA.
For GSM you can call *777*1#
For CDMA you can text USAGE to 611611 to get bucket balances, and text DUE DATE for service end date. The first time you do this, it will respond that you must accept the T&C. Text back Y to accept, then you will receive another text with the info requested.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I have a CDMA phone, which is why I am trying to find a reliable way to check my Tracfone balances and end date. I tried your suggestion above, here is my result:
1. The bucket balances were correct on the text that was sent to me.
2. The service end date was incorrect on the text that was sent to me. The service end date on the text said 2016-03-16. That's weird, that end date was a month ago. That means my phone shouldn't work at all. The real service end date should be 2017-06-14.
This is the issue I have with Tracfone, they can't seem to fix this problem. It seems when CDMA Tracfone users want to check their balances or end dates, there is either a problem with the bucket amounts or the end date or the app doesn't work at all. It should be a fixable problem considering Tracfone's share in the prepaid marketplace. As I said before, is it so hard for Tracfone to hire competent database/computer programmers to fix this problem? This has been a problem for awhile, at least for me, and I doubt I am the only one running into this issue.
Tracphone was/is part of the obamaphone plan where low income can get a free cell. Its a nice idea and I did take advantage at one point but it is really crappy service!
It's not a crappy service at all, because they are using major carriers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. I have the exact same call quality as I had before because I'm still on Verizon, I'm just paying a whole lot less for my service. Customer service can be lacking, but the thing to do is use the chat function on tracfone.com and not call into customer service. I've always had issues resolved when they have occurred, and it's been very rare that I ever have to contact customer service. Your end date issue can be fixed, you just need to take the time to contact them through their chat function.
On Tracfone: Smartphones do not show the airtime minutes like they do on those flip phones. Completely different.
Sorry about that. I stand corrected as I do have a flip
To reply to one post, you can use the flip to text. it's just more cumbersome but if you don't use it a lot, it works fine
And a really BIG ditto to using the online chat instead of struggling through phone service.
This suggestion is for any service that offers it!
Tracphone was/is part of the obamaphone plan where low income can get a free cell. Its a nice idea and I did take advantage at one point but it is really crappy service!
Tracphone has been around longer than President Obama has been in office. You are probably thinking of Consumer Cellular instead.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dontaskwhy
Tracphone has been around longer than President Obama has been in office. You are probably thinking of Consumer Cellular instead.
I was gonna say ... I used a Tracfone in 2002 when I was driving 70 miles each way on a rural interstate doing contract work south of the Twin Cities. Nice little Nokia phone.
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