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AT&T Prepaid allows you to do this on the 25 cent plan. That is a really expensive plan, but you can park your number with that plan. I believe the number expires if you do not use it for a year if you pay $100.
I've had the AT&T $2 per day plan for over 10 years. I pay $100, and it extends my service for 365 days. Until recently, the days were calendar days, and you could make as many calls and texts for that $2 as you want to. This recently changed for the better. Now, when you make a call and the $2 is deducted from your credit balance, you have 24 hours from when you made that call to make as many more calls and texts as you want without being charged again, rather than just until the end of the calendar day.
Verizon used to have a plan that was the same (except texts = 2 cents each), but that plan is long gone from Verizon (I have it because I'm grandfathered in...but it ends for good on 12/31/2020).
I noticed a few days ago (at Walmart) that Tracfone has a plan that includes 365 days of service and 400 minutes for $100. Until reading this thread, I was unaware that Tracfone has a 365 days of service with no minutes for $50 plan.
I have a few questions scattered below to you OP &/or ANYONE who can answer.
Thanks to anyone who can answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Iverson
I have been a long time user of Tracfone. I have always used just the basic phone and only for emergencies and limited texting really...
OP, I'm just like you...Tracfone user for the last 4-5 yrs, very rarely talk & text, but want to go online sometimes to use some apps. I seem to be having to buy something every month too lately, which I don't like. So what's the best plan to go w/ for people like you & me on this link below? Smartphone plans, Classic, or Basic? I wanted to get the cheapest $9.99 one, but I seem to have to buy every 30 days like you say, which I DON'T want. The next cheapest is $19.99 for 90 days under Basic, how about that one?
To the best of knowledge, there are no cellular companies that will let you buy X amount of minutes, and let you burn down the minutes as slowly as you want...
Hmm & that's exactly what I want too, so what's the cheapest pay-as-you go EVEN if it's NOT Tracfone brand anymore? I just want the cheapest to still do some rare calling, texting, & some online/app use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidt1
Best Tracfone deal is one that comes with a phone. Bought the Moto E5 for $80 with 1,500 talk minutes, 1,5000 text minutes, and 6GB of data for one service year. These deals pop up all the times at HSN, etc.
Of course tracfone is best for light users.
There are others who provide better deals than Tracfone, but many don't stay in business for long. I am staying with Tracfone for now because they have a large customer base which means they can stay business.
That's how I have my current phone...HSN that came w/ the 1500 min. I don't like paying more than $100 for the phone itself. So is it best to just keep buying a new phone every year via HSN or QVC since it comes w/ the 1500 covered for the year? I don't really need a new phone that often. Mine now is 4-5 yrs old, so I DO want a new phone soon this time around, but every few yrs of a new phone is fine w/ me & I don't need all the whistles & bells.
Does Tracfone offer ANY good phones at a reasonable price w/ the Pie operating system, which is the latest system (I think)?
Last edited by Forever Blue; 08-27-2019 at 08:05 AM..
One of the cheapest PAYGO plans for very light usage is Page Plus Cellular's $10 for 4 months/166 minutes. Page Plus runs on Verizon and is owned by Tracfone.
I have been a long time user of Tracfone. I have always used just the basic phone and only for emergencies and limited texting really.
I used to be able to buy, say a 60 minute card, and I would never get emails about nearly running out of "service days" and having to add more days. Now, I'm starting to get this.
I just added 30 minutes to the phone along with 30 "service days". I don't use up my minutes before the days are expiring (I have 224 minutes!).
It seems to me that Tracfone has greatly reduced "service days" in an effort to get folks to have to keep buying cards and adding to the phone (please correct me if I'm wrong!).
I'd like to keep the phone, but if I'm going to have to buy a card every month just to add "service days", it completely defeats the purpose of having an emergency and limited use phone (plus I am on a limited income).
Anyone else running into this and what's the solution? Unless I can remedy it, I think it might be time to look for another provider.
Thanks.
Do you have a smartphone? If so, you might want to consider QVC or HSN " bundle deals." You get the phone plus a certain number of minutes/texts/data (usually, 1200-1500 each), PLUS one year's service--all for a very reasonable price (which varies according to what they're offering at that time).
They're very popular with viewers, and many callers say they're "upgrading" to a new phone primarily to get the additional year's service.
Do you have a smartphone? If so, you might want to consider QVC or HSN " bundle deals." You get the phone plus a certain number of minutes/texts/data (usually, 1200-1500 each), PLUS one year's service--all for a very reasonable price (which varies according to what they're offering at that time).
They're very popular with viewers, and many callers say they're "upgrading" to a new phone primarily to get the additional year's service.
That may be the best way to go. My current 5-yr old phone I got through HSN.
Pay $80-100 for a new phone every year (even though I don't really need a new phone every single year) & transfer everything over & keep the same # & get the 1500 min along w/ that $80-100 price for the year. So even if I paid as much as $150 for a phone, that calculates to $12.50/mo if you go the QVC or HSN way.
Do you know what time or month of the year that HSN & QVC has the best deals? Is it Nov for Christmastime?
SpeedTalk offers 365-day plans that allow you to rollover your unused data/minutes. Scroll down to "Rollover plans" on the link below. They also have a bunch of other low cost plans - one includes monthly 500 min talk/unlimited text/1 GB data for $99/year - that is $8.25/mo for 1GB https://www.speedtalkmobile.com/plans
(I know nothing about SpeedTalk, so don't take this as a recommendation of their service. The PC Mag article I linked has a lot of discussion in the comments if you are looking to learn about the various low cost options).
In the days of contracts, prepaid made sense for people who couldn't (or didn't want to) get a contract.
In the current environment with so many resellers, I'm surprised anyone signs up for a plan that limits texts, minutes, etc.
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