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Yikes! We've got digital phone service at home, so long distance isn't an issue, and she rarely uses her cell phone - I just want her to have one for emergencies, so 650 minutes is probably more then we'd use.
I guess I've had my cell phone as my primary phone for so long that I've forgotten about "low use"! In that case, I'd recommend taking others' advice. The $0.25 per minute plan from AT&T might work for you, though. I've always had great service with AT&T (customer and reception).
My wife is looking for a cell phone since we have relocated. We had Cincinnati Bell Wireless which was great because their plans were all non-contract. I get my service through work so it's a non-issue for me at the moment.
I don't like contracts for several reasons; one, you never know what's going to happen a year from now, and also because some of them auto-renew making them sort of perpetual contracts unless you really keep a close eye on them.
We're also considering a pre-paid option - that might work for us, but I'm sure there are probably drawbacks that I haven't thought of.
I would direct you in a completely different direction than most other users for several reasons. It sounds like your wife isn't a 'very light user' going by your description, just that she wants a plan without a contract.
What I would do to avoid the contract is to pay retail price for the phone and skip the contract. While AT&T or Verizon (the big players) don't allow this (they're big on profits and committing customers to the long-term), I know that alltel does and I'm not sure about Sprint. So you can get the exact same type of plan as a post-paid customer, you're just paying a little more up front. Depending on who work provides for your service, her alltel line would also give her unlimited calling to you and/or the house depending on your plan and size of your circle.
If your wife truly doesn't use the phone much and would be better off on a pre-paid plan, there's a lot of random options like Tracfone, Net10, Virgin, etc. All of these use another company's network and have various deals. I personally prefer, even for a pre-paid, to go through the company that operates the network if any issues or problems arise. That way, you also have local retail stores for support. The big 2 in that department is AT&T and Alltel. I have AT&T pre-paid and it's probably more popular. But imho, it's because AT&T is a better known name. Alltel U prepaid is a better deal and has better coverage around here in my comparisons between my at&t pre-paid and my post-paid alltel line.
For pay-per-minute, AT&T is 25 cents, Alltel is 15 cents. For pay-per-day, AT&T is $1 day, Alltel is 75 cents and they each have various features you can choose. And with the coverage also factoring in, alltel does a little better for me around the Triangle and receives the most USF funds of any provider for providing rural coverage, alltel may be worth looking into as a non-contract option regardless of how much she plans on using the phone.
We have the U prepaid plan from Alltel. The old plan (which they are still honoring for our phone) had the $4 monthly inactivity fee that was mentioned. Now they require more payment per year. Their cheapest is $100/year @$.15/minute plus $35 activation fee. Alltel does have good coverage. Some other companies seem to have a bit cheaper service for lower usage customers.
Another vote for Virgin. I've had mine for several years now and I'm perfectly happy with it. I don't use it often at all and it ends up costing about $10/mo. The original phone cost me about $50 over 4 years ago, not sure what they run now or what features they have.
I too carry a cell phone only for emergencies (van is 14 years old and still chugging along, but you never know!). I have used Tracfone for several years now. Customer service is a joke, so be prepared for that. Still, I have found that the Tracfone often works even in the very remote areas I travel to. Plus it is cheap. You can buy phones and get deals on minutes on Ebay. Or sometimes the special on the tracfone website is worth doing. They have a new program where you can pay a small amount just to keep your phone alive, without actually adding new minutes. That would be useful for an emergency phone.
I heard an advertisement for Cricket that said $35/month unlimited, month to month. Don't know anything about them, but that is a heck of a deal if its true.
I believe they do not have contracts either. However, their service is limited to certain areas. Drive outside of that area, and you'll pay roaming charges. Even further, and nada. Zippo. No signal. I use one for my business and, within the city limits, I've had great signal. Service is so-so. But I'm not bound to a contract.
Virgin uses the Sprint network. Was poor in Orlando but great in Dallas and Atlanta.
Very cheap phones and there are plans now available for higher usage customers.
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