The Best Cheap Prepaid Phone Plans You've Never Heard Of
The Best Cheap Prepaid Phone Plans You've Never Heard Of
By Sascha Segan
November 22, 2013
72 Comments
Not willing to sign a cell phone contract? All of the major carriers offer prepaid plans, but so do some of the little guys, and you can find some serious bargains if you know where to look.
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But there are more carriers you may not have heard of, known as MVNOs, or Mobile Virtual Network Operators. These carriers buy and remix minutes and megabytes from the major service providers into plans of their own. They might have more flexible plans than the majors, offer lower prices, or even give your money to charity.
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LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)Thanks for posting this. I HATE contracts.
mike_c
(36,214 posts)The only real problem we have stems from my partner and I having very different phone use-- she uses hers a lot, and is a minute hog, while I hardly ever use mine except to tell time, LOL, so I accumulate minutes. Net10 requires you to buy minutes that last for a certain number of days, so every 30, 60, whatever days I have to buy whatever their minimum number of minutes are for that interval in order to keep my account activated. Let's see-- I currently have 1165 minutes and 25 days, so in 24 days I'll need to add another 300 minutes or so to keep the acct going, even though I have no need for more minutes. Net10 will let us transfer my minutes to her phone, but it's cumbersome, requires talking to customer service, and so we don't do it often, which is why she's always buying minutes while I accumulate them unused but buy days.
However, it's WAY less expensive than any regular cell phone contract that I've ever seen, and gives us all the services we want to use (which, in my case, is time keeping and very occasional phone calling-- I mean, why sign a contract with Sprint or Verizon to do that at several times the cost?).
Stryst
(714 posts)$40/month, unlimited talk text and data. Decent coverage too.
Piedras
(247 posts)Last fall I bought a no contract pre-paid cell phone with one year of service and 1500 minutes of air time from HSN.com for about $70. The cell service is from tracfone. It includes triple minutes for life, which means when I need more air time I will get three times the number of minutes I buy. It meets my needs very well.
It even includes free long distance to most of the world via a 1 800 number. I gifted one to my niece's hubby who has overseas family...saving them money on long distance bills.
HSN now has android smart phones and some better deals than were available when I bought mine.
One minor downside is that my cell phone number was "recycled." I occasionally get calls to someone who had the phone number previously. They tapered off and are now very rare.
BTW, I have no other affiliation with HSN.
Edited to add tracfone runs on either the ATT or the TMobile network depending on your location.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)Perfect for me as I refuse to live the cell phone life, so I still have a landline. One purchase once a year for $100 is all it takes. They often double the minutes and with automatic rollovers, I now have about 2000 units.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)do add up. I only use it for very brief conversations. I have a monthly value plan. And I love the fact all my unused minutes always get rolled forward. I've always been amazed at how well it works anyplace I've been. And their web site keeps getting better and better as well as their customer support. On the one I have it automatically doubles minutes. It's just an amazing phone. And the reception is superb!
elfin
(6,262 posts)But I suspect they want to join the constantly connected crowd. Tracfone works GREAT almost anywhere when you REALLY need to get or send short calls.
Just about the smartest thing I did almost 15 years ago. Always feel safe on the road and handy when land line out. Now need to upgrade the phone so I can "text", because that seems to be the preferred method for my son and his family. The current non-qwerty flip phone ($20 a few years ago) is hopeless at that task in my geezer hands.
I hope they keep the annual option forever, but I fear it does not "pay" enough to have customers like me. We shall see.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)If you're not among the umbilically connected crowd, you can save a ton of money on phones and connection fees.