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What are prepaid cell phones?Cell phones have been around so long now, it seems like everyone has one. But not everyone does. Most cellular phone plans require you to sign up for a long term monthly payment service plan, and if you have bad credit, you may not be able to get a phone. Or you might be an elderly person who only wants to use the phone in emergency situations - why pay $39 a month for that? Or maybe you want to limit your teens talk time without worrying about getting hit for extra usage charges. For cases like these, the phone companies have come up with prepaid cell phone plans. How do prepaid cell phone plans work? Read below -- we will look at some of the most popular prepaid wireless phone plans, explain how they work and what to look out for.
Who offers prepaid wireless plans? Who makes prepaid cell phones?The first step in getting a prepaid cell phone is to figure out who makes them, and what kind of plan options are available. Some of the big names in prepaid cell phones are:
If you are light cell phone user, you will probably end up paying a lot more per minutes with a prepaid phone vs. a regular cell phone (20 cents vs. 5 cents or less), but your total bill may be significantly less if you use for phone only for rare, brief conversations. Five three minute calls at 20 cents is still only $3 instead of a $29 monthly fixed charge for more minutes that you might never use. Another consideration is number portability. With a regular cell phone, you can move from one provider to another and take your cell phone number with you, but with a prepaid phone, that is not always possible. If this is important to you, be sure to check with your provider to see if they offer this service. Tracfone - Cingular Go PhoneTracfone (Tracfone.com), based in Florida, is one of the biggest prepaid phone service providers. Their plans are aimed at people who want to budget their cell phone use, people who want a phone for emergency purposes, people who don't want to deal with credit checks, and people who want cell phones for their kids with controlled usage. If you are buying a prepaid cell phone for your child, there are no surprises. Your child cannot dial more than what is in their prepaid account. There are no monthly contract fees, no activations fees - just use the phone when you need it. All phones come with free voicemail, free caller ID, free call waiting, nationwide service and long distance, and minutes that never expire. However, there are no contracts, monthly fixed billings, deposits, hidden costs, or credit checks - just easy, basic phone service. You can buy prepaid cellphone minute cards for $20 for 60 minutes, $30 for 120 minutes, and $50 for 250 minutes (20 cents per minute). You can also get double the minutes if you choose a doulbe-minute auto pay plan from Tracfone.Do you want a prepaid cell phone?If you want the latest and greatest cell phones, with camera, MP3 players, and all the latest features, you probably are NOT a candidate for a prepaid phone. The prepaid cell phones tend to be pretty basic models without a lot of extras. If you are a heavy cell phone and text messaging user, you probably don't want a prepaid wireless plan - you can get better deals on unlimited SMS and cell plans for $59 or so.
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