Prepaid Cellphone Deals

[imported_Decaf]

At VirginMobileUSA you can get a Kyocera K9 phone for $25 which includes $17.50 airtime and $2.50 activation fee and free overnight shipping. They have some other phones which cost a bit more but include the same $20 bonus.

 

[mikeford]

Emergency only use, as in 911 type calls I don't think you need to pay for ANY plan. Buy a decent used cell phone with a car adapter, do a simple page on how to use it, and put it all in a bag in the glovebox, done. I am sure people will chime in with more details or corrections, but thats how it used to be.

Calling 911 from a cell have some real weaknesses, mostly no automatic they know where you are and that its not a prank call.

Very low use non 911 calling can be done via special carriers that charge $2 a min or so and want a credit card number.

Next is the Virgin Mobile stuff with the 90 day autocharge thing to keep it alive.

Any regular use, even just weekly stuff, and I think T Mobile edges out Virgin due to the first 10 min of each day costing 25 cents per min on Virgin. Incoming text messages are free on T Mobile and I plan to use that feature A LOT.

Seems to me all the fuss here is pointless, pre paid is CHEAP and easy to just walk away from if you don't like it.

 

[mikeford]

Taken a look at the HSN deal on the T Mobile 6010 prepaid phone. Price is $74 plus tax in CA ($4) and FL, with two mail in rebates, one looks like HSN for $25 and the other looks like the normal T Mobile rebate for $30, and if you are a first time buyer, a coupon is out there for another $15. S&H appears free, but I had to sign up complete with credit card info to see it. I kinda hate to use up one time only coupons, and I hate rebates, but bottom line its pretty decent deal, $8 once you get the rebates etc for me in Ca.

 

[imported_Decaf]

With VirginMobile, if you are going to be using the phone everyday, you can pay 35 cents a day and all your minutes will be at 10 cents.
35 cents a day for pain-free prepaid... how can you beat that?

 

[Gilby]

Originally posted by: Decaf
With VirginMobile, if you are going to be using the phone everyday, you can pay 35 cents a day and all your minutes will be at 10 cents.
35 cents a day for pain-free prepaid... how can you beat that?

Oh, I don't know.

How about 0 cents a day and 10 cents per minute?

 

[SwishSween]

Originally posted by: mikeford
Taken a look at the HSN deal on the T Mobile 6010 prepaid phone. Price is $74 plus tax in CA ($4) and FL, with two mail in rebates, one looks like HSN for $25 and the other looks like the normal T Mobile rebate for $30, and if you are a first time buyer, a coupon is out there for another $15. S&H appears free, but I had to sign up complete with credit card info to see it. I kinda hate to use up one time only coupons, and I hate rebates, but bottom line its pretty decent deal, $8 once you get the rebates etc for me in Ca.

If you're hesitant about using the "first time customers only" coupon, there is a $15 off $20 coupon good for all customers through the end of july. Shouldn't be too hard to find through google.

 

[ECartman]

thanks for all the replies and suggestions you clowns

The old folks had been using TracFones for the last couple years. They literally make about 2 or 3 calls a month for just a few minutes at a time (lost, stuck in traffic, crank calls, etc.). TracFone was $90 a year, so it looks like even with the Kyocera phone cost of $24 and the $60 a year (auto top off quarterly) plan Virgin Mobile wins, and is $30 a year better after first year costs.

 

[MOCKBA1]

Originally posted by: Gilby

Originally posted by: Decaf
With VirginMobile, if you are going to be using the phone everyday, you can pay 35 cents a day and all your minutes will be at 10 cents.
35 cents a day for pain-free prepaid... how can you beat that?

Oh, I don't know.

How about 0 cents a day and 10 cents per minute?

It's right I name 35cents a day plan rip off. My VM use about 2-3 minutes a week, so if I pay 35 cents a day then I just waste money. Only truly 10cents plans make sense.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: ECartman
so what's the best deal for someone who uses the phone only for emergencies (like my mom and several old relatives). I have several folks I must buy for who talk < 100 minutes a year.

Provided the coverage is good in your area, I think T-mobile is the best choice for that. You can get a new phone from Target for about $40 and it comes with a starter card. You can also get phones from eBay very reasonably.

If you wait until November or December, you can buy a $25 card and the minutes will be good for 1 year. That's what we did for my mom last year.

If you don't want to wait, you can spend $100 for 1000 minutes that won't expire for a year then top it off next year to roll the minutes over.

 

[mikeford]

I bought the Nokia 6010 last night from HSN, with first time coupon and the two mail in rebates (which appear to take 3 months to get) and Calif tax the net is about $8. Only downside so far is that my expected delivery date is 7/28, but maybe that will improve when it actually ships.

For the math impaired 35 cents a day is $10 a month, or $127/year to make all 10 cent a min calls. OUCH.

Ebay had prices for the Nokia 6010 at least much higher than Target or Walmart, so maybe I am missing what very reasonably is.

One last note on T Mobile, seems like every place I look has DIFFERENT terms for the rate plans. The link from HSN says "you stay gold as long as you refill at least once every three months". Lightly snooping on the official T Mobile to go site I didn't see the three months refered to that way, there it says 90 days after your acct is (I forget the exact term, but out of money is what I get it as) your acct is canceled and you lose the number and have to start from square one.

 

[imported_Decaf]

Originally posted by: mikefordSeems to me all the fuss here is pointless, pre paid is CHEAP and easy to just walk away from if you don't like it.

Prepaid is cheap. And 35 cents a day is only 35 cents a day, no matter how good or bad your math is. This VM plan is useful if you are going to use the phone daily and don't want to pay 25 cents a minute for the first 10 minutes every day.

If you had gone with VM, you would only be out $25, and you would get your phone the next day (with free overnight shipping, except on weekends I suppose), and you wouldn't have $55 worth of rebates to submit and track and worry about (just so you can get your own money back), and your phone would be activated, and you would have $17.50 of airtime available.

Everybody has different ideas about what's easy, cheap, convenient, and desirable.

 

[ClockerXP]

Got the $79 rebate check for my cheaphonecards.com STi Mobile LG1200 phone on Saturday. The phone ended up being free and I have minutes that never expire! Excellent deal. Get it at http://www.stimobile.com/ or www.cheapphonecards.com

 

[MOCKBA1]

Wow. STi looks like a winner, you pay only airtime. It's a good reason to terminate my VM plan.

 

[delroy]

Got the $79 rebate check for my cheaphonecards.com STi Mobile LG1200 phone on Saturday. The phone ended up being free and I have minutes that never expire! Excellent deal. Get it at http://www.stimobile.com/ or www.cheapphonecards.com

man!

this is such a steal

im deffinatly checking the site thanks

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: Decaf
[QEverybody has different ideas about what's easy, cheap, convenient, and desirable.

That's certainly true. For infrequent use, the effective per minute charge is not as important as overall convenience. The number one reason we don't deal with VM is that we don't like having to remember to refill every 3 months -- that's inconvenient because we don't use our cell phones often enough to keep track of when it's time to refill. With T-mobile it's once a year and we're done.

And the yearly cost of 4 x $20 to maintain availability is more than it costs for the same availability from T-Mobile. For my mom, who uses less than 15 minutes a month, we can get a $50 card and she's set for the year -- versus $80 at Virgin.

We also had better phone choices with T-Mobile since we could choose from any regular T-mobile phone and pick one up on eBay.

 

[HBMaGneT]

Originally posted by: ECartman
so what's the best deal for someone who uses the phone only for emergencies (like my mom and several old relatives). I have several folks I must buy for who talk < 100 minutes a year.

Is Virgin Mobile the cheapest at $60 a year plus the phone cost?

STI!!!

Free phone AR
use min 1 minute ever 60days

cost for first year: 6min($0.12)+$0.37rebate stamp = 1.09 + minutes you use
cost for years after that: $0.72 /year min assuming they don't chnge any rules.

I have STI, and it works great and has good coverage. Uses the whole Sprint PCS network.

BTW I went STI for the same reason for my dad.

 

[kjacobs]

Originally posted by: Athena
...The number one reason we don't deal with VM is that we don't like having to remember to refill every 3 months -- that's inconvenient because we don't use our cell phones often enough to keep track of when it's time to refill.

I like VM BECAUSE I can use a credit/debit card automatically to top off every 90 days or if it goes below a $5 balance. No muss no fuss. No string around the finger. No cards to buy and I don;t have to remember to add minutes every 30-60 days like other plans (Verizon prepaid).


Ken

 

[mikeford]

So Tastes great and less filling?

 

[So SimpaL]

I'm about to ditch my Verizon service and sign up with STI thanks to the info in this thread.
The two phone choices LG1200 (free after rebate) and LG5225 ($89) are still a concern for me though.

Are there any other choices for phones? Like unlocking other sprint capable phones?
Has anyone tried the 5225 and does its pros/cons justify the $89 price difference?


Thanks in advance.

 

[MOCKBA1]

Originally posted by: So SimpaL
I'm about to ditch my Verizon service and sign up with STI thanks to the info in this thread.
The two phone choices LG1200 (free after rebate) and LG5225 ($89) are still a concern for me though.

Are there any other choices for phones? Like unlocking other sprint capable phones?
Has anyone tried the 5225 and does its pros/cons justify the $89 price difference?


Thanks in advance.

Their site tells no other phones can be used. I wish to port my slider.

 

[Macro2]

bump for more

 

[mikeford]

Bump all ya want, no news, hmmm except I was in Costco talking to the phone droid and the Nokia 6010 was out of stock with a new model expected in a couple weeks.

I ordered my T Mobile Nokia 6010 a week or so ago from HSN, and finally they say its shipped, but oddly no tracking.

 

[mikeford]

Got my T Mobile Nokia 6010, now what the best deal on a $100 refill?

http://www.cheapphonecards.com looks like just a 5% discount, for final price of $95.
Amazon sucks at $99.99.
FW has a thread on using coupons which we don't talk about here to get $15 off at Office Depot, and $20 at Staples, but I can't bring up a refill card on their sites for anything, same for Target.

 

[samduhman]

BUMPITUDE. This topic needs to be stickied.

 

[vtohthree]

Originally posted by: smokeyknuckles
BUMPITUDE. This topic needs to be stickied.

I second that.