T-mobile Prepaid promotion

[Athena]

If you are looking for an "emergency" or travel cell phone, you can't do better than T-Mobile. Once you've bought $100 worth of minutes, all subsequent minutes are valid for one-year. I got my mom a T-mobile prepaid phone 5 years ago and we keep it active for $25/year. The quad-band phones are good for traveling overseas -- just buy a different SIM and use the phone locally.

 

[isekii]

So if this phone comes with $25 buck card.
the number is good for 1 year ?

 

[Java Cafe]

@OP: To use them overseas, don't you need to have them unlocked (from T-Mobile)? Not all models of phones can be unlocked easily? Which one did you get and how di you get it unlocked?

Thanks.

 

[dodger2020]

That's not a promotion. That's the way their prepaid plan has always been. I've been using a tmobile prepaid phone as my main line for quite a few years now. I throw $50 on it every 5 months or so as I don't use it a lot. After you spend $100 on minutes, any minutes don't expire for a year and you get 15% more minutes when you refill. Also, when you refill, unused minutes do roll over to the next period.

The only downside is that, where I live, tmobile has the worst coverage. But that's why voice-mail exists I used my nokia for probably 4 years before it finally died. I bought an unlocked phone off ebay and threw the sim in it - no problems. I think it's the best prepaid plan out there - especially if you don't use your phone all the time.

 

[dodger2020]

as far as unlocking, usuall, t-mobile will unlock your phone after 90 days or so if you take it into a store. Otherwise there are places you can search for online to either do it yourself or have it done.

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: dodger2020
That's not a promotion. That's the way their prepaid plan has always been. I've been using a tmobile prepaid phone as my main line for quite a few years now. I throw $50 on it every 5 months or so as I don't use it a lot. After you spend $100 on minutes, any minutes don't expire for a year and you get 15% more minutes when you refill. Also, when you refill, unused minutes do roll over to the next period.

The only downside is that, where I live, tmobile has the worst coverage. But that's why voice-mail exists I used my nokia for probably 4 years before it finally died. I bought an unlocked phone off ebay and threw the sim in it - no problems. I think it's the best prepaid plan out there - especially if you don't use your phone all the time.

You won't get 15% on $100, I called and asked to confirm.

 

[KPACOTKA]

I am still thinking to switch to t-mobile from virginmobile. For long term t-mobile looks better, however I hesitate to put $100 to get all benefits after

 

[dodger2020]

It's not $100 at once. It's $100 cumulatively. It takes effect immediately if you get a $100 refill. And once you've spent the $100 overall, you get 15% more minutes on all refills. Whomever you talked to soccerballtux was confused. It's right on their website at http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Prepaid-Plans.aspx under the pay as you go section. I've never dropped more than $50 on it as I haven't had the need to. But there's nothing that says it's not valid only for a $100 refill. It specifically says on all refills.

Even if their website is incorrect (it's happened before), just use $50 refills. I know for a fact this works as I've been doing it for years. I used $25 refills when I was poorer than I am now. Once I did that and broke $100 total, each time I refill, whether it's $10, $25, or $50 my expiration date is set for one year.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: isekii
So if this phone comes with $25 buck card.
the number is good for 1 year ?

The first $25 expires in 90 days. You have to buy another $75 worth of time before you go "GOLD". At that point it's 1-year with automatic rollover. The most cost effective way to do it is to start at $100 (1000 minutes) then add minutes annually -- or more often if you use it for more than an hour or so each month.

Originally posted by: Java Cafe
@OP: To use them overseas, don't you need to have them unlocked (from T-Mobile)? Not all models of phones can be unlocked easily? Which one did you get and how di you get it unlocked?

T-mobile will send you an unlock code if the number has been active more than 90 days and you've recharged within the last 30 days. You call and make the request and they send it within 48 hours.

Originally posted by: dodger2020
That's not a promotion. That's the way their prepaid plan has always been.

The promotion (which they do quite frequently) is the inclusion of an extra $25 card with the phone. The phones usually come with only 10 minutes or so of airtime. This way you get more initial minutes -- or if you already have a prepaid SIM, you get an inexpensive replacement phone with a refill.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
[You won't get 15% on $100, I called and asked to confirm.

That part is confusing I know -- they say that the 1000 minutes for $100 is 15% more than whatever they used before.

Here's a chart that shows how many minutes you get with each denomination. You can also opt for the $1/day + plan but, as dodger says, it's more economical for people who don't use a cell phone much to just buy them in denominations of $50 -- which works out to less than 11¢ ,minute with one-year expiration. Since my Mom hardly uses her phone at all, $25/yr is sufficient to keep it working when she needs it.

 

[KPACOTKA]

Can somebody clarify what $25 or other amount refills are? When I spoke with some gentlemen, he explained me that any refill does cover certain amount of minutes. For example $25 refill can give you just 10 minutes, but $100 refill can give you 1000 minutes. Adding more money doesn?t increase your previously added minutes, for example, if you bought 4 refills for $25 each (10 minutes each), you will get just 40 minutes, however if you paid $100 as one refill, then you get 1000 minutes. Please clarify if a friend of mine was wrong.

 

[mikeford]

The amount of minutes you get also varies A LOT depending on the amount of the refill, a $25 gets about half as many minutes per dollar as a $100 refill and $50 refill is someplace in the middle. I found out the hard way, I bought $100 as 4x $25 cards, then checked each of the 3 accts our family uses and topped them up with a single $25 and was more than annoyed to find I only added something like 130 minutes for each $25 card when I normally get 1150 for $100. A $10 refill is the worst, only about 30 minutes IIRC.

I have also yet to collect the rebate on the last "free after rebate" phone. I bought it directly from Tmobiles web site, sent in everything, got a reject letter claiming the seller wasn't an authorized vendor, called and eventually got it approved, then another same as before reject letter.

The customer support is way below abysmal, its an endless phone jail filled with dead end options.

OTOH nothing is close to as cheap, and it does work ok (coverage not that great), just watch your step.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
Can somebody clarify what $25 or other amount refills are?

The chart linked in my other post shows the base values for each domination. Once you have spent a total of $100, you get 15% more than the chart shows for the $10, $25, and $50 cards.

Adding more money doesn?t increase your previously added minutes, for example, if you bought 4 refills for $25 each (10 minutes each), you will get just 40 minutes, however if you paid $100 as one refill, then you get 1000 minutes.

That's correct - which is why it usually makes more sense to buy in increments of $50 or $100.

Note: Unless there is some kind of deal going on, I usually buy my refills from CheapPhone Cards and save a few more pennies.

 

[SimMike2]

With T-mobile, the only way these pay as you go phones work is if you put $100 down relatively soon after buying it. This way you can keep it active and roll over your minutes once per year. I found that I might be able to get by on $50 per year, after the initial $100. That is $4.16 per month. I don't use my phone that much, preferring email instead.

If you get anything less than $100, I think they expire in like three months and there is no rollover.

And if I want a new phone, I just get one of the deals like in this thread, change my SIM card and I am good to go.

 

[mikeford]

Beware using your cell phone overseas, the details can be VERY pesky.

For my last London trip I bought a O2 sim off ebay so I could tell people in advance what my UK number would be, and I could start using it as soon as I landed.

Except the O2 web site absolutely and without any warning or explanation would not accept a US credit card, so I had to wait until I arrived and buy a refill with cash in a Tesco (street corner grocery stores).

My wife called home ONCE to check on the cat and burned through $25 in 17 minutes. It was handy enough for local calls, just read the fine print.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: SimMike2
If you get anything less than $100, I think they expire in like three months and there is no rollover..

Normal expiration is 90-days but the minutes do roll-over if you refill before the old minutes expire. I agree though that $50 (preferably $100) initially is a better way to go.

 

[mikeford]

Once you are GOLDEN, spent a total of $100, then any refill rolls the minutes over 365 instead of 90 days.

Best way for a low minute user is to buy a phone and immediately use a $100 refill (usually about $93 if your careful), then about 360 days later add either another $100 for max minutes per dollar, or just $10 which stinks for minutes per dollar, but still rolls over all minutes for another 365 days. Between texting and spam I end up buying a $100 each year, but thats still silly cheap.

 

[Gilby]

Originally posted by: Athena

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
[You won't get 15% on $100, I called and asked to confirm.

That part is confusing I know -- they say that the 1000 minutes for $100 is 15% more than whatever they used before.

There is no before, because there is no way to add $100 without automatically qualifying for gold. 10 cents a minute is as good as it gets (unless you buy the cards at a discount, which you generally can from cheapphonecards.com or a similar place.) Note that both the $50 and $100 cards give the 10 cents a minute when the account is gold.

 

[konakona]

CPC appears to be the cheapest one for the $100 refill cards according to people on the net. They have a series of discount coupons that work on and off, google some and see which one works. Last time I bought mine I used "save8" to get a $100 card for $92.15 (May 6)

 

[johnnycasaba]

I've used CallingMart.Com for T-Mobile refills, regular price for the $100 refill is $93.00, but sometimes they have codes for an additional percent off. Currently the code "HpyMemorial09" brings the $100 refill to $88.35.

 

[hansmuff]

I have been using T-Mobile Pre-paid for 3 years now and could not be happier. I pay $100 a year and get excellent service. You can even browse cnn.com and some other news sites for free (it does not deduct minutes for it, on my account anyways). Coverage is very good generally.
This is most definitely the best pre-paid deal around.

 

[Destro]

I agree, T-mobile is the best pre-paid service. You can convert most any T-mobile phone or unlocked GSM phone to pre-paid by buying a pre-paid SIM card on Ebay.

My wife had it and it was great, but the coverage was not as good as T-mobile on a contract.

 

[dbk]

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
I am still thinking to switch to t-mobile from virginmobile. For long term t-mobile looks better, however I hesitate to put $100 to get all benefits after

i actually did that...
well, i went from virgin (kyocera marbl $10) to att (samsung a437 $20 w/$10 card) to tmobile (unlocked a437).

i just bought the tmobile sim card for like $7 then bought a $100 prepaid for $88.
the $100 automatically made me a gold rewards member which allows my refills at any denomination to last a year.

 

[StormSide]

Don't forget 35% live cashback!! Search t-mobile on live.com and click the 35% link!!

 

[abaez]

35% cashback on a 100$ refill is definitely a hot deal.