Updated: $100 T-Mobile ToGo refill card + free Nokia 6030 phone for $100 at Target

[Dutchmaster420]

t mobile is the best as far as prepaid...i bought a $30 t mobile prepaid phone that came with 100 free min, than bought $100card which is 1000min...since i bought the 100 card im now a "gold member" which means i get 20%off my next card purchase

i use my phone ALOT and 1100 minutes lasted me for about 2 months

 

[jalaram]

Originally posted by: breweyez
I just applied my $100 card and I got 1000 minutes. I wonder why I dont get the extra 15% in minutes. Is this happening to anyone else?

When I last asked them, they said that the $100/1000 already includes the discount.

 

[breweyez]

I just called them, and they said you get 500 mins for a $50 card which already includes the bonus minutes. The $100 card is the same way. I emailed a complaint about what looks a lot like false advertising.

 

[kaborka]

After you get GR status, it is subsequent refills that get the bonus. From their site:

Add $100 in refills to become a Gold Rewards customer. With Gold Rewards, you get at least 15% more minutes on all refills and your minutes won?t expire for a year.

Actually, looking at it, the wording is vague, isn't it. I read it as meaning the refills after you get GR get the bonus.

 

[Gilby]

Originally posted by: kaborka
After you get GR status, it is subsequent refills that get the bonus. From their site:

Add $100 in refills to become a Gold Rewards customer. With Gold Rewards, you get at least 15% more minutes on all refills and your minutes won?t expire for a year.

Actually, looking at it, the wording is vague, isn't it. I read it as meaning the refills after you get GR get the bonus.

No, not just after.

You get it the first time you apply a $100 card, as $100 is the required amount for Gold Status.

There's no way to get a $100 card on your account without having gold status, even if it is just as you apply the card. Therefore, the only amount of minutes listed for a $100 card (1000 minutes) includes the bonus by default. Note that the $50 card gives you 460 minutes if you have gold status, not 500 as an above poster said.

 

[breweyez]

I talked to the CSR, she said 500 for the $50 card (with gold status). Otherwise it is 435. the $100 is 870 mins without gold status (but doesnt matter since you have gold status by spending $100).

 

[BlackPear1]

The CSR may have said that, but prepaid plan details on T-Mobile's website are just as Gilby stated above. Could the offers be different in different areas? Or maybe she was offering a bonus as an inducement to buy a card?

 

[Koz]

Originally posted by: BlackPear1
From the TMTG FAQ - "If you applied a $100 refill to your account or have already reached Gold Reward status, all unused minutes won't expire for one year from the date you last applied airtime to your account."

Thanks BlackPear1, I see it now. Here is the entire FAQ
http://www.t-mobile.com/templates/faq.aspx?PAsset=Pre_Pop_FAQ

In Maryland, this is like paying $7.70 per month for 85 minutes and having the unused minutes roll over each month (for one year). ($88*1.05 [MD tax]/12=$7.70 per month. 1000 minutes +30 starter minutes/12 =85 minutes/month) It's the best deal I've seen for light cell phone use. (T-Mobile with 6030 and $100 card was the best deal I could find last year at almost twice this price.)

Thanks OP!

 

[mikeford]

Pretty sure I got more than just 1000 with my last top up, but I have been Golden for a year or so. We dumped all our old cell plans and wife and I both use Tmob prepays, son will get one this summer, but forget the cheap phones. I bought a triband on ebay so I can use it in Europe on trips, built in cheesy camera that I actually find REAL handy, flashlight, and long battery life, cost about $50 last summer. This summer I'll upgrade and pass the old one to my son.

If you are a minute miser like I am, prepay is wonderful.

 

[GTFan]

Yeah, it's really sad how many people waste money on postpaid plans - if they knew about deals like this one, they could save a nice bit of cash. There's a lot of folks that don't yak all the time on a cell that would be perfect for prepaid.

 

[newtonite]

This comes with a starter card that's good for 90 days.

Better to initiate the phone with the $100 card and wait 90 days before adding the starter card and get bonus time on it and an extra three months service?

What's the best configuration for setting this up?

 

[kaborka]

There are numerous discussions over at the HowardForums on how to optimize your refills to keep the .10/min airtime rate once you reach GR status. See, e.g., this thread. There are even Excel spreadsheets you can download to compute what your per-minute rate would be under various circumstances.

 

[newtonite]

Interesting site for a newbie like me. Some take things to extremes for a prepaid.

Thanks.

 

[tw1164]

Is Target offering rain checks?

 

[senseamp]

Not this item. It said no rainchecks on the tag.

 

[JesseKnows]

This comes with a starter card that's good for 90 days.

Better to initiate the phone with the $100 card and wait 90 days before adding the starter card and get bonus time on it and an extra three months service?

The starter time is not a separate card. You get the $10 of air time when you activate.

 

[newtonite]

What's the charge for retrieving the news articles (CNN, ABC et al), IM and getting phone messages etc?

Probably right in front of me but I don't see it.

 

[mercanucaribe]

I just bought this. Can you port a phone #?

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: GTFan
Yeah, it's really sad how many people waste money on postpaid plans - if they knew about deals like this one, they could save a nice bit of cash. There's a lot of folks that don't yak all the time on a cell that would be perfect for prepaid.

Yup prepaid is best deal for anyone talking less than 400 minutes a month according to the numbers I seen. Thats a lot of people. It's also great for people who take a "break" from thier phone.

My 900 Minute plan from Cingular costing $59.99 a month, $19.99 for intrweb plus about $5 in taxes is pricey and my usage patterns are very erratic. One month 200 minutes another month 1200. Even i would be better off with togo sometimes I think, cingular rollover saves it. But anyone on the 3-400 minute plans would most likely be better off with TOGO unless they use all their minutes every month.

Then you have the whole "freedom" issues like not stuck to a 2yr plan or number or phone.

 

[senseamp]

I got in on this deal and dumped my Verizon plan and moved my phone over.
The phone comes with $10 value on it. Should I wait till I use up that $10 before applying the $100 or is it better to apply it now so I get the GR thing on the initial $10 as well? Now when I dial #999#, it says I have $10 or 30 mins, which kind of means it's 33 cents a minute, not 10 cents.

 

[senseamp]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
I just bought this. Can you port a phone #?

Yes, but they were a bit retarded about doing it. They kept transferring me between activation department, prepaid department, and porting department, I maybe had to repeat my info 10 different times. Maybe it was just a fluke.

 

[kaborka]

It depends on your goals. If you want maximum expiration, wait to apply the $100 refill near the end of the 1st 90 days. For max airtime, I believe if you refill now, the initial $10 balance is converted to .10/min, along with the 1000 minutes on the refill. There are spreadsheets over at Howardforums.com that compute this stuff (see links above).

 

[newtonite]

Yes, the $10 30 minutes will convert to 100 minutes, and your total talk time will be 1100 minutes.


For what it's worth, setting up the answering system cost 4 minutes.


And there's no charge for checking CNN or the other stuff under the same icon.

 

[kaborka]

There are averaging and rounding formulas TMo uses to figure out the per-min rate based on airtime balance, rate and the denomination added. Hence the spreadsheet calculators I mentioned.

 

[Yreka]

I just grabbed one last night, pleanty left at the Target in Livermore, Ca if anyone is looking..

I have a (probably) dumb question. I have never used a pre-paid before. In regards to text messaging, it says $0.10 outgoing and $0.05 incoming for each one. Does this get deducted from your pre-paid card, or do you get billed seperately for them as an additional service ?