question about prepaid cellular...

[attgig]

I've never used it, and I was thinking about getting this for my parents. We all use the share minutes with sprint, so it's not that bad in terms of getting charged and whatnot....But, they only use about an hour combined...so I don't think it's worth getting charged 20 bucks a month for 1 hr of use/month.

So, I was wondering about prepaid cellular...do the minutes ever expire? are there limitations, how's the network (they live in north jersey)....how's the pricing....

Thanks in advance for any info...

[Markel]

I would check over the fine print with a magnifying glass. Many plans have either a minimum use or expiration on unused minutes. I considered a pre-paid once since I don't use my cell phone much, but I couldn't find a plan that would be worth it. I'm now on a fairly low use plan (50 min peak, 250 off-peak) for $20/month. I use most of the off-peak minutes to make long distance calls, so it works out pretty good.

[Blu]

Prepaid is a pain. What happens if you're in a fix and you need minutes? And usually, the per minute charge is super high compared to plans. It's the lease of the cell phone world.

TBG

[attgig]

thanks..
I had no clue about expiring minutes...and that'll definitely make me NOT want to go down that route..
thanks guys...

[brain]

AT&T Free2go is a pretty good plan for people who rarely use their phone. The initial airtime card is $25 and includes 71 minutes (No domestic LD fees) and is good for 90 days, which breaks down to $8.33 a month. You can buy the Nokia 5165 Free2go package for $99.99 which includes the phone, battery, headset, charger, a $25 card, and a mail-in rebate for another $25 card. Or you can just buy a cheap, AT&T compatible phone on eBay and just load it with a card.

[jase71]

We use a prepaid cell phone as a "emergency" phone that we
keep in the primary car. The cheapest prepaid card is $20,
and it lasts for 90 days before it expires. So that's about $6
a month just to keep a phone in the car. Much cheaper than
any plan.

But for our regular phone (we whacked the land line and
only use the cell phone) we got one with a regular plan. It's
unlimited minutes each month for $49.95. Much cheaper.

Some prepaid plans aren't too bad if you buy the minutes in bulk. Here, you can get a 1000 minute card for $149 that lasts for 120 days. That's not too bad... 15 cents a minute. But it's easier just to use a regular plan.