Looking for a non-contract cell phone plan

ratzombie

ratzombie

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Hello fellow CAGs.

My service is up with AT&T and I'm looking for either a monthly plan with a non-contract agreement ($30.00 and under) or a prepaid plan that doesn't charge a fee for using the phone that day, just the minutes that you actually use.

I'm leaning towards Boost Mobile... anyone have any experience with them? Their PayGo Basic plan seems like a good deal. It is 10 cents a minute, no activation/contract, as well as no daily access charge and same price for roaming and long distance.
 
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verizon now offers a month-to-month deal...you pay full retail for a phone (or buy one on ebay), and you can activate that and have no contract...if you need any help, shoot me a PM and i can explain it better
 
I used Net10 (same company as Tracfone) for 2 months since that was as long as I needed. $0.10 a minute without any extra fees, texts were $0.05. Need to add minutes every 60 days unless you buy a larger value card, smallest being $30. Boost is every 90 days. It was a better choice for me since the phone was cheaper than all the others and came with 300 minutes. The cheapest phone at the time was a Nokia 1600 at $30. Now it's the LG 300 at $30. I think it's on sale this week at Sears for $20. There's also a Wal-Mart holiday bundle in-store and online for $30 that includes a case, car charger, and headset.

www. walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10237052 (remove space from URL, auto-link doesn't work)

If you go with Boost, be sure to note the fine print. Looks like they charge $0.35 per day for Wireless Web unless you call them to cancel.

Wireless Web fee is charged daily regardless of usage. This service may be deactivated at anytime by calling Boost Customer Care at 1-888-BOOST-4U.
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I like Virgin Mobiles no contract setup. I don't use my phone much and when I need to make a call I'm usually home and use the magicjack phone hooked up to my pc for free calls. Another nice thing about Virgin Mobile is you can use their sugarmama service to watch dumb 1 minute -usually less ads up to five a day for a free minute of airtime. If you only use your phone sporadically it is nice. I just have to spend like $20 every 90 days or something and all my minutes carry over. I never run out of time with how little I use it.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I didn't think about Net10/Trac, it sounds about the same as boost although I'm not sure of their coverage? Which carrier do they use?

I was looking into Flex by t-mobile, do you get a free phone without a contract? Because as far as I know, you have to pay full invoice for the phone as well as pay the first month of service unless you sign a 2 year Flex contract (I almost did that and then saw it was for 2 years, thought Flex was non-contract all together.)

I believe Virgin charges that daily $1.00 charge for when you use the phone.

And thank you whymustiregister, I didn't see that and I tend to look at the fine print. :lol:
 
Depends on your area I guess. Best Buy just started carrying Net10 phones, you could ask the salespeople there or whatever store is best for you. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TracFone_Wireless

Depending on the region, TracFone service works on a GSM or a cdmaOne network. TracFone does not build its own wireless network but "resells" wireless service from more than 30 providers, as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). In the United States, TracFone operates on the AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Claro and T-Mobile networks, among others (such as Alltel and US Cellular).
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Read up on the various prepaid providers on HowardForums if you want more in depth info/opinions than you'll likely find here.

I personally like T-Mobile ToGo's prepaid plan. Loading up on a $100 refill card at the start gets you "Gold Status" immediately with 1000 minutes at 10 cents per, plus 1 year expiration. Renew the following year with a $50 card to keep the same rate and another year. Smaller amount cards up the per min cost and shortens expiration if you aren't Gold. Free limited T-Zones is also included -- that is you get to read CNN, ABC News, ESPN.

Don't leave ATT before getting your subsidy unlock code so you can just pop in the TMO SIM into your current phone if none of the handsets appeal to you. Pick a cheapy online as a backup and use the SIM and activation. May also want to wait for the free $25 refill bonus card promo with phone purchase for extra play time.
 
[quote name='Hibiwa']
I personally like T-Mobile ToGo's prepaid plan. Loading up on a $100 refill card at the start gets you "Gold Status" immediately with 1000 minutes at 10 cents per, plus 1 year expiration. Renew the following year with a $50 card to keep the same rate and another year. Smaller amount cards up the per min cost and shortens expiration if you aren't Gold. Free limited T-Zones is also included -- that is you get to read CNN, ABC News, ESPN.
[/quote]

I've been using this for a while and I've been happy with the service. Just have to buy a phone and some minutes. I got my phone at costco with an instant rebate so that wasn't so bad.
 
[quote name='yukine']Hello fellow CAGs.

My service is up with AT&T and I'm looking for either a monthly plan with a non-contract agreement ($30.00 and under) or a prepaid plan that doesn't charge a fee for using the phone that day, just the minutes that you actually use.

I'm leaning towards Boost Mobile... anyone have any experience with them? Their PayGo Basic plan seems like a good deal. It is 10 cents a minute, no activation/contract, as well as no daily access charge and same price for roaming and long distance.[/quote]

hey, do you have Cricket Wireless in AZ? They're something like $50/month for unlimited minutes and texting. I think they charge for long distance though, worth a look...
 
I'm not that into cell phones (I've had the same for years), but I thought (wrongly I guess :cry:) that you only sign a contract if you buy a phone from a cellular provider at a discount. If you provide your own or pay full price, no contract.
 
MetroPCS is what you're looking for.

But for a successful low-cost cellphone company, they have the worst cellphones on the market.
 
I say that Tracfone is the best, I have the year plan with 1200 min for $100 and bouble minutes for life- beat that!:bouncy: But I make quite a few calls evey month. I preveously had a contract and the phone didn't even last the full 24 months, the LCD screen started making lines (I didn't drop it) untill I couldn't read the text any more, it was a nice phone but the camera wasn't as good as my digital camera so I never really used it except to take a stupid/fun pic for facebook! I've got better thing to do than play advanced games or any games for that matter and never even used the organiser, it was too basic. All I want from a phone is calls, text messages and web access. Net 10 is also cool, they have much cheaper minutes if you don't go for the big deals like me. Some of my buddy's use Net 10 for month to month minutes and they are really happy.
 
I think Page Plus offers the best value. They do charge 50¢ a month for the service, but the minutes are as cheap as 6¢ a piece (1400 for $80 if I remember correctly), they're good for 120 days, and since they share Verizon's network you get excellent coverage. Also, just about any phone can be used, though Verizon phones are best (I bought the Motorola W315 for $30 at BB).
 
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