Trac-Fone: How do you use yours'?

I have an Android (google Lolli-pop) issued to me as a replacement for a Samsung Generation 2 phone that was being discontinued. I use it only for emergencies; carry it in my vehicle and it stays there 99% of the time! The service is good and very inexpensive. I buy my air time annually and usually it costs about $85.00 (with bonus minutes and discounts).
I figure my cost at: $7.50 a month including taxes. My minutes carry over and I have, 4,850 left.
If there is a more affordable cell phone plan, I would like to hear about it!

martybee said:

I have an Android (google Lolli-pop) issued to me as a replacement for a Samsung Generation 2 phone that was being discontinued. I use it only for emergencies; carry it in my vehicle and it stays there 99% of the time! The service is good and very inexpensive. I buy my air time annually and usually it costs about $85.00 (with bonus minutes and discounts).
I figure my cost at: $7.50 a month including taxes. My minutes carry over and I have, 4,850 left.
If there is a more affordable cell phone plan, I would like to hear about it!

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I pay a whopping $10.00 per year to keep my elderly mom's T-Mobile phone working. She uses it very little and she has more minutes in it than she could ever possibly use. It took an investment of $100 (to achieve Gold status) many years ago.

I understand the original "pay as you go" plan is now gone. Fortunately, she is grandfathered in for life. I think that $3.00 per month is now their cheapest "pay as you go" plan.

I have Trac Fone also I get triple the minutes for 79 bucks I get 1350 min of talk 1350 texts and I think it's 1.5 g of data and it's good for a year, there are other plans out there like AARP but I don't think you will do any better than what already you have.

If you use it as you describe Tracfone is the best and least expensive service available. I used Tracfone for several years with a Motorola Razr and later an LG slider. Their customer service reps are hard to understand if/when you have to call, but they are generally very helpful.

Since switching to smartphones I've used a variety of carriers starting with Virgin Mobile which I used for several years and was happy with other than the fact that they have very poor coverage outside cities. I've never really been upset with a carrier, and the reason I've switched has always been price. Currently using Cricket, and I'm pleased with their service as well.

Tracfone has great coverage (generally using AT&T or Verizon depending on your area), reliable service, and reasonable prices for those who don't use it a lot. If that's you (and it was me for years) then it's hard to beat. If you find yourself using it more often or you succumb to the allure of surfing the web on your phone it may not be the least expensive choice.

martybee said:

I use it only for emergencies; carry it in my vehicle and it stays there 99% of the time!

If there is a more affordable cell phone plan, I would like to hear about it!

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A+ for Trac-Fone.
I've go an LG flip-phone that lives in my vehicle. I mostly use it to call the Mrs. when I'm off hunting or fishing. You have plenty of minutes banked, so I may be able to save you a little money.

Call Trac-Fone and see if they're still offering the "Add a year of service for $50" promotion. You can do it anytime, as they piggy-back it onto the end of your current plan. It requires that you buy airtime, but you can choose a $10 card. I did it last May and that extended my service for 13 months at a cost of $60 ($4.62/Mo). My 3200 minutes are good until 7/18.

I am a big tracfone fan. No monthly fee. I get triple minutes and days when I buy my card at the Shopko. I currently have 2,000 minutes and 606 days left.

Costs me .3 minutes for each text.

My wife refuses to leave Verizon but I am free at last.

martybee said:

If there is a more affordable cell phone plan, I would like to hear about it!

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Ok - here it is
https://www.freedompop.com

It provides 100% *FREE* internet service for people who *REALLY* want an actual emergency cell phone, or are just very light users.

How does it work? 100% Free Basic Plan - 500 texts, 200 minutes, and 500MB of downloads each month. If you exceed any of those, then they charge you.

There has to be a downside, right? You have to buy a modified cell phone from them to use the service, or pay to have your own phone modified.

Targets Guy said:

I am a big tracfone fan. Costs me .3 minutes for each text.

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I've been a Tracfone user for probably 20 years. There is an even better deal available - you can get 1,000 texts for a standalone fee of $5. You log on to the "My Account" app with your phone, and select "Buy Airtime", then select "Add Ons".

martybee said:

I have an Android (google Lolli-pop) issued to me as a replacement for a Samsung Generation 2 phone that was being discontinued. I use it only for emergencies; carry it in my vehicle and it stays there 99% of the time! The service is good and very inexpensive. I buy my air time annually and usually it costs about $85.00 (with bonus minutes and discounts).
I figure my cost at: $7.50 a month including taxes. My minutes carry over and I have, 4,850 left.
If there is a more affordable cell phone plan, I would like to hear about it!

Click to expand...

I agree. I have an Android, triple minutes for life. I stream music, talk radio, all day. Use google, web, etc... still runs abt $7.50/month. Great service. I know people that pay over $60/month Tracfone does everything I need and with a smart phone! I like it so much that I've had the companies stock on my watch list for a couple years but it's not behaving accordingly so I just continue to watch it.

I've had trcfone also for about 20yrs. I buy a new one every year when HSN has them on sale . Smart phone with up to 1500 min. for $79.00. I normally only txt cause I can't hear well. I've been getting the new phone each yr. for so long with the extra year I don't have to buy min. until 2023
I do buy the txt 1000 for $5. so it cost me less than a $100. a year. It drives me nuts when I see my kids (adults ) paying over
$400. a month on plans.

I started using TracFone in 2005 with a double minutes flip phone. A couple of years back I upgraded to an 3-G Android smartphone with triple minutes. The minutes on the old flip phone were converted as triple minutes, texts, and data.

Last year I upgraded to a 4-G LTE Android triple minutes phone running Lollipop. Again the minutes, data, and texts moved to the new phone, along with days of service.

I use my phone as my primary phone/smartphone, although I do have home phone service using Magic Jack VoIP.

My Trac Fone is currently on the Verizon cell network, although the number was originally on the AT&T cell network. Years ago I needed a new flip phone and my number was switched from GSM to CDMA because of the equipment change.

I figure my cost is about $100 per year for service plus whatever I want to spend on equipment. I have been buying $100 phones as of late, but have no plans to buy a new phone for another year or so. Most of the time when I'm consuming data service I'm on my home wi-fi or free public wi-fi, so upgrading from a feature phone to a smartphone has had little to no cost increase for me. Last November I added a $20 usage card to my phone, and as of today it has service through 10-19-17 with 4.55 GB Data, 2082 minutes of talk, and 2,510 Texts paid for and available for me to use.

TracFone works for me and the way I use my phone.

cowart said:

I've been a Tracfone user for probably 20 years. There is an even better deal available - you can get 1,000 texts for a standalone fee of $5. You log on to the "My Account" app with your phone, and select "Buy Airtime", then select "Add Ons".

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Is that a one time fee of $5.00 and then when the 1,000 texts are used you're done with it if you want? Or is it a monthly fee?

Targets Guy said:

Is that a one time fee of $5.00 and then when the 1,000 texts are used you're done with it if you want? Or is it a monthly fee?

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Buy all you want $5. per thousand ,but it doesn't add to your time like buying minutes (buy as needed)

I'm thinking of going with Track Phone type and telling the big V goodbye.

SC_Mike said:

I'm thinking of going with Track Phone type and telling the big V goodbye.

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Check HSN for a sale. They have the best deals. Its nice not seeing a monthly bill with a commitment

cowart said:

I've been a Tracfone user for probably 20 years. There is an even better deal available - you can get 1,000 texts for a standalone fee of $5. You log on to the "My Account" app with your phone, and select "Buy Airtime", then select "Add Ons".

Click to expand...

kenv1950 said:

Buy all you want $5. per thousand ,but it doesn't add to your time like buying minutes (buy as needed)

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That sounds like a pretty good deal. So I pay $5.00 and get 1,000 texts (won't take any of my minutes). When I run out it will just start using minutes again until I buy more.

I like that.

Targets Guy said:

That sounds like a pretty good deal. So I pay $5.00 and get 1,000 texts (won't take any of my minutes). When I run out it will just start using minutes again until I buy more.

I like that.

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No it doesn't switch to your minutes. The Tracfone smart phone, you have talk min. / txt / data . all separate . when you run out of txt your out. same with talk min. and data. Good thing is when your out you can buy them right from your phone.

Threw mine away years ago when I discovered they were taking my money and NOT giving me my minutes. Went with a i-phone and have never been sorry. To say the least, they are thieves.

"I've used a variety of carriers starting with Virgin Mobile which I used for several years and was happy with other than the fact that they have very poor coverage outside cities."

I have used VM since 2002, and the only place in the country we haven't been able to use ours was in the Tullahoma TN area. My wife got a ten cents per minute deal back then, which was grandfathered, and she still has it. It costs us $20 every three months. She now has about $300 credit on her account. My VM phone is from about 5 years ago, and the best deal I could get then is 25 cents per minute, with the same $20/three months deal. And I have about $150 in credit. We don't use them very much.

We got our tracfone in 2003 and use it when traveling and only turn it on when we want to use it. Most of our calls are to do with the farm and most of the calls are to our vet. The first one was the best, it was a Nokia the replacements were to small. Jeff