Did you know that Straight Talk’s first Android phone is out now. Read a review of the Samsung Galaxy Precedent phone here. This phone has a 3.2 inch touch screen, a decent camera, but best of all you can manage your email, browse the web, and even download apps from the Android Marketplace. Learn more at StraightTalk.com
What once was the only solution to people with bad credit, in the last couple of years has become a matter of choice. More and more people every day are finding “prepaid” cell phone service more attractive than two-year contract based cell phone service. Even with popular cell phones as the iPhone and the Droid are that big postpaid companies offer, people are still choosing the largest prepaid provider in the US TracFone Wireless Inc.
Agreements with about 30 different wireless carriers nationwide like AT&T, Verizon, Alltel and T-Mobile are add to their affordable and more attractive service for 12 million subscribers. And will they stop? Probably not because they are growing every day thanks to their innovation of prepaid phones available and to their prepaid plans that provide savings as non contract based provider does.
TracFone Wireless Inc provides four registered trademarks: TracFone, Net10, Safelink Wireless and Straight Talk which all differs from each others in many things.
TracFone offers prepaid plans that go together with their prepaid phones. A limited number of handsets, mostly priced under 50 dollars, vary in different areas because of different networks that they operate on. Tracfone works on a refill cards system. You pay $9.99 for the 30 minute card, $19.99 for the 60 minute, $29.99 for the 120 minute card, $39.99 200 minute card and $79.99 for the 450 minute card.
The best offer of all from Tracfone is a Double Minutes for Life card for $49.99, which doubles your minutes on every single card that you might purchase in the future. This is very useful offer and users should pay attention to some of the phones that have this card already built-in in their system. Text messaging rates differ on various phones. They go from 3 to 5 units with the possibility to have free receiving text massage or to be charged the same rate as for sending it. In order to make a international calls you will have to purchase a prepaid international long distance calling card that will allow 1-800 dialing access.
Net10 Easy Minutes comes with the simplest possible plan since all minutes cost 10 cents. Refilling method can be done by purchasing and activating card for 30, 60, or 100 dollars that expire after some time, by automatic refill when Net10 charges your credit card or by Airtime On Demand directly from your NET10 phone. Net 10 works anywhere in the US where Verizon, Alltel, At&t, T-Mobile or US Cellular is available but to be able to make international calls, you need to contact customer service and activate a special International service. Sending or receiving text messages will cost you 5 cents per message but with more expensive phones, this rate is cheaper. Very simple plan and very affordable one.
One of the newest Tracfone’s brands is Straight Talk and it turn out to be one of the most popular. Prepaid plans that Straight Talk offers are very attractive and are based on two different values paid for 30-day period. One plan is $30 Straight Talk Plan that comes with limited service of 1,000 minutes of talk time, 1,000 texting and 30 MB of data usage.
For those who talk and text more than $30 plan offers, they can choose a $45 Straight Talk Unlimited plan. With this amount paid every month, everything is unlimited so you can talk and text as much as you want. Prepaid phones that these plans work with range from $30-$100, with the exception of Samsung Finesse, a smartphone that costs over $300 and that can use the most of unlimited web browsing.
Safelink Wireless service is supported program by U.S. government. It is designed for low-income-eligible families and offers a free cell phone, mobile access to emergency services and free 68 minutes of airtime per month. This lasts for one year after which you must re-qualify. No choosing of phone handset is available and the features available are voicemail, text, call waiting, international calling to over 60 destinations and caller ID. If free airtime stayed unused, they will roll over but if they are spent before the month ends, it can be refilled by purchasing Tracfone’s Airtime Cards. And this service is available to only one person per family.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Good article.
I like TracFone and I think they have great deals.
Great comparison of what each of the competing (but ultimately similar) companies is offering at the moment. I’m always on the look out for new deals from each, and at the moment think the Tracfone DMFL card has got to be one of the best. Add that to great rates anyway and you can really save each month on cell phone costs.
Nice article, and I understand where people coming from when they switch from a main brand cell phone to a prepaid because I have done it myself. Tracfone seems ideal because they offered nice phones for under $20 and I bought a Motorola W260g with a great double minutes for life plan. On top of this I can also get promotional codes online and get 100 free minutes when entering the code into my account. But the best thing about tracfone is the no contracts or hidden fees IMHO.
Although they are competing, I read somewhere that all some of the companies are actually part of the same. I’ve been with Tracfone and couldn’t be happier. They use the networks of major wireless carriers, so the coverage area is rather large. And the deals they offer are incredible, even more ways to save money on cell phones each month. As the previous poster points out, the Tracfone DMFL card is just an unbelievable deal.
DMFL is a pretty darn good deal for TracFone users. Thanks for your comment.
Julio –
I agree with you about the no contract thing. That’s one of the things I really like about prepaid phones. I don’t like being tied in, even though I tend to stay with the same provider for multiple years. I like the option of being able to change my mind and jump on a hot Straight Talk, TracFone, or MetroPCS deal.
I just saw a new tracphone called SVC. Basically it’s a tracfone for seniors. Looked good. Easy to use and very cheap.
It’s smart to get straight talk. I recently got straight talk phones for all my employees. I have a small textile business and since times have been tough.. I recently decided to switch all their phones to prepaid to cut costs. Straight talk has gone beyond my expectations. The service is great and I am saving so much money.
Straight Talk has the best prepaid plan you can find. At least I haven’t found one that’s better. For $45, Straight talk gives me unlimited minutes and I can also send many text messages (in fact, unlimited), and I can also use Internet as much as I want. Plus there are good phones.
All the prepaid companies mentioned in this article bring something different to the table. What I like about Straight Talk is you get two plan options, either unlimited or the all you need, and some of the best coverage available without a contract. Depending on the type of phone you have and the area you’re in, ST uses AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile. They also offer a few smart phone models which work very well with the unlimited plan. Worth checking into.
Good atricle. You may want to update it to include the newer Tracfones which have qwerty keypads and touch screens too. They still do not require a contract to use though. Thanks