Cell phone question

Factual Questions
1

I’m thinking about getting my sister a cell phone for Christmas. Ideally, I’d get her the phone and the first n-months of service (or first 2000 minutes, or whatever), and she’d be responsible for the bills after that.

I’m in Illinois, and she’s in Virginia. Any billings after the initial period would go to her.

It’s been a while since I signed up for cell phone service, but I seem to remember having to submit billling and credit information and sign a contract for at least a year if I wanted to get a good rate and a discounted phone.

I’m vaguely aware of cell phone pay-as-you-go programs where you put $X on the phone and then pay later to add minutes when those are exhausted, but my sense is that these are uneconomical and used mainly by people with credit problems (or some other overriding issue that prevents a more typical plan). Also, my sister isn’t that practical, and I can see her floundering if she has to find a place in Virginia where she can add minutes to her Illinois-purchased phone.

Am I off base here? Is there some obvious, efficient way to set someone up with cell service in another state without becoming responsible myself for a 1-2 year contract?

2

Well, I use Virgin Mobile’s “18¢ talk” plan which is a flat rate pay-as-you go $0.18/min with no contracts. Needless to say, that’s a bit expensive if you talk a lot, which I don’t, so it’s perfect for me but may not be right for her.

But they also have a $0.10/min all the time deal if you pay $6.99/month, every month.

As far as paying for it, you can do it online with a credit/debit card, through the phone, or with Top-Up cards which are sold at various stores and online. What you would want to do here is buy her Top-Up cards for whatever the amount you want to give her, which she can add to her account, and then once those run out she will be on the hook for payment to keep it working.

3

Buy her a pre-paid service phone, and then let her get a contract herself after the fact.

4

She can get topup cards for several varieties (including Virgin Mobile) at Target, and as has been pointed out, she can top up online. With Virgin Mobile, you don’t even need to get online–you can call it in from the phone.

Minimum $7 a month, though.