The Whatsit family is about to embark on a cross-country trek in a moving truck. We don’t have a cell phone, but I was thinking about getting one of those pre-paid ones just for the trip, in case we break down somewhere in the boonies and need to call AAA.
Except, I have no idea where to get one or what the deal is with them or even if this is a good idea. Anyone have experience with this, or helpful advice?
I used a prepaid cellular for a while. It worked alright, but the one time I needed it for a breakdown, I was out of the service area.
I have a prepaid cellphone. It works well enough but the one time I did need it for a quasi-emergency I was out of my calling area and had not been informed that I had to program the phone to roam. I battled the company to be compensated for the lost time, to no avail. Consequently, I advise anyone who asks (and many who don’t) that if you go for a prepaid phone, do NOT use Tracfone because they are evil. It’s definitely a good idea to have a cell phone with you for emergencies on a road trip. Just be sure you know your calling area and what you need to do when roaming so that the phone will function.
Virgin also – they’re the ones I’m looking at. (sorry, I’ve got it bookmarked on my home machine, and I’m at work.)
That should read try tracfone.com
att free to go phones are usually in 7/11 stores.
My wife and I both have a Tracfone. We’ve never had a problem with roaming.
Tracfones are a good deal for emergency and occassional use. I hate talking on the phone–especially cell phones–so it is the perfect phone for me.
If they are still selling the refurbished phones on their web site, that’s the best deal. Both ours are refurbished, but you couldn’t tell them from new.
AT&T Go phone sounds great because you get all the free weekend minutes stuff without signing a plan. However, they don’t have service in my area…which means if you get it for cross-country moving you’ll run into problems.
Am I right in thinking that with a prepaid phone that you want for emergencies only, you can call up the emergency services with no calling credit? If so, your best bet is probably eBay, which has lots of phones with a SIM card already installed.
Julie
I like my Virgin Mobile, they only want $20 every three months to keep you active, and your paid-for minutes never expire. I think you’ll find that most “pre-payed” phones still expect you to pay them every month or else your minutes evaporate.
-lv
My wife and I are on Virgin Mobilealso and love them. You can get their base model phone, which comes with 10 bucks of airtime and a charger for 60 bucks. Add a car charger for about 20 bucks. If your airtime runs out, you can still make 911 calls. Roaming is included.
Their site can show you the coverage, though you will have to punch in some different areas along your route to make sure you are covered the whole way, which is most likely. I talked more about VM
The phone I have now is billed monthly via ATT Wireless and I’ve really been impressed with their coverage. I drove through most of Alabama–I’m talking just trees and the interstate–and my reception was always decent-very good and I never went to roaming or even Extended Area. I’m sure they have some kind of prepaid plan.
There’s another thread going on about Virgin Mobile… I have it. Works great for me (don’t like using the cell phone to gab a lot, but I enjoy having it every now and then for emergencies and quick little calls). Seems like most people in the other thread liked Virgin too.