Millions of people across the country either currently use prepaid wireless plans or are considering trying pay as you go plans out.
There are a lot of good reasons for utilizing a prepaid phone plan. It makes sense in a lot of ways.
Many people save money each and every month on their phone bills and it has been proven that postpaid customers (those who have contract plans) overpay on their bills, either because they are not using all of the minutes they are allotted or because they are being hit with outrageous overage fees and the like.
To help get you started on your search for the right prepaid wireless plan, here is a list of four wireless companies to consider. Remember, you have to choose the plan that will work best for you. Every person’s phone usage habits are different, so what works for you cousin Jim may not work out for you. After the brief descriptions of these companies, at the end of the article you will see some ways to figure out which plan is best for you.
Straight Talk Wireless has two very good and affordable prepaid plans.
The All You Need plan provides 1,000 minutes of talk time, 1,000 text messages, ample web browsing (30MB of data), and unlimited 411 calls. At a price of $30, this plan is very affordable especially considering all that it comes with.
The Unlimited Straight Talk Wireless plan, which at $45 is still very cheap, gives users unlimited talk time, text, web browsing, and 411 calls. This is a great plan and promises to be one of the most popular plans of 2010.
TracFone is the largest pay as you go provider in the United States with around 11 million subscribers. TracFone always has some great offers on the table and is seen as a “value provider.”
You can also always find promotional codes for free minutes. This is one of the ways people save money on prepaid phones with TracFone: free minutes. Double Minutes for Life is also worth a look since it multiplies your minutes purchased by 2.
MetroPCS has been around the block in the prepaid world and, after faltering a little bit in 2009, will be back with a vengeance in 2010.
The trick in the prepaid marketplace is to appear to be giving away a lot for a small price, all the while not looking too cheap. Also, cell phones generally need to be affordable. MetroPCS has some unlimited plans that are worth taking a look at. This company is going to compete this year, so watch out for some good deals.
Boost Mobile made a bang in early 2009 when it released it unlimited monthly prepaid plan at a cost of $50 per month. It seemed unsustainable at the time, but then we saw companies like Straight Talk and MetroPCS undercut that pricepoint even further. The Boost Mobile Unlimited plan is worth a look.
How to Choose a Prepaid Wireless Company
The best thing you can do when considering a prepaid plan is to dig out your phone bills from the previous six months (or more if you have them) and compare them to each other. As you compare them, you will notice that there are patterns that make themselves evident.
You may notice that you use pretty close to the same amount of text messages and talk time every single month. Sure, there will be spikes and drops, but often these spikes and drops will be easier to handle with a prepaid phone.
Once you assess your usage habits and know how many minutes/text messages you want to use every month, you want to take a look at the prepaid plans available to you. Here is where finding local reviews from friends, family, and anyone else will be very beneficial to you. You want to make sure that the coverage of a company is really good and that other people have had good experiences with the company.
Check the coverage map, which can usually be found on the company website. Talk to a customer service rep about coverage in your area.
Once you have looked at a few plans, compare them by looking at minutes cost, available cell phones, rollover policies, and other elements of the plans. One thing you really want to look for is the length of time over which you are allowed to use one talk time card. 30 days is good, but 60 is better. This means that you can let more time lapse between buying new card, which really only works too if you aren’t a big talker.
Read more prepaid reviews by company and see how they stack up.
Related posts:
- MetroPCS Unveils New Unlimited Prepaid Plan: Wireless For All
- Straight Talk Wireless Releases Samsung Finesse Smartphone
- Prepaid Wireless Rankings: Net10 Number 1, MetroPCS Dead Last
- Straight Talk $30 Plan vs. MetroPCS $30 Unlimited Plan
- Leap Wireless/Cricket Wireless Adds More Goodies to Prepaid Plans
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