There are a lot of different prepaid mobile offers on the US market, and it’s important to compare so that you can choose the one that suits you best and that will save you the most money. The various operators differ a lot in that respect.
Most prepaid mobile plans work the same, although the tariffs are often wildly different. You pay a certain amount of dollars to charge your credit and can then use that money for calls and for other services, such as sending text messages.
One of the most important things to know about when choosing your prepaid mobile service, especially if you are a light phone user, are credit expiration times. Often you will have a month to use your credit, and then it will expire, Better carriers give you up to a year of credit expiration time, and rollover of any unused credit if you top it up.
If you have no credit on your phone, you will still be able to receive calls, but after a time that can vary between four months and a year the line will expire and you will lose your number. In this case, you are faced with the option of paying to reactivate the line, or going through the hassle of getting another prepaid mobile phone number.
Coverage is another thing that people often fail to check. You may have a contract with the best operator but if you can hardly use the phone because of a lack of coverage, you aren’t going to use it. Make sure that you have good coverage.
As for the actual prepaid mobile providers, Virgin Mobile is probably the best overall operator, and its customer service is also quite good. Pay-as-you-go cards are very convenient. For $20, you can get 200 talk time minutes, which is much cheaper than several competitors. Unused credit only rolls over for 30 days though, and only if you top up some more.
T-Mobile is usually considered the operator with the best choice of prepaid mobile handsets, and you can often get these at a cheaper price of you take them in conjunction with a pay as you go plan. Its cheapest payment option is $10 for 30 minutes, which is costly, but prices decrease if you top up for higher amounts at a time. And if you top up $100, your credit is valid for a whole year.
TracFone has a good call quality compared to its competitors, and a good selection of basic prepaid mobile phones. The basic plan costs $10 for 50 minutes, with extra minutes costing 20 cents each. Like T-Mobile, TracFone’s $100 credits are valid for a whole year, but you get fewer minutes. It’s a good option if you expect to regularly top up small amounts.
If you can get MetroPCS prepaid mobile, which is only available in 33 states, you should know that it’s a good deal as long as you won’t be calling long distance and out of state a lot. Their coverage and customer service are rated as pretty good.
Cingular is great for occasional prepaid mobile use, as the calls are very cheap at 10 cents a minute, although they also charge you a dollar every day that you will make calls with your prepaid mobile.
Other Related Posts:
