Question about Prepaid Plans

[email protected] (Just Me) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Hello. Can anyone tell me what might be the best deal on a prepaid
> plan?
>
> I've heard Cingular has a couple options.
>
> My daughter has a Nokia 3390 phone with a T-Mobile Prepaid plan. They
> sure ream you on these prepaid minutes! Works out to be approx. .30
> to .40 cents per minute. She basically uses it for text messaging
> because of the high cost of minutes. You literally cannot use it for
> "talking" or you'd be never-ending paying for more minutes! Isn't
> there anything better out there with another provider? Is Cingular's
> any good?
>
>
> Help... thanks!
> Me
>

Where you plan to use the phone / what cities and if you will be
roamining are a few factors. But Cingular does have a nights/weekend plan
for $1 per day unlimited use on the weekend.



KIC Prepaid Nights and Weekends Plan
peek nights roamining
$0.35/min $0.10/min* add'l$0.95/ min

KIC Prepaid Unlimited Weekends Plan
peek nights roamining
$0.30/min $1/day$0.30/min add'l$0.95/ min

KIC Prepaid $0.10 Per Minute Plan
peek nights roamining
$0.10/min $1/day$0.10/min add'l$0.95/ min


Verizon prepaid is .25 per call plus .10 min but roaming on network is
included much like tmobile, offnetwork not a option with t-mobile is .99
per min with verizon. Out of your calling area on Cingular you pay the
..95 min even on the cingular network.

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› See More: Question about Prepaid Plans

Also here in Alabama Cingular takes $.70 e911 fee the first of each month,
no fee for Verizon, T-mobile, Tracfone ect...

"Just Me" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello. Can anyone tell me what might be the best deal on a prepaid
> plan?
>
> I've heard Cingular has a couple options.
>
> My daughter has a Nokia 3390 phone with a T-Mobile Prepaid plan. They
> sure ream you on these prepaid minutes! Works out to be approx. .30
> to .40 cents per minute. She basically uses it for text messaging
> because of the high cost of minutes. You literally cannot use it for
> "talking" or you'd be never-ending paying for more minutes! Isn't
> there anything better out there with another provider? Is Cingular's
> any good?
>
>
> Help... thanks!
> Me


The main appeal of a pre pay plan is to not have the 1 or 2 year
commitment, and the hefty monthly payment that goes with it. Only one of
Cingular's pre pay plans has no monthly fees, and it's not cheap at
$.35/min. If you are a heavy cell phone user, pre pay may not be the way to
go. But if you just want a cell phone for occasional or emergency use, it
works out pretty cheap. You won't find as many discounted phones offered
with these plans, but you can always buy any Cingular phone you want if you
dont mind paying more for it.

I bought a used phone for $99.00 (Cingular wanted $400.00 for the same
one new.) and I buy $20.00 in minutes every three months, with unused
minutes rolling over as long as I buy a new batch before the three months
are up. There are no other fees. So for my occasional use this is
perfect. With the local sales tax added in, I pay $7.13/month and have no
commitment except my investment in the phone.

Bob

On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 10:02:04 -0400, "rjdriver" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I bought a used phone for $99.00 (Cingular wanted $400.00 for the same
>one new.) and I buy $20.00 in minutes every three months, with unused
>minutes rolling over as long as I buy a new batch before the three months
>are up. There are no other fees. So for my occasional use this is
>perfect. With the local sales tax added in, I pay $7.13/month and have no
>commitment except my investment in the phone.
>
>Bob
>
>

That sounds pretty good, how many minutes do you get for $20?

Just wondering if your 'account' lapses would you lose your number and
get a new one the next time you purchase minutes?

My account lapsed when I had a prepaid phone from Cingular and I had to
get a new number.

oo Mike oo wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 10:02:04 -0400, "rjdriver" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>> I bought a used phone for $99.00 (Cingular wanted $400.00 for the same
>>one new.) and I buy $20.00 in minutes every three months, with unused
>>minutes rolling over as long as I buy a new batch before the three months
>>are up. There are no other fees. So for my occasional use this is
>>perfect. With the local sales tax added in, I pay $7.13/month and have no
>>commitment except my investment in the phone.
>>
>>Bob
>>
>>
>
>
> That sounds pretty good, how many minutes do you get for $20?
>
> Just wondering if your 'account' lapses would you lose your number and
> get a new one the next time you purchase minutes?
>
>

"oo Mike oo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 10:02:04 -0400, "rjdriver" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> > I bought a used phone for $99.00 (Cingular wanted $400.00 for the
same
> >one new.) and I buy $20.00 in minutes every three months, with unused
> >minutes rolling over as long as I buy a new batch before the three months
> >are up. There are no other fees. So for my occasional use this is
> >perfect. With the local sales tax added in, I pay $7.13/month and have
no
> >commitment except my investment in the phone.
> >
> >Bob
> >
> >
>
> That sounds pretty good, how many minutes do you get for $20?
>
> Just wondering if your 'account' lapses would you lose your number and
> get a new one the next time you purchase minutes?
>
>

Minutes are not cheap. $.35 each. But this is just for occassional
use so the cost doesn't bother me. (I am going to look into Trac Phone as I
heard the minutes were cheaper.)

The account doesn't lapse right away if you don't buy more minutes in
time. I missed it once by several days and while I lost the leftover
minutes, the number was still active. I suppose there is an ultimate
account termination time where you *would* lose your number, but I'm not
aware what that time limit might be.

Bob

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 21:21:28 GMT, oo Mike oo <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Just wondering if your 'account' lapses would you lose your number and
>get a new one the next time you purchase minutes?

What's usually the case is any minutes that you had in the account
when the expiration date happens you forfeit. Your account will not
be immediately disconnected, but will be useless to you as you cannot
receive or make calls. The period of dormancy varies from carrier to
carrier and some will recycle your number in 90 days and sometimes
shorter or longer.

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