Virgin Mobile's Basic Per Minute Plan

Did you notice that Virgin Mobile's basic twenty cent per minute plan is now gone? They're trying to get people on their monthly plans, starting at $20 per month instead.

I already thought twenty cents per minute was expensive, but I was willing to pay it for the convenience of it. It's now gone. So, those looking for a basic pay by the minute plan are forced to go to another provider.

What do you think? Do you think Virgin Mobile should bring the basic minute plan back?

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Wow! Twenty cents per minute is expensive. Is there a reason you weren't using a less expensive provider? As for the $20/month plan, how many minutes does that buy you? Does it still work out to be $0.20/minute, or are you saving money now?

Originally Posted by MaryBeth1

Wow! Twenty cents per minute is expensive. Is there a reason you weren't using a less expensive provider? As for the $20/month plan, how many minutes does that buy you? Does it still work out to be $0.20/minute, or are you saving money now?

I still have a Virgin Mobile phone with the 20 cent per minute plan since I had it before they discontinued it. The $20 plan includes 400 minutes, so it is cheaper at 5 cents per minute. I don't use enough minutes to justify having the $20 plan.

The main reason I got Virgin Mobile was because they had a nice flip phone on sale for $9.99 with free shipping. I probably should have went with a provider with a better deal, but I'm kind of "stuck" now. I have over a $100 balance, and I keep adding $20 every 90 days to avoid losing the balance. I would like to get a refund for my balance, but that isn't something they offer. I either need to use up the balance, or lose it. I don't want to lose it.

I still have the older Minute2Minute plan: "25 cents/minute for the first 10 minutes of the day; 10 cents/minute thereafter. Top-up $10 every 45 days," which Virginmobile no longer offers to new customers. This plan is cheaper than the monthly plans for my elderly father, who makes very few (short) calls. As a result of his low usage, he has an accumulating balance ($380+) that he cannot use fast enough, and that cannot be used toward the Top-ups.

Note: It appears you can no longer buy upgrade or replacement phones from Virginmobile for your existing phones that are on Minute2Minute plans, even though these older plans also carry the PayLo brand. I bought one of their cheap $15 on sale PayLo phones and it turns out I cannot use it on my dad's "PayLo" Minute2Minute plan; only the new PayLo monthly plans. I learned this when the Swap Phones feature on the website refused to do the swap. Arghh! Beware if your existing phone is lost or broken.