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  1. #1
    sms
    Guest
    I was in a pharmacy this morning and a lady waiting for her prescription
    was loudly talking on her cell phone (dumb phone) and explaining that
    she just received a cell phone bill for $125 because her "$28 senior
    plan" did not have enough minutes and that she had changed her plan to a
    more expensive plan. She was asking a relative for money to pay the $125
    overage.

    I wondered just how much these senior plans cost:

    AT&T: $30+taxes/fees for 200 peak minutes (unlimited N&W and MTM)
    Verizon: $30+taxes/fees for 200 peak minutes (unlimited N&W and MTM).
    20¢/text.

    Sprint and T-Mobile do not offer senior plans.

    That $30 would buy you 750 minutes on Consumer Cellular or 1200 minutes
    on Page Plus. Or for $12 you could have 250 peak minutes on Page Plus.
    No free N&W or MTM though.

    Someone should advise seniors about lower cost plans. If someone is not
    using a smart phone it's exceedingly foolish to keep service with
    Verizon or AT&T.



    See More: "Senior Plans"




  2. #2

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On Fri, 12 Jul 2013 15:15:27 -0700, sms <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >I was in a pharmacy this morning and a lady waiting for her prescription
    >was loudly talking on her cell phone (dumb phone) and explaining that
    >she just received a cell phone bill for $125 because her "$28 senior
    >plan" did not have enough minutes and that she had changed her plan to a
    >more expensive plan. She was asking a relative for money to pay the $125
    >overage.
    >
    >I wondered just how much these senior plans cost:
    >
    >AT&T: $30+taxes/fees for 200 peak minutes (unlimited N&W and MTM)
    >Verizon: $30+taxes/fees for 200 peak minutes (unlimited N&W and MTM).
    >20¢/text.
    >
    >Sprint and T-Mobile do not offer senior plans.
    >
    >That $30 would buy you 750 minutes on Consumer Cellular or 1200 minutes
    >on Page Plus. Or for $12 you could have 250 peak minutes on Page Plus.
    >No free N&W or MTM though.
    >
    >Someone should advise seniors about lower cost plans. If someone is not
    >using a smart phone it's exceedingly foolish to keep service with
    >Verizon or AT&T.


    And often it's true in any case. The circumstances in which AT&T or
    Verzon make sense are not usual.



  3. #3
    sms
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 2:54 AM, [email protected] wrote:

    > And often it's true in any case. The circumstances in which AT&T or
    > Verzon make sense are not usual.


    Not usual, but not rare either. Some people want international roaming
    without the bother of a foreign SIM card. Some people want the faster
    data offered by 4G which the prepaid services don't offer. Once you get
    to a family plan with four smart phones, Verizon and AT&T are not so
    unreasonably priced.

    What is sad is to see people that use only dumb phones being suckered
    into staying on Verizon or AT&T and wasting so much money, especially
    those people least able to afford it. While I'm no fan of Consumer
    Cellular since it's one of the poorer deals in terms of prepaid, it's
    still a lot less expensive than the senior plans from Verizon or AT&T.




  4. #4
    sms
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 7:26 AM, sms wrote:
    > On 7/13/2013 2:54 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    >
    >> And often it's true in any case. The circumstances in which AT&T or
    >> Verzon make sense are not usual.

    >
    > Not usual, but not rare either. Some people want international roaming
    > without the bother of a foreign SIM card.


    My boss from a campus job when I was a student went to Europe recently.
    I told him he should buy a prepaid SIM card but instead he roamed on
    AT&T with his iPhone. $850 in international roaming charges, almost all
    of it for data. Since the hotels had Wi-Fi he could have done his
    communications at night, for free, but he wanted to send out photos
    right away.




  5. #5
    William Munny
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/13 3:23 PM, sms wrote:
    > On 7/13/2013 7:26 AM, sms wrote:
    >> On 7/13/2013 2:54 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    >>
    >>> And often it's true in any case. The circumstances in which AT&T or
    >>> Verzon make sense are not usual.

    >>
    >> Not usual, but not rare either. Some people want international roaming
    >> without the bother of a foreign SIM card.

    >
    > My boss from a campus job when I was a student went to Europe recently.
    > I told him he should buy a prepaid SIM card but instead he roamed on
    > AT&T with his iPhone. $850 in international roaming charges, almost all
    > of it for data. Since the hotels had Wi-Fi he could have done his
    > communications at night, for free, but he wanted to send out photos
    > right away.
    >


    You should tell this to his boss. When the big boss sees what a pin head
    your boss is, he'll fire him and promote you...

    --
    "...William Munny, a known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously
    vicious and intemperate disposition."
    --Unforgiven



  6. #6
    Janet Wilder
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 2:23 PM, sms wrote:
    > On 7/13/2013 7:26 AM, sms wrote:
    >> On 7/13/2013 2:54 AM, [email protected] wrote:
    >>
    >>> And often it's true in any case. The circumstances in which AT&T or
    >>> Verzon make sense are not usual.

    >>
    >> Not usual, but not rare either. Some people want international roaming
    >> without the bother of a foreign SIM card.

    >
    > My boss from a campus job when I was a student went to Europe recently.
    > I told him he should buy a prepaid SIM card but instead he roamed on
    > AT&T with his iPhone. $850 in international roaming charges, almost all
    > of it for data. Since the hotels had Wi-Fi he could have done his
    > communications at night, for free, but he wanted to send out photos
    > right away.
    >

    Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until I'm
    home.

    --
    Janet Wilder
    Way-the-heck-south Texas
    *****ing doesn't count. Cooking does.



  7. #7
    sms
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 4:29 PM, William Munny wrote:

    > You should tell this to his boss. When the big boss sees what a pin head
    > your boss is, he'll fire him and promote you...


    He was my boss about 35 years ago. He is long since retired.




  8. #8
    sms
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:

    > Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    > thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    > phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    > email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    > to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until I'm
    > home.


    The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your foreign
    number if you really must be reachable (see the link below for
    inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple countries you
    can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the U.S..

    The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than anything.
    It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.

    <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>



  9. #9
    tlvp
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms wrote:

    > <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>


    Very OT, now, but I might add one printing tip to those your site offers.
    Recently I needed to print boarding passes for me & my spouse for our
    flight home from Milan. Hotel refused to let me connect to their printer,
    refused to insert our USB stick into their system, and had no fax service.

    Instead, they said: if it's just PDF files, send them to us as attachments
    on an email. We'll scan them against viruses, and then print them for you.

    That worked a treat :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
    --
    Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.



  10. #10
    Janet Wilder
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/13/2013 9:15 PM, sms wrote:
    > On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
    >
    >> Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    >> thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    >> phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    >> email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    >> to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until I'm
    >> home.

    >
    > The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    > always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your foreign
    > number if you really must be reachable (see the link below for
    > inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple countries you
    > can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the U.S..
    >
    > The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    > SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    > organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    > same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than anything.
    > It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.
    >
    > <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>


    That will not work for me. Since we cruise, we are in many different
    countries on the same trip. This summer we'll be in UK, France,
    Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Estonia,
    Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Ireland. And all places for as little
    as a day or at most 4 days.

    If I were going to spend a good amount of time in one particular
    country, then I agree about the SIM, but for me it's not useful.

    --
    Janet Wilder
    Way-the-heck-south Texas
    *****ing doesn't count. Cooking does.



  11. #11
    Janet Wilder
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/14/2013 1:02 AM, tlvp wrote:
    > On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms wrote:
    >
    >> <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>

    >
    > Very OT, now, but I might add one printing tip to those your site offers.
    > Recently I needed to print boarding passes for me & my spouse for our
    > flight home from Milan. Hotel refused to let me connect to their printer,
    > refused to insert our USB stick into their system, and had no fax service.
    >
    > Instead, they said: if it's just PDF files, send them to us as attachments
    > on an email. We'll scan them against viruses, and then print them for you.
    >
    > That worked a treat :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
    >


    Thanks. That is great info for travelers.

    I have purchased a Surf Easy so I can use it on public computers and
    where there is open WiFi. It creates a VPN.

    --
    Janet Wilder
    Way-the-heck-south Texas
    *****ing doesn't count. Cooking does.



  12. #12

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
    >
    >> Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    >> thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    >> phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    >> email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    >> to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until I'm
    >> home.

    >
    >The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    >always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your foreign
    >number if you really must be reachable (see the link below for
    >inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple countries you
    >can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the U.S..
    >
    >The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    >SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    >organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    >same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than anything.
    >It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.
    >
    ><http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>


    Your link lost me at "Assuming you want to be on Verizon in the U.S.
    (since it would be exceedingly foolish not to be)".



  13. #13
    willshak
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    [email protected] wrote:
    > On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms <[email protected]>
    > wrote:
    >
    >> On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
    >>
    >>> Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    >>> thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    >>> phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    >>> email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    >>> to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until I'm
    >>> home.

    >> The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    >> always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your foreign
    >> number if you really must be reachable (see the link below for
    >> inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple countries you
    >> can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the U.S..
    >>
    >> The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    >> SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    >> organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    >> same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than anything.
    >> It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.
    >>
    >> <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>

    >
    > Your link lost me at "Assuming you want to be on Verizon in the U.S.
    > (since it would be exceedingly foolish not to be)".


    Verizon is a little spotty in the western half of the US.
    Check their coverage map.
    It's dominant where I live.

    --
    Bill
    In Hamptonburgh, NY
    In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
    To email, remove the double zeros after @



  14. #14
    Janet Wilder
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    On 7/14/2013 7:13 PM, willshak wrote:
    > [email protected] wrote:
    >> On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms <[email protected]>
    >> wrote:
    >>
    >>> On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
    >>>
    >>>> Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    >>>> thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    >>>> phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture sending, no
    >>>> email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will have
    >>>> to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until
    >>>> I'm
    >>>> home.
    >>> The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    >>> always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your
    >>> foreign number if you really must be reachable (see the link below
    >>> for inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple
    >>> countries you can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the
    >>> U.S..
    >>>
    >>> The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    >>> SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    >>> organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    >>> same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than
    >>> anything. It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.
    >>>
    >>> <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>

    >>
    >> Your link lost me at "Assuming you want to be on Verizon in the U.S.
    >> (since it would be exceedingly foolish not to be)".

    >
    > Verizon is a little spotty in the western half of the US.
    > Check their coverage map.
    > It's dominant where I live.
    >


    I just finished an RV trip from way-south Texas through NM, AZ, NV,
    CA,OR, WA, MT, ID, WY, CO, KS, OK and back home to TX. I had minimum of
    3G and mostly 4G Verizon service everywhere but in one campground north
    of Loveland, CO where I had 1X.

    I must have hit all the right spots. <g>

    --
    Janet Wilder
    Way-the-heck-south Texas
    *****ing doesn't count. Cooking does.



  15. #15
    willshak
    Guest

    Re: "Senior Plans"

    Janet Wilder wrote:
    > On 7/14/2013 7:13 PM, willshak wrote:
    >> [email protected] wrote:
    >>> On Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:15:49 -0700, sms <[email protected]>
    >>> wrote:
    >>>
    >>>> On 7/13/2013 4:47 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
    >>>>
    >>>>> Not very bright. I use my VZW global 4G phone in Europe and the first
    >>>>> thing I do before boarding the plane is to turn off data roaming. The
    >>>>> phone will do calls and texting......that's it! No picture
    >>>>> sending, no
    >>>>> email, no Facebook. Cruise ship and ports have WiFi and that will
    >>>>> have
    >>>>> to do. I just check email when away anyway. Pictures can wait until
    >>>>> I'm
    >>>>> home.
    >>>> The best thing to do is to get a foreign prepaid SIM card. You can
    >>>> always forward your existing cellular and home numbers to your
    >>>> foreign number if you really must be reachable (see the link below
    >>>> for inexpensive ways to do this). If you are going to multiple
    >>>> countries you can get a multi-country SIM card before you leave the
    >>>> U.S..
    >>>>
    >>>> The first thing we did when we got to China last year was to buy four
    >>>> SIM cards, one for each member of the family. But we were not on an
    >>>> organized tour or a cruise and we sometimes didn't all want to do the
    >>>> same thing so we wanted to have phones more for local use than
    >>>> anything. It was super cheap to make calls and send texts.
    >>>>
    >>>> <http://nordicgroup.us/internationalcalling/>
    >>>
    >>> Your link lost me at "Assuming you want to be on Verizon in the U.S.
    >>> (since it would be exceedingly foolish not to be)".

    >>
    >> Verizon is a little spotty in the western half of the US.
    >> Check their coverage map.
    >> It's dominant where I live.
    >>

    >
    > I just finished an RV trip from way-south Texas through NM, AZ, NV,
    > CA,OR, WA, MT, ID, WY, CO, KS, OK and back home to TX. I had minimum of
    > 3G and mostly 4G Verizon service everywhere but in one campground north
    > of Loveland, CO where I had 1X.
    >
    > I must have hit all the right spots. <g>
    >


    Perhaps you did. I said spotty, not that there was no coverage.
    I Had Sprint for about 3 days where I live right after Sprint and Nextel
    merged. I had Nextel before the merge. Nextel worked OK until Sprint
    took over. I figured the coverage would be the same. Not so, I had to
    leave my house and go into an area in my back yard to use Sprint. I left
    Sprint and went to Verizon.

    --
    Bill
    In Hamptonburgh, NY
    In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
    To email, remove the double zeros after @



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