Anyone Ever Use TracFone?

Updated on July 04, 2008
S. asks from Prospect Heights, IL
21 answers

Hi, We travel a lot and only have local cell phone coverage with our phone's and don't want to change it. I'm looking into pre paid services and was wondering if anyone had an opinion on TracFone, Verizon or T-Mobile prepaid services. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

S.-

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for all your input. I really appreciate it. We leave on Thursday so I have to make a decision tomorrow. Thanks again. S.-

Featured Answers

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A.S.

answers from Peoria on

My whole immediate family has Tracfone. We love it ! It is the cheapest way to go. $19.99 + tax for a 3 month/60 minute card. The actual phones are available at a Dollar General Store or even Walmart for like $15.00. Overall these are good phones. And yes, texting is available on them and voice mail. Strongly suggest this type of service for no monthly billing and there is no roaming charges, you will never get a cell bill in the mail with a Tracfone.

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M.K.

answers from Chicago on

I have only ever used TracFone, and so do other people I know. It's a great emergency phone. The phone I have is the cheapest...you can get them really cheap on the tracfone website, and I only pay for the minutes I use. I have never had a problem using the phone anywhere.

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B.W.

answers from Springfield on

We use trakfone and are very happy with it. We don't have a good signal at our home, so just use it when we are out and about. I regular plan would be a lot more expensive for us. Minimum it costs about $6.60 per month, depending on how many minutes you use, you would have to buy cards more often. But the $20 cards are good for 3 months.

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R.R.

answers from Peoria on

I have had one for 3 yrs now and find it works just fine. To me it's a phone I don't need all the fancy music rings or the camera option so many others have. I have a tracfone and I don't have to worry about roaming charges of any kind, very occasionally it may have a little difficulty at finding a signal but not often. I text my DH more then call him actually, we can get 3 texts for 1min of call time.

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J.A.

answers from Chicago on

I have had T-Mobile (pre-paid) for 5 years now, and I love it! Before T-Mobile, I had TracFone, and hated it.

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A.S.

answers from Chicago on

I have one and thats all I use. I really like it-I travel with it all over the USA-only place I couldn't get a signal was middle of North Dakota-but I could get a radio station there either LOL

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B.K.

answers from Chicago on

Trac Fone is terrific for people who do not make a lot of cell phone calls! We love it! We have called home to Illinois from a cruise in the Bahamas & from Hawaii - Worked fine! We rarely use the cell phone at home accept for emergencies and contact as needed. If allyou need is local for at home, the Trac Fone should be perfect for travel purposes. You onl;y have to pay for it as you use it - no monthly ongoing commitment.

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R.K.

answers from Chicago on

I have T-Moblile and it's great. The service costs $100 and it's good for a year. You get 1,000 minutes, and if you don't use them, they roll them over in the next year.

Plus you get free internet access...something I haven't figured out yet, by the way...although I think texting costs extra...something I don't use either

R. K

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D.X.

answers from Chicago on

I have used T-Mobile pay-as-you-go for the past 2 years. Granted, I don't talk on my phone that much, but it sure is nice to have! I really like it, and would recommend it. I use less than 1000 minutes per year, so I buy 1000 minutes for $100. They don't expire so long as you keep adding them in 1000 minute increments. For a trip like yours, perhaps a smaller number of minutes (less money as well) would suffice. But the smaller number of minutes do expire (which is a downfall of the plan).

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B.A.

answers from Chicago on

One of my friends just went through this and priced out everything with each and found while virgin mobile seems to be the best of the pre-paids. She called her current cell phone company and asked them what the bottom line absolute best deal they could give her for exactly what she needed, because she was calling all cell companies today to get the bottom line best price. She ended up paying less for more minutes and nationwide coverage. I also called mine and found out I got a discount just because of where I work and where my husband works.

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L.P.

answers from Chicago on

YES - mine is still active even though I now have a regular cell phone for business reasons. I never had a problem with it. You may want to check with them about coverage for where you are traveling to. I go to Michigan frequently and it has always worked but that is not quite as far as you are going. Contact info is available on their website. For short term it may be just what you need but do a price check.
Will always keep mine active if only for emergency back up.

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D.P.

answers from Chicago on

S.-
I have a Virgin Mobile phone and think that it's the best ever. I don't use it much at all, so it's the best bargain out of all of the pre-paid services for my usage. If you use your cell phone a lot, I'm not sure it's as good of a deal. I pay minimum $15 every three months because I have a credit card on file (it will "top up" more frequently if I use the minutes up). THere is no basic fee, I only pay per minute used and whatever I don't use continues to roll over as long as my account is in good standing. They have other plans available but for me the pay-by-the-minute was the best. Just thought I would give you another option. I just bought a cheap flip phone but there are various quality/price phones you can get. the website is virginmobileusa.com good luck!

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N.T.

answers from Chicago on

Similiar to what others have said, we have a T-Mobile prepaid phone and it works great. We just got a basic model, so the phone wasn't even that expensive. My parents live in the country and we get spotty reception in their area, but it's great around the suburbs and interstate areas.

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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

We have used Tracfone as our only cell phone for the past few years. We have had great service and find it a very good deal.

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I.B.

answers from Chicago on

I highly recommend the TracFone. When researching phones for my daughter, we didn't want to spend an extra $9.99 per month to add another line to our current service. (Because after taxes, we would be spending about $13/ month.) The TracFone was a better choice since she buys her minutes as needed. She buys minutes about every 2 months.

Unlike Verizon or T-Mobile, there's no daily charge to use the phone. I bought my other daughter a recondition TracFone online and received 120 minutes free. There's one older model that allows you to receive free text messages. I hope this helps.

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E.C.

answers from Chicago on

S.,

we bought my mother in law a cingular prepaid phone a year ago and she had a difficult time getting reception. If you do not spend I think $100 for minutes then they expired in 3 months. If you are traveling a lot than that will not be an issue. just make sure you get someone who has good coverage where you travel most. I would not rec cingular.

E.

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M.A.

answers from Peoria on

S.,

Tried TracFone for a couple of years but it turned out to be a nuisance; you get so many minutes for a certain time period. If the minutes aren't renewed before the date you lose service. It was a hassle. Gave it up for a REAL cell phone. Very glad I did.

M.

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J.S.

answers from Springfield on

your best bet is to get an AT&T go phone.
you get better reception and can call more
people free if they are have AT&T phones.

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T.D.

answers from Chicago on

hi S.,
what I do is get a pre-pay in the area I visit. especially were my family lives. it is better for them since they know the exchange (numbers) already. when i need minutes I get them when I get there. If you are not going to frequent the area you can still you the phone in case of real emergencies.

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S.E.

answers from Chicago on

You don't always as good of service and some of the TracFones, Go Phones, etc. are set up on a local basis too and you have to pay roaming when out of your area.

That is why we decided to go nation wide with our cell phones. We found out we could do away with our long distance service at home if we wanted because all our long distance call are made on our cell phones. Also with At&T/Cingular it only cost 9.99 to add on a line and so we all share the minutes. Even my mother who lives out of state as a phone on our service. Saves her lots of $$ over a tracfone or go phone.

Good Luck,
S.

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L.N.

answers from Chicago on

yes I have heard of tracphone... my neice has one and it usually works everywhere(well at least from IL to MI to VA) due to the nature of the phone. T-mobile is good( my service) cause from my understanding if you contact someone else with a t-mobile phone it does not count against your pre-paid minutes. I am not sure about the other.

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