Money Saving Guide to Getting the Most from Your Prepaid Cell Phone

Prepaid cell phones provide the convenience of a cell phone without the recurring cost of a long-term cell phone contract. That being said, it is clear that prepaid cell phones are not for everyone, especially those that expect to spend long periods on the phone or make multiple calls during the course of a day. On the other hand there are people who find them useful for the occasional call, coordinating the pickup of someone arriving on a plane, for potential emergencies, etc. The emerging popularity of prepaid cell phones means multiple plans are available including some major carriers such as Alltel, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T Go Phone, Verizon and US Cellular Prepaid. Other companies include Net 10, Virgin Mobile, Tracfone, Xtreme Mobile and Boost Mobile. Tracfone was one of the first to offer prepaid cell phones on a non-contract basis.

First a short primer may be useful to people not familiar with the prepaid cell phone process. First you need to get a cell phone. Typically when you chose a prepaid service you will find only their enabled cell phones will work with their program. Also be aware that not all models offered by the vendor will work in all parts of the U.S. With many of the cell phone companies if you go to their web site and enter the ZIP code where you will be using the phone in primarily, it will show what phone models are available.

For purposes of discussing specific money saving tips it is convenient to discuss a specific company. In this case we will use Tracfone since it is one of the pioneers in prepaid cell phones. You will find many of these money saving tips will apply to other prepaid cell phone vendors programs.

If you are considering purchasing a phone from a retailer or private party look at the Tracfone web site under Coverage Maps to determine whether the phone you are considering will work in the area of interest. Generic cell phones cannot be reprogrammed or transformed into phones that will work with the Tracfone prepaid service. A wide assortment of cell phones can be purchased directly from Tracfone on their web site at Tracfone.com. Visit their site often and you will find specials such as free shipping, or time cards added to your phone purchase at no extra charge. In addition Tracfone cell phones can be found at many local retailers or through web based stores. In addition new and used Tracfones may be found on auction sites such as eBay. While some cell phones will encounter roaming charges outside your home region it is suggested that you purchase a single rate phone thereby avoiding roaming charges completely when traveling in the U.S.

Once you have purchased a Tracfone you must purchase talk time units. One Tracfone unit is equivalent to one minute of talk time. Incomplete minutes are rounded up. Like phones, talk time cards can be purchased at retailers and online. Other prepaid cell phone companies such as Boost, Net 10, Xtreme Mobile and Virgin Prepaid have similar cards. At Tracfone these cards can be purchased in various denominations with the lowest one being good for 60 minutes. When a talk time card is used it also adds days of service to your phone. Recently Tracfone upgraded their 60, 120, and 200 minute cards to add 90 days of service. You must keep both talk time and days of service current on your phone or it won't work and eventually you will lose your phone number. Various other options are available such as double minutes for life card, 400 minutes of talk time and 365 days of service card. In addition there are an assortment of Value Packs that automatically add talk time and/or days of service to your phone.

It is obvious with these plans that if you want a cell phone to talk or text message extensively then a prepaid cell phone is probably not your best choice. At the same time with a prepaid cell phone since you have no contract you have the flexibility to pick a plan that works best for you albeit at a higher per minute charge then you would typically encounter on a contract phone with unlimited minutes.

If you are inclined to put some effort into it there are various insider ways you can reduce your Tracfone cost per minute. Variations on these techniques will also apply to other prepaid cell phone companies. For starters you can buy your talk time cards at a retailer with a reduced price such as Sam's Clubs or Costco. While their prices are not significantly lower it's a start while you are learning the ropes. Other sources such as eBay can also produce lower cost cards. Be sure to check vendors Feedback however to make sure the seller is legit and has a good track record.

Another way of getting prepaid talk time cards is to periodically look at the Tracfone web site for their reconditioned prepaid phone specials. Often you can get a reconditioned phone plus two 60 minute phone cards for about the price of a 60-minute card alone at a retailer. The drawback here is that Tracfone will only allow you to purchase three phones before one or more must be activated. In these cases you can auction the phone itself for a small nominal sum and assume the purchaser will activate it. Meanwhile you can use the talk time cards on any Tracfone such as the one you are currently using.

Assuming you have gotten a time card through one of these methods there are additional steps you can take to multiply the number of minutes or days of service you receive when activating the card. This is done through the use of promotion codes, which are liberally distributed by Tracfone. For starters once you have your Tracfone cell phone sign up for their Insider email newsletter and you will get 20 bonus minutes free. Beyond that do some searches on the Internet using phrases such as Tracfone promo codes or promotion codes. This will result in hundreds of sites listing codes that will add free time and/or days when activating a prepaid Tracfone talk time card. The challenge here will be that in many cases these codes will have expired and will not work.

Many people feel it's easiest to call your prepaid cell phone provider to activate a time card and verbally give the representative the codes you want to try. Do your homework first and have a list of codes that are relevant for the type of talk time card you are adding. For example don't bother trying to use codes that add free minutes if you activate a 120 minute card if you are only going to be activating a 60 minute card. They will tell you if one is accepted or not. If it's not move on to the next one on your list until you get one that works. In most cases you will find a code that will add free bonus minutes to the time card you are adding.

Although it can take some extra effort by using some of the techniques presented will enable you to get to most for your money when using a prepaid cell phone.