How Verizon Prepaid Works

Verizon Prepaid has several options

Prepaid Basic which offers 25 cent minutes.

99 cents per day which allows you unlimited calling to other Verizon Wireless phone users and then you will pay 10 cents a minute on all other calls. Every day that you use your phone you will pay the 99 cent fee. Texts are 10 cents to send and receive.

199 cents per day which allows you unlimited calling to other Verizon Wireless phone users and then you will pay 5 cents a minute on all other calls. You also get Unlimited Nights and Weekend calling with the $1.99 plan. Every day that you use your phone you will pay the $1.99 fee. Texts are 5 cents to send and receive.

399 cents per day which allows you unlimited calling to other Verizon Wireless phone users and then you will get Unlimited calling every day. Every day that you use your phone you will pay the $3.99 fee. Texts are 1 cent to send and receive. This is basically their Prepaid Unlimited Plan. $3.99 per day for Unlimited Calling to any phone in the United States.

Text Message Bundles

If you are on any of the Verizon Prepaid Plans you can get the Message Bundle Plans. For $20 per month you get Unlimited Messaging. For $10 per month you get unlimited texting to Verizon Wireless phones and 250 additional messages. If you go over the 250 you will pay 20 cents per message with the Basic plan, 10 cents with the 99 cent plan, 5 cents with the 199 plan, and 1 cent with the 399 Unlimited plan.

How Tracfone Works

Tracfone is a simple Cost Per Minute prepaid cell phone company.

You purchase the Tracfone phone and a Minute card.

Then you activate the phone by calling Tracfone on a land line or by going online.

You will have to type in some numbers into your phone and then it is active. It is really easy.

Next you will add a Tracfone Minute Card.

When adding a minute card if you use a five digit Bonus Code you might get more minutes. Check out the Tracfone Bonus Codes.

Basically you buy Tracfone minutes on a card and add them to your phone. You will get 90 days of service time on most Tracfone cards. You must keep minutes and service time on your phone to use it. The remaining number of minutes and the service end date will usually show on your display. vzprepaidvstrac

Be sure to check out what Tracfone DMFL is before you purchase your Tracfone. Here is a great article on Tracfone DMFL. I would only add minutes to a Tracfone that had DMFL on it.

Tracfone Service Time and Minutes Roll Over

If you add minutes or service time before your phone has completely run out the remaining minutes or service time will roll over.

Get $3 off on any Tracfone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444.

What is a MVNO?

A MVNO is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator. What it means is the company does not have it’s own cell phone network, it buys minutes from one of the larger carriers. Most MVNO’s only work on one network like Straight Talk just works on the Verizon Network and Virgin Mobile just works on the Sprint network. Tracfone and Net10 are the just about the only MVNOs that can roam from network to network.

Tracfone is a simple Cost Per Minute prepaid cell phone company.

You will start by buying a Tracfone prepaid phone and a Tracfone Minute Card. You can only use a Tracfone Cellular phone for Tracfone service, you cannot use a Verizon, At&t, T-Mobile, Alltel, Net10 or any other phone with Tracfone Service. The Tracfone SIM card will not work in any other phone either.

Then you activate the phone by calling Tracfone on a land line or by using the internet.

To activate your phone you will key in a series of numbers. It is really simple and if you hit the wrong key it is easy to redo it..

Next you will add a Tracfone Minute Card. You will key in the 15 digit PIN code into your phone.

Often you can get extra minutes if you check for a Bonus code when you are adding a Tracfone card. Bonus Codes are a five digit number that you enter while adding a card to your phone.. Check out the Tracfone Bonus Codes.

Tracfone Motorola W376g and LG 200c

How Tracfone Service Time Works

You will get 90 days of service time on most Tracfone cards. In order for your Tracfone to work you need to have both Minutes and Service time on your phone. The remaining Tracfone minutes always show on the display of your phone. The Service end date will also scroll onto your screen. It normally says “Add Airtime by 12/21/10 or service ends.” hwtracwrks

Buying Tracfone Minutes

You can purchase Tracfone cards in different sizes. The different options are $20, $30, $40, $80, $100 and $200. You get more minutes for your money with the larger Tracfone cards With the first four cards you get 90 days of service time with the card. The twenty dollar card costs you three minutes per dollar and the eighty dollar card gives you 5.8 minutes per dollar. These numbers double with Dmfl installed. The $100 and $200 Tracfone Yearly cards extend your service by twelve months.

Tracfone DMFL Card

Be sure to check out what Tracfone DMFL is before you purchase your Tracfone. Here is a great article on Tracfone DMFL. I would never add minutes to a phone without DMFL on it.

For the Best Deal and phone Selection go to Tracfone.com

Tracfone Service Time and Minutes Roll Over

Activation time and your Minute Balance will both be added to your current balance when you add a new card. For instance if you have 20 minutes and 60 days left on your Tracfone and you add a 120 minute phone card you will end up with 140 minutes and 150 days left. If you have DMFL you would end up with 260 minutes (2+120+120) and 150 days of service.

The Most Common Tracfone Mistakes

Here is a great article on The Most Common Tracfone Mistakes.

Get $3 off on any Tracfone or accessory $19.99 or more with coupon code 23444.

Here is a great article on How Tracfone Wireless Works.

The Motorola Razr has been one of the best selling phones. Check out the Prepaid Motorola Razr options.

Prepaid Wireless Text Messaging can be an inexpensive way to communicate. Check out the different Prepaid Text Messaging options.

Straight Talk is a Very Low Cost Unlimited service and a very high value $30 a month service . Straight Talk only has two options which you can change between on a monthly basis.

If you are spending $30 a month or more on your cell phone the best deal available is the Straight Talk “All You Need” plan that gives you 1,000 minutes and 1,000 texts, 30 meg of data and unlimited 411 calls.

If you are using more than 1,000 minutes a month the $45 Unlimited plan from Straight Talk is impossible to beat with a National Carrier (Verizon) providing the network.

Motorola Razr V3 and Samsung R451c Qwerty Phone from both Straight Talk.com

Tracfone Plan Advantages

$20 phone card gives you three months of service time.  You get 60/120 with double minutes 33.33/16.66 with doubler cents a minute and $6.33 per month.

$80 phone card gives you three months and 450/900 with double minutes  16.66/8.8 with doubler minutes and $26.66 per month.

$100 yearly phone card gives you 400/800 with double minutes and 12 months service $8.33 per month and 25/12.5 with doubler cents a minute.

$200 yearly phone card gives you 1500/3000-dmfl minutes and 12 months service $16.66 per month and 13.33/6.66-dmfl cents a minute.

Minutes  and Activation time Roll-over with Tracfone.

Tracfone.com has a DMFL (double minutes for life) option you can purchase for your phone usually $25 or $50.  This doubles your minutes on every card you put in your phone for the life of the phone.  Many Tracfone Phones come with DMFL already installed on the phone.  Never add minutes to a Non-DMFL Tracfone phone. The minutes are way too expensive.

Straight Talk vs Tracfone Prepaid Wireless Plan Advantages
$30 a month plan gives you 1,000 minutes, 1,000 text messages, 30 megabite of data er month.  No charge for 411 calls.  3.3 cents a minute not counting the text and data.  Minutes do not roll over on this pay as you go system.

$45 Unlimited plan with Unlimited text and Unlimited data.  No charge for 411 calls.  There is no other Nationwide calling plan that comes close to matching this plan.

Nicer phones are available from Straight Talk than  Tracfone.  Although many of the same phones are available from both companies.  Always figure the cost of adding in DMFL to your Tracfone when you are comparing prices.

Can I use a Tracfone or Verizon phone with Straight Talk Service?
No the only phones that will work with this service are from Straight Talk.  Currently they have six models starting at $30 and going up to the Samsung Finesse at $330.

All Straight Talk phones use the Verizon Network for making calls.

Can I use my Tracfone or Verizon Phone with Straight Talk Service?
No you will only be able to use a Straight Talk phone for their service.  Even though the service works on the Verizon tower network and is managed by Tracfone you can only use a Straight Talk phone with their service.

Summary The Plan I would Buy Depends on My Usage

I would choose the Tracfone.com plan.  I do not use a lot of minutes and my favorite plan is the $200 3,000 minute plan from Tracfone.  My usage is all over the map, some months I don’t use more than a hundred minutes and some months I will use four or five hundred.  I am almost always around a land line to talk on so my cell phone is more for messages.

If I used all of my 3,000 minutes in seven months it would be the same as me buying the $30 Straight Talk cards every month.    Seven months at $30 equals $210.  If I am able to stretch the 3,000 minute Tracfone plan for more than seven months I am getting cheaper cell phone service.

The magic number is 428 minutes a month.  3,000 minutes/ 7 months= 428 minutes per month.  If you average over that you are better off spending the $30 a month for the Straight Talk Plan.

Summary Two of Straight Talk Vs Tracfone

If you are using just a few minutes a month Tracfone is great, you can keep your service active for less than $7 a month.  If you use 400 minutes a month you can purchase the $200 1,500 minute card and get 3,000 minutes with DMFL.   This will cost you less than $30 a month.  If you use over 400 (428)  minutes a month purchase the $30 a month 1,000  Straight Talk Plan or $45 a month unlimited plan.

Happy Calling with either Straight Talk vs Tracfone Wireless Prepaid

Get the Straight Talk Unlimited Plan for $45 or the $30 Monthly plan direct from Straight Talk.com

So if you want the cheapest cell phone monthly and you use under 428 minutes a month Tracfone has you covered for less than $30 a month.

Get the Best Price on Straight Talk Phones from Straight Talk.com

Check out Straight Talk Wireless

The New Straight Talk Samsung R810c Finesse is the first Smartphone touchscreen from Straight Talk

Check out this reveiw of the Straight Talk Wireless Samsung R451c

How well does the Straight Talk LG 200c hold up.  What features are included with the LG 200c?

Review of the Straight Talk LG 100c

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of Tracfone vs Net10 vs Straight Talk Prepaid wireless company plans.  Which companies’ phones will work best for you?

Check out Straight Talk Pricing. How competitive is your

How well does the Straight Talk LG 200c hold up.  What features are included with the LG 200c?

Get the Best price on Tracfone phones and Minute Cards at Tracfone.com

1. First you purchase a Phone.  Where to buy a Tracfone?
2. Activate your new prepaid phone.  How to Activate a Tracfone?
3. Add a Prepaid Tracfone Card.  It is quite easy. Where to buy Tracfone Minutes?

Add a Phone card
Add a new phone card every three months to continue your phone service. Phone cards range in price from $20 to $100.  With the smaller denomination the cards you get fewer minutes per dollor.  You can pay as high as 33 cents a minute on the twenty dollar card and as low as 8.8 cents per minute with the $80 cand and DMFL installed on your phone.

DMFL is Important
DMFL stands for Double minutes for Life.  Once installed on your  phone you will get double the minutes stated on the phone card.  I do not recommend using Tracfone if you do not have DMFL on your phone.  Many of the new Tracfones come with DMFL.

Running out of Minutes
If you use all of your minutes or activation period expires your Tracfone will no longer work.  If you allow your Tracfone service expire you will lose your phone number.  This really isn’t as bad as many prepaid phones which will charge you $25 or $35 to reactivate your phone.  There is not an activation or reactivation fee with Tracfone.

Best Place to buy Tracfone Minutes.
I buy my Prepaid Minutes at Tracfone Bonus Codes.  I buy minutes and add bonus codes at the same time.  This gets me the lowest cost per minute I can get with Tracfone.  I usually buy a Tracfone phone minute card package because I get a free phone and I get more service time for the same price as just buying a Tracfone minute card.

TracFone Ultimate Bundle: Get FREE LG 225 phone with the purchase of a one year card and save $100!