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Is a Virgin Mobile TNT "pay as you go" a good emergency phone?

  • Thread starter swords
  • Start date
I have never wanted a cell phone. In general, I don't call anyone and nobody calls me (other than my dad every day) but I've been thinking about getting one of those Virgin Mobile TNT pay as you go phones where you buy the phone for $20 and buy phone cards to activate them every 90 days or whenever you run out of minutes. I would be buying the least minutes and likely never use them. But I intend to use it just as an "emergency" phone even though it has texting and web browsing... How do you browse a website on a 2" screen? lol! It has custom ring tone capability, does this mean I can make my own ringtone and download it from my own website onto the phone or does it have to come from the phone company?

But ultimately is this a good phone for simple emergency use? Does anyone here use Virgin Mobile TNT? Can you call long distance with it? Does it have wide calling coverage over the US? I looked at a Vonage / AT&T something or other PAYG phone but when I saw the map of the coverage area in their brochure it looked like a lot of the middle of the country wasn't serviced. Does this mean their phone won't work at all if my car should somehow break down on a road trip for instance or I need to call someone in an area not covered? The Virgin Mobile TNT didn't have a brochure showing coverage area.

Also, does it cost something to get these "no bill" cell phones activated other than the initial purchase price?

Sorry for all these questions, I'm still waking up to the idea of mobile phones. I've only ever used a cell phone once when my car broke down at a gas station which didn't have a public phone. The clerk took pity on me and let me use his. lol! :D
 
I would also like to know a good cheap$$ pay as you go phone.
I had a at&t go phone that was $100 a year. $25 4 times a year.
 
you should look into a "normal" cell phone deal from one of the "Big 3". You can probably get the bare minimum ammount of minutes, no texts, web surfing, etc...and the cheapest phone they make for ~$20 a month. And this way if something happens to it you have warranty and whatnot. Just a thought.
 
For that matter, if all you want it for is to call 911, I think even deactivated phones can usually make calls to local emergency dispatchers, as well as network operators. I'm in the midst of switching carriers and my old phone has been deactivated for months, but I can still make certain calls out, such as the network's accounts receivable office, or my voicemail (which now just informs me that I don't have voicemail service and hangs up.) Look around for a friend that bought a new phone recently and ask if you can have their old handset.
~Joe
 
Seedjar is correct, according to my wife, and an old phone can make a 911 call. If possible, get one from someone whose service has the best coverage in places you tend to be.

I finally relented and got a cell phone last summer, so understand the appeal of not having one.
 
Bruce just keep it turned off.....thats what i do :D
 
My wife and I both had plans through Verizon.
I hardly use a phone and was wasting lots of money to keep a plan for myself.
I research the different companies pay as you go plans and found the best option for me was T-Mobile. Several companies plans, if you did not use the minutes you purchased after 3 months you lost them. T-Mobile also lasted 3 months but when you purchase more minutes what was left over gets added to the new minutes you purchase (If you have any left).
At a certain point you reach Gold Member Status. Then the minutes you purchase (again if you do not use them all) last a year.
I've had my phone with this service now for 3 and a half years now. I place $50.00 on the phone a year. Only 1 time did I need to purchase minutes before my year was up, 1 month sooner.
 
Thanks for the input guys! Nan I'll check out those links you posted in sec.

I don't think 911 would dig me calling to say my car's broke down, essentially that's all I want it for maybe also to tell my dad when I pull into his neighborhood to pick him up.

I've only ever "called" 911 once when I called my aunt last summer and the phone somehow directed the call to 911 - and her # has no 9's or 1's in it!? lol! :D
 
  • #10
one of the prepay phone companies, I cant remember which one, you buy the card and the 90days after you activate it only starts when you first use the card. IE until you use the pone the 30min or what ever you bought doesnt start expiring. I think you have to buy and use the first card as soon as you get it but after that I think you should be in good shape. thats if they still work that way. A friend of mine had one like that a year or two ago until they got a regular plan because they use too many minutes once they got it and started to depend on it.
 
  • #11
I have a Virgin Mobil phone just for emergencies. It works well, and we always get the $20 card for it. Only problem is, if you don't use your minutes within three months, you lose them and you'll have to get another card. That part seems like a waste to me. The phone works well though, I've never had bad reception on it. I don't know about calling long distance, I haven't done it. I make sure my husband has it with him every day, incase the car breaks down somewhere. You can't find pay phones anywhere in FL where we are, lol.
 
  • #12
Hi Trapper! That's the problem I run into, almost nobody has pay phones anymore. If there are some, they often will take your quarters but don't work. I guess they assume we all carry cell phones and don't bother to maintain the public phone booths anymore. I drove all over Minneapolis on my way to work one day in an effort to find a pay phone and of those I found never did find one that worked! lol!

Did you have to pay an "activation fee" or anything outside of just buying the phone?

I think the cheapest card I can get is a $10 one and for 90 days that's not bad. I can call the old man on it and waste the minutes just before it runs out just to get the use out of it. I really want to avoid the "real" phone service cos I remember the insane hassle my dad when through trying to cancel his when he got heart disease and retired no longer needed the phone to contact his house painting partner. He did exactly as instructed (waited until some specific date) to get the account canceled without a $200 cancellation fee and they still tried to get him to pay it by billing him for canceling it for few months. I don't wanna fight with all that if I should decide not to carry a phone, just not buying a minutes card anymore is a lot easier.
 
  • #13
I thought I saw a pay phone the other day, there was a dodo standing next to it.
 
  • #15
Swords: I did not have to pay any activation fee. I just bought the phone at Walmart and a card and that was it. You're right $10 every 90 days is not bad. I tell my husband to just call me on it on his lunch break or whenever to use up the minutes so they're not totally wasted. You are right about the pay phones, they probably don't keep them up because they assume everyone has a cell nowadays. The reason we got one is because about a year ago our car broke down on the highway. My husband, our dog and I had to walk to the grocery store to call a cab for us and out of the 4 pay phones there, all 4 were broken! It was ridiculous and by the end I was very upset. The store let us use their phone. That won't happen again now that we have a cell! :-D
 
  • #16
Cool to hear no activation fee! Next time there's no blizzard I might pick up one of those eh... Virgins! :D
Just driving across the highway to home depot for goodies today was a blast. I didn't think a 20 mile trip the Walmart was prudent to get something I might need to use on the way back home! lol!
 
  • #17
I am not a fan of mobile phones whatsoever!

Like you swords, I only have one just for emergencies. In fact, I have been using a Virgin Mobile phone for several years without any problems. There was no activation fee for me. The phone is like a fossil, but still works very well. The only time I got bad reception was when I went up Mt. Whitney in the Owen's Valley back in October. Other than that, the service/reception is always good. For me it's $0.25 for the first ten minutes used in each day and $0.10 for any additional minute afterwards. I think text messages are $0.15 each. I don't send text messages at all, so I am not 100% sure of that number.

Here is the one I own:
41M1D3ZCXHL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


I usually buy a $20.00 card once every two months or so. For me, the account will be closed if you do not add $20 in three months. You get text message warnings about two weeks in advance regarding this, so its nice. You can also check your balance and when your next "Top-UP" date is. Also, there are new cards that you can keep and add money whenever you need to. So if the store runs out of $20 cards, you can now purchase a blank card and add set amounts to it anytime and reuse it.
 
  • #18
Oh! Good point about the account closing, Joossa! Yeah, if you don't "top up" your phone every 3 months, your account closes and that means that phone number you have will no longer work. This has happened to me three times, so I have had three different phone numbers for my cell phone. I pay 18 cents/minute all the time and text messages are 15 cents, but I never use that.
 
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