Ideas are good to help people evaluate. So you have to buy $10 worth of minutes every month to keep it active?

My son loves his Boost Mobile plan. For $40/month, he gets unlimited everything - he recommends it highly.

I've had Boost Mobile for many years and am happy with it. Unlimited talk and text; data is capped at 2.5 g and even though I use a lot of data surfing the web (no streaming) I can usually do that on WIFI. Even when we're traveling a 1000 miles each way, and I can't do WIFI in the car, I've never come near the cap. They have a lot of phone options. I'm happy with my Samsung Galaxy.

PureTalk:
$5/mo - 80 minutes - no rollover.
$10/mo - 130 minutes - rollover.
Flip Phone is free.
Data Plans extra.
Anyone else got simple, cheap phone to talk ideas?

Cell phone reception is very poor in the mountainous areas where I live and play.....DH has one provided by his employer and we can't use it unless were in a big city.

I have a FREE lan line through OOMA. I purchased the base unit for $100, then my Credit card is charged $3.21 taxes every month. It has free caller ID and unlimited free long distance.

The only catch is you have to already have high speed internet for it to work. .....which I do.

Just another alternative...

Some of my family have free land lines through Google. It's a nice setup . . . if they're not home, calls are routed to their cell phones, and voice messages show up as text in their email accounts.

I haven't chosen this myself because my traditional land line provides a way to communicate during power outages. Like Nicole, I find my cell phone practically useless at home. If the electricity is down, I can plug a simple princess-type phone into the phone jack and make and receive calls.

jae, I am looking for a cell phone plan that I can manage so that I can give my sister-in-law a cell phone. She lives in a group home in another state. I would like for her to have a simple 'just make and receive calls' cell phone that I would pay for and keep supplied with minutes. Is online or perhaps with the phone the only way to buy minutes with Puretalk ?

Please 'splain me (again) the advantages of a 'smart' phone. What's the least expensive smart phone/plan?

I can't imagine what a phone/service would have to do for me to spend $480/yr for it. My land line is $18/mo including taxes.

So far the Pure Talk sounds more my speed at $60 - $120/yr. Actually, the cost will double; both my DH and I want mobile phones.

BTW, are you charged only for calls you make -- not calls received?

You are charged for any minutes you are using the service, so both ways. If you are using the phone you are using minutes or data depending on what you are doing. Texting uses data plan, talking uses minutes.
However many companies allow free calls between two people who are both using the same company. So if my husband and I call each other those will not count against our minutes because we are both on the same company and of course the same plan. Since I use it to call his cell phone mostly I don't lose for those. We used to have that kind but now we have the unlimited talk and data which of course we don't use much. The main reason we went with our current plan is because we wanted the portable little wifi unit so we can have wifi anywhere anytime. Really good for travel and the rv.

Raven - which plan do you have?

The charge is 1/3 minute per text, comes off your balance. You lose no minutes checking the balance with the phone. Gaza, start an account with a credit card. Then you're automatically billed per month and get more minutes. Cancel anytime. They connect with the ATT network.

I visited the Puretalk website and it sounds alright, lots of good reviews; but the one question I didn't see addressed is cancellation - OldFixer mentions it in his last email. Is there really no fee if you decide to stop the service? What about roaming charges? how reliable is it when traveling around the state or even county? I have this problem with my Sprint phone - half the time I can't call someone if I drive across the county line. I live in Ohio.

Also I'm a little skeptical about the credit card on file too. In other words they will bill your credit card each month - you don't send a check in the mail to them?

schoolhouse -- We have several other services that bill our CC direct. No troubles over the years. (If a problem occurred, you'd file a complaint with your CC provider, and they'd resolve it.)

I'm hoping to hear back from my DS to see what he's learned from T-Mobile -- the 'family line' service we've been using.

Thank you jae_tn, I'm going to check into this. Right now our phone bill is around $67 a month for both phones. I feel we're paying too much because my DH only uses his phone when he goes out. He's retired, so he's not out for very long. We share 150 minutes, but we only use may 50 at the most. I use my phone the same way, only when I'm in the car traveling. I think one of these phones you listed should be perfect for us..

We are currently with Att for cell phone and home phone.

What you need to do to determine if you will have good cell coverage on these various companies and plans is determine what cell tower network they are using then look at the coverage maps for that network. I am on Att so of course it uses the Att cell tower network which has very good coverage. Verizon has their own, Sprint, tmobile, but many of these off brand companies pay to use the network of the big name companies. So the area it is covers would correspond to that map.
You can Google cell phone coverage maps for lots of information.

Keep in mind that some of these maps are only showing specific speed coverage, for example 4g lte the fastest speeds have a smaller coverage area because they have not implemented every where yet. So look at the map for speed /type coverage you need for your specific phone and needs.

I have att and get 4g lte coverage pretty much all over this area but in some of the more remote areas we travel it drops down to 3g or less. Which will be considerably slower for my Internet usage on my tablets but won't make a big difference on the phone calls.

Since puretalk USA is mentioned, they us the Att network.
Link to the faq that answers that question
http://www.puretalkusaphones.com/FAQ.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Maps

I use T Moble to Go and pay approximately $8 a month for minutes, text and talk. I buy a $100. a year so less chance of running low on minutes. They also roll over and I use a flip phone. This would not work for people who talk on the phone a lot.

Looks like T Mobil has a termination fee. I've been out of my Sprint contract for nearly a year now.

Like Linda, I hardly ever use my phone let alone minutes but they don't roll over. I don't text or access the internet either. And I would love to have a flip phone again, lost mine while visiting a botanical garden. :( Hate my Rumor phone, always butt dialing or putting my face too close to the screen and causing it to dial numbers in the middle of conversations. PureTalk sounds great except for the credit card thing, even tho some here have said there is nothing to worry about.

I am on my DD's family plan and it is T Mobil. I use mine for just talk and text, but we have had no problems and was able to use them when they were across the country this summer on vacation, so the range is great. My other DD has Sprint and she can not even come here...less than 100 miles without being in roam, which is very expensive....they are not pleased and will be changing as soon as their contract runs out.

I will have to go off of my plan in May however. They are only allowed 5 on the family plan and their last child will be getting a phone. So I am very interested in these posts. I have a computer, and iPad, so I do not even want a Smart phone....just talk and text.

I use MagicJack for my home phone...can not beat the price...$19.95 a year for all the calls I want to make, anywhere!...but mine runs through the computer, so if the electricity is off, so is my house phone. The only thing that I have had a problem with it is that for some reason, it occasionally will drop the call in the middle of a conversation....but for the price, I can call them back!

Back to Puretalk. No roaming fees and the coverage looks good (using ATT network). Will have to email and ask if there are cancellation charges(?) That is not mentioned. Can also ask about other payment methods (check?). Although the automatic credit card method is common. Similar to automatic payments from your bank checking account. Can keep your existing number. But, could I have the same number on both the home phone AND a mobile??
Love the tips on cheap phones. Keep them coming.

Sorry I haven't been back here - computer problems! There is no cancellation fee. I have had two other people use the family plan and drop it and that's it, no big deal. I guess the number of minutes has changed since I got mine but I still get 200. If the person who is on my family plan doesn't use her 60 minutes, they get put into my account. I'm not sure about alternate paying methods but I have had it 3-4 years and never an issue with the credit card withdrawal. I don't travel a lot but you have coverage the same as any ATT phone. I started with the flip phone then bought an ATT Go phone that has internet and texting as well as a camera. It was on a Groupon for about $40. I had to get a new Sim card from PureTalk which was around $7. Now I can send and receive text messages. I can not send or receive pictures with my plan but they do have media packages.

Thanks for the info. Just spent time reading the terms and agreements sections on the PureTalk site. Those of you who are customers - do you always get charged the exact monthly charge you signed up for, for example $10 a month. Or are other "extra or hidden" charges added eventually? They state that could happen. Also I didn't see long distance charges discussed. And it's weird but I guess I never knew that incoming calls on your cell phone count towards YOUR minute usage. You can tell I don't use my phone much.

Looks like I wouldn't be able to use my Sprint phone either. In fact most other phones won't work with their system. Altho I really would like to have a simple flip phone again.

Still no definite answer from our DS about adding one more line to the T-Mobil family plan that our existing cell phone uses. He did say that the existing line has been $9/mo. This has worked fine everywhere we've traveled, including Hawaii, but I don't know about any extra charges (roaming?) as the account is in his name and he pays the bill.

My hand-me-down Samsung slide-up cell is a bit clunky, but it permits texts and photos --, although I haven't used those features. It's pretty Senior-friendly; when I make a call, each number has an audible 'click' and is displayed in color.

Roaming charges are rarely encountered these days when you have a mainstream carrier. Their networks cover most everywhere, unless you're in a very remote or rural area.

As far as distance is concerned, your phone broadcasts only to the local cell antenna. Usually no more than one mile away, and often closer. From there, the system carries the call to the proper connection. Whether the person you're speaking to is next door, or halfway around the world away from you, the connection should be the same either way. The system does the work, not the phone.

Schoolhouse - I have had the plan several years and have never been charged more than $10/month. No taxes, no fees, just $10 and $5 for family add-ons.

Do you have to be able to have access to AT&T to use Puretalk? I have never heard about it in this area.

Please keep info coming....thanks

The access map should indicate coverage areas. Any questions, call them and ask first.

DS got back with the news that they had to change their T-Mobil 'family plan' to add a sixth line for my DH. There are zero charges for voice or texting between these six lines and no roaming charges. The plan has a zillion 'minutes' to cover non-family calls.

The total plan is $120/mo., which set me back on my heels until I considered that it is for six people. DH can use the hand-me-down phone we are both using now, and I will inherit another hand-me-down from our DIL.

I believe that Canadian cell users do get charged 'long distance' and 'roaming' fees. That's what I've heard from Canadian guests using our Maui condo.

I just got my first Android (LG Utimate 2) through Tracfone on a QVC Today's Special. It is a CDMA which uses Verizon or Sprint. This TF uses Verizon. Note: GSM phones use ATT or TMobile. Love the phone and it came with 1200 minutes talk, 1200 text, 1200 data. If you use it in your home or elsewhere that has wifi, as long as you turn wifi on, you are not charges minutes for calls or texts from the appropriate bucket/pool stated above. Also, I can transfer my current # and minutes to the new phone. All transferred minutes (I have 1550 on old phone, will be tripled for each call/text/data bucket. So, 1500 mins is now 4650 in each bucket, then add the 1200 that comes with phone for total of 5,850 minutes each bucket for a year plus whatever time was remaining on the old phone.

I paid $130 for this GREAT 3G phone that does all the things the big boys do, and the size measures up too. The 1200 minutes that came with are good for a year and rollover. I am not a heavy cell user, but now I can check work email when I'm away or price compare when shopping, etc.

The only drawback is it does not roam, so if you don't get a Verizon signal out in the sticks, you are out of luck. But, Verizon is the best covered company, so I suspect signals are vast, though there will be spotty areas.

PS: I have always had great experiences with Tracfone cust. service contrary to all the negativity out there. I've been using TF for 4 years coming from an old Verizon contract. I'm a sensible person that prefers to keep money in my own pocket especially if my lifestyle isn't keeping my eyes on my phone practically 24/7 like a lot of people I know, plus I work from home so another reason not to pay an astronomical monthly cell bill.

Here is a link that might be useful: In case you didn't know: CDMA vs GSM

Maui is a foreign country location for your Canadian guests, that's why. I'm surprised they wouldn't have checked into it first.

The same happens to me when I go to Canada (most recently this past June), I need to arrange with my carrier to have a supplemental "foreign plan" for my use. With Verizon, the plans for American customers in Canada are different than the plans they offer for "other countries" in the aggregate (which is a non country-specific blanket plan for any or all of Europe, for example).

Back to you, $120 per month for 6 people is a good price if that includes data charges for smartphones.

Snidely -- The T-Mobile family plan our DS has chosen is $50 for Line 1; $30 for Line 2; $10 for each of the other four lines. Each line comes with 1 GB of data, and each can opt individually for 3, 4, or 5 GB for additional costs.