trac phones

[tomc]

I have a TracFone and can use it only in the US and possessions. Won't work on the ship or in Canada.

 

I don't need to do anything but make and receive calls, nor do I need that many minutes, so I just buy 400/year plus 200 bonus for $100. It seems to work well for me and I roll over minutes at the end. Right now, I have 100 minutes/month to use so I better get hopping before I get another 600 in September!

 

Only three people know my number and two of them don't use it. It's for my convenience and I can be easily reached at my home phone & answering machine.

[tlippy]

Are you familiar with the saying "You get what you pay for"?

I've been using Tracfones for 10 years with never any problem. I currently have a Tracfone smart phone and with my usage it costs $8/month. That's full WiFi, email,texts send pictures, etc. I sure don't get suckered into the usual $40/month cell phone plan.

[tlippy]

I think most of Alaska's ports require a GSM phone (AT&T). All of TracFones smart phones are CDMA phones (Verizon). I'm going to all the West Coast ports of Alaska in a month and then I can post with knowledge.

[SightCRR]

In June 2015 in the AK ports my Trac iPhone 4 never found a tower to connect to. My wifes older trac phone found service in every port except Canada (Victoria).

sightcrr

[agabbymama]

My old Trac fone (maybe 5 years old) wouldn't connect to the Bluetooth in my new vehicle. I had the technician at the dealer even try to connect, but it just wouldn't. He told me "no disrespect, but sometimes the cheaper phones just don't have the technology to connect to Bluetooth". So I bought a newer model phone from Net 10 and it connects fine.

 

I never tried to use the phones outside of the US. I bought an inexpensive international phone for my med cruise as Trac fone and Net 10 both said they only work in the US.

 

I've been perfectly satisfied with the less expensive phone models, I have no need for a Smart phone at the cost difference involved.

Edited July 26, 2015 by agabbymama

[Lizzie68]

I've learned a lot on this thread - I had no idea what a trac phone was. But the information is very contradictory. Works in Puerto Rico, does not work in Puerto Rico, works on the ship, does not work on the ship. Still, this sounds like the perfect phone for my DH so will look into this further . Thanks.:)

[POA1]

I Googled Trac Phone Coverage Map:

 

http://www.tracfone.com/includes/content/questions/General.jsp?enId=FA10035&esId=FA10036&a=1408392170215

 

The links you need are on that page.

 

A geekier version is here:

 

http://www.deadcellzones.com/tracfone.html

 

From what I've read, Net 10 has a better coverage footprint.

Edited July 26, 2015 by POA1

[Mary Ellen]

Considering this thread is over 5 years old, you may want to confirm anything you've learned. ;)

I've learned a lot on this thread - I had no idea what a trac phone was. But the information is very contradictory. Works in Puerto Rico, does not work in Puerto Rico, works on the ship, does not work on the ship. Still, this sounds like the perfect phone for my DH so will look into this further . Thanks.:)

[durangoscots]

I use trac fone and have for years. Have a bunch of minutes built up since I use it mainly for travel. I have used it in Alaska although I did have to move around a bit to find myself a spot where it would connect, but connect it did. I also have used it in St. Thomas. It is certainly cheap and I have the cheapest model, but it does the job.

 

Susan

[Fouremco]

Considering this thread is over 5 years old, you may want to confirm anything you've learned. ;)

Yet another example of why threads should be capped once they've been dormant for a year or some such period.

[Lizzie68]

Considering this thread is over 5 years old, you may want to confirm anything you've learned. ;)

 

Thanks, Mary Ellen - I hadn't noticed that.:o:o

[Banditswife]

I was intently reading this thread, then read that it was several yrs old. oops.:mad:

 

We do use an AT&T prepaid phone- it is so much cheaper than a monthly plan. We have used it while in foreign ports. I cannot remember which ports though. I am thinking it would work in Canada & Mexico, & maybe for US territories. I do frequently use it to call my son who lives in Canada. So I will take it on our next cruise in case of an emergency.

[NoWhiners]

I did notice that this thread started 5 years ago, but it still has some useful info. I bought a an LG 41C tracfone last December and have been using it around the US ever since. I never was able to get a signal to make calls in San Juan or St Thomas, which sort of surprised me. It was no big deal, I was just trying it as an experiment. i also wanted to note that while you can't make calls or send texts, you can use it for Internet if you can find wifi (at least on wifi capable phones). So, I was able to check my email using the web site and not my email connection, and that worked for me to keep in touch.

 

Also, now they offer triple minutes/text/data that carryover for life, which is nice to have. You do have to periodically add minutes (as other posters noted you have a choice of time period). I buy a 90 day card, so every quarter I pay $20 and get more minutes, etc. It is a perfect solution for me but may not work for everyone. You can get Android or iPhone, not sure if they have windows phones. And, if you don't want a smartphone, they have other less capable models for great prices. And you can find deals on them on Amazon or ebay and sometimes Home Shopping Network, they will be noted to be tracfones.

 

They offer service via AT&T, Verizon and maybe Sprint, it depends on where you live. if you go to their site (tracfone.com) and enter your zip code, it will tell you what phones you can buy and who provides the service. Or, it might be that you need to understand how they code the models to figure out your network. I was googling for this info and found an article that explained how you could read the code and determine which provider you would get. I needed Verizon for a few reasons, so made sure I got a model that worked with them but I had a choice of AT&T also. They are CDMA phones, as noted previously.

 

Just wanted to add my experience to update this thread, might help some people. And I found it easy and helpful to carry this phone overseas and use wifi to keep in touch and do other things.

 

good luck

ML

[Lizzie68]

I did notice that this thread started 5 years ago, but it still has some useful info. I bought a an LG 41C tracfone last December and have been using it around the US ever since. I never was able to get a signal to make calls in San Juan or St Thomas, which sort of surprised me. It was no big deal, I was just trying it as an experiment. i also wanted to note that while you can't make calls or send texts, you can use it for Internet if you can find wifi (at least on wifi capable phones). So, I was able to check my email using the web site and not my email connection, and that worked for me to keep in touch.

 

Also, now they offer triple minutes/text/data that carryover for life, which is nice to have. You do have to periodically add minutes (as other posters noted you have a choice of time period). I buy a 90 day card, so every quarter I pay $20 and get more minutes, etc. It is a perfect solution for me but may not work for everyone. You can get Android or iPhone, not sure if they have windows phones. And, if you don't want a smartphone, they have other less capable models for great prices. And you can find deals on them on Amazon or ebay and sometimes Home Shopping Network, they will be noted to be tracfones.

 

They offer service via AT&T, Verizon and maybe Sprint, it depends on where you live. if you go to their site (tracfone.com) and enter your zip code, it will tell you what phones you can buy and who provides the service. Or, it might be that you need to understand how they code the models to figure out your network. I was googling for this info and found an article that explained how you could read the code and determine which provider you would get. I needed Verizon for a few reasons, so made sure I got a model that worked with them but I had a choice of AT&T also. They are CDMA phones, as noted previously.

 

Just wanted to add my experience to update this thread, might help some people. And I found it easy and helpful to carry this phone overseas and use wifi to keep in touch and do other things.

 

good luck

ML

 

Thank you. This is really helpful information. And it sounds perfect for my DH who is baffled by smart phones.

[I_r_a]

Hey KK,

 

My Lady wife and I each have a tracfone which we use for emergencies.

They are LG phones w/camera and FM radio.

 

For <$10/mo we each get $40 min.

 

I now have >550 min. She has nearly 800 min.

 

It costs 30 sec to send most text messages. About 1 min for a picture.

 

Very useful for us senior citizens who don't use the phone much.

 

Ira

[take us away]

Used to have Sprint and when cruising for a long time would put the plan 'to sleep'. Bought a calling card which I used to call home now and again and had great success. Have a friend who uses Google chat or something like that (kind of like Skpe) to talk with her children at least weekly when on a world cruise and has never had a problem - and it is free. All she needs is an internet connection.

[threeedogmedia]

I know you were asking about Trac phones but we just got a text from AT&T announcing that they are not charging anything for international texts in the future with our share plan. That will save me quite a bit of money on our next cruise. I do however plan to check at a phone store in Sydney before our cruise as to the prices of a phone in Australia that allows cheap international phone calls.

Karen

[hugger]

My Dh uses a tracfone as he rarely uses a cell phone. And, his worked in St Thomas and San Juan. It also showed service in Aruba didn't try to use it though.

[Typhoon1]

Yet another example of why threads should be capped once they've been dormant for a year or some such period.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[I_r_a]

>... another example of why threads should be capped ....

 

I respectfully rise to voice an alternative opinion.

 

I found the discussion quite useful. It led me to where I found the numbers for international dialing.

 

Ira

[Lizzie68]

Yet another example of why threads should be capped once they've been dormant for a year or some such period.

 

Why? Some of us have been quite appreciative of the information, which was obviously missed the first time around.

[Fouremco]

>... another example of why threads should be capped ....

 

I respectfully rise to voice an alternative opinion.

 

I found the discussion quite useful. It led me to where I found the numbers for international dialing.

 

Ira

 

Why? Some of us have been quite appreciative of the information, which was obviously missed the first time around.

A six year old thread dealing with HAL's wine policy would have lots of interesting information in it as well, but I think that it would probably be a good idea to start a new thread on the topic and deal with current policies. Given the speed of change of technology, a discussion of current trac phones would also be far more relevant.

 

A capped thread isn't removed from the system, you simply can't add posts. I like the system, as it avoids situations such as this one where the thread was revived by someone challenging a six year old post. Rather silly and easily avoided IMHO.

[RuthC]

A six year old thread dealing with HAL's wine policy would have lots of interesting information in it as well, but I think that it would probably be a good idea to start a new thread on the topic and deal with current policies. Given the speed of change of technology, a discussion of current trac phones would also be far more relevant.

 

A capped thread isn't removed from the system, you simply can't add posts. I like the system, as it avoids situations such as this one where the thread was revived by someone challenging a six year old post. Rather silly and easily avoided IMHO.

I agree.

The threads are still there for anyone to read, should they want to. They just can't be bumped to the top where people don't read the new post before answering the original post.

Some threads just refuse to die.

[Lizzie68]

A six year old thread dealing with HAL's wine policy would have lots of interesting information in it as well, but I think that it would probably be a good idea to start a new thread on the topic and deal with current policies. Given the speed of change of technology, a discussion of current trac phones would also be far more relevant.

 

A capped thread isn't removed from the system, you simply can't add posts. I like the system, as it avoids situations such as this one where the thread was revived by someone challenging a six year old post. Rather silly and easily avoided IMHO.

 

It's really too bad this is such an issue for you, while being useful for others. I certainly agree there are some threads that refuse to die - usually bumped by the OP from time to time. However, instead of taking jabs at those of us who appreciated the information perhaps direct your comments to the mods and see if there is something they can do to cap threads.

[Fouremco]

It's really too bad this is such an issue for you, while being useful for others. I certainly agree there are some threads that refuse to die - usually bumped by the OP from time to time. However, instead of taking jabs at those of us who appreciated the information perhaps direct your comments to the mods and see if there is something they can do to cap threads.

I simply stated an opinion based on my experience on this and other boards and I certainly didn't take jabs at anyone. This is a simple difference of opinion.