Question about TracPhone

I don't have a TracPhone, mine is with Working Assets and is a Sprint. But it has a setting where you can turn off the roaming. What it does is it won't roam without telling you it is going to, and I have that overridden so that I have to dial in a number to allow it to do it? Sounds more complicated than it is, especially since I was able to figure it out!
I was concerned because I live right on the verge of the service area, and also drive back roads to Austin and other places where service fades in and out. Roaming will kill you!

Good luck, I love mine, it is nice to know that if you get into trouble you can call someone. Mostly just nice to know that if you are running late your loved ones don't have to worry about you. I had car trouble about four times and my family was very concerned, even though I was handling it, they didn't know that.

hollym

Trac phone will be great for you if you keep it to emergency and or the odd call, I've used mine that way for a couple of years. It holds a charge well, I didn't like my coverage area and they changed it for me, same with my son. I have the phone that was about $40? you can text message on it to other phones and it costs only half a unit. That way kids can tell me they are on the way home etc and it's just a half unit. Took me some time to learn (lol) but It's good once you know how.
Try it I think it will be ideal for what you want.

Carol K

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Midhill Dexters
http://www.midhilldexters.com/

Trac phones are a life saver. We have one. We only use it for useful conversations. No more.. And we are not the type to have a phone glued to our ear. Yes it costs alittle more per minute but It is still cheaper than having a contract by far for us. And you have coverage if an emergency happens.

My husband checked all the prepaids before we got a tracfone. It had the best coverage for where we are located. I'd check that first. We have this for our son and costing us less than $10 a month.

They sound like just the thing for emergencies! Regarding getting by without a cell...yes of course it's possible. I am, however, reminded of the time when, while pulling a small trailer with a load of lumber, the trailer broke on a railroad track. We went to the nearest house and asked to use the phone. The owner would not even let me stand on her porch and use it, and I was 9 months pregnant! I was forced to stand in the rain near the car while my husband hiked to the next house. Perhaps, years ago, people had enough trust in each other to help those in trouble, but that is not always the case now!

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Melissa
Reformed hoyden. Please forgive me if I relapse.

Trac phone just started a phone service called Net 10.
So far for me it is working out pretty well.
It is .10 a minute- NO ROAMING FEE. (So calling my sister in FL cost the same as calling home...10 a minute.)
Only drawback so far, is that compared to the Simple Freedom phone (run on the Alltell network), I will have to spend a minimum of $300 a year with Net 10 where you only had to spend $110 a year with Simple Freedom, (when I could buy the $55 cards at Sams) However the cost per minute was .25/.50 a minute.

I have heard of a Sprint service that with multiple phones (for various family members, works out to $15 a phone per person with a shared amount of minutes, and free phone to phone, etc. Haven't researched it yet.

I think for us it will be worth the $300 a year, it is still much cheaper than a service with the taxes they charged. One thing I find particularly useful is being able to call whoever has gone to town 15 milles away (@.10-.20 per mile depending on the vehicle) to pick up things or run errands that occur to me after they leave. Saves time and money.

Buy from Walmart, they give you 90 days to try it and return it for a full refund if it doesn't end up getting good reception in your particular area. (Or you hate the phone style, as happened to me with the new Simple Freedom phones, hence my switching.)

As far as I know all cell phones have free 911 in them -- it was required by the FCC that all cell phones regardless of status ie service or not -- have free 911 access -- so if you just want one for emergencies, get an old one plug ti in(still has to be charged! LOL) and free emergency covered!
http://www.andreas.com/faq-cell911.html
http://www.emergencycellphones.com/

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don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- George W. Bush

We have had 2 tracfones for several years now, just for emergency use. One thing nobody here mentioned, They have a "stay active" plan on their website. If you sign up for it, they will charge you $7.95 per month, but you don't have to add more minutes, unless you want to. I did this with my phone once it built up to about 300 units in it. Basically I have cell phone for under 10 dollars a month, which I don't know of anything cheaper than that. I am down to about 200 units now. Once I get below 100 units, I will add more, but at the rate I use the phone, that will be another year from now. DH also has one. We are quite satisfied with them, but then, we aren't big talkers on the cell.
My co-worker LIVES on her cell phone all day, every day - She has Cingular, I think, and needs it, the way she uses her phone.

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[COLOR="Blue"]Expect Little - That way you will be seldom disappointed.../COLOR]

If you live in a place that the reception is bad, get a cell phone that will take an antenna. We have an antenna in both our trucks so if it hasn't enough bars we can plug it up and use it.

Just today, I stopped by my Daughters to check on her 16 yr old that was home alone. Well I had forgot my key and couldn't get her to come to the door. This is an area that can't get good reception. I went back to the truck and plugged it into the antenna and called their home phone. She finally answered it and I said I am here at your front door and don't have my key and need to come in. She hung up and let me in.