A Tracfone User Review
A number of years ago, I made the switch from Verizon to Net10 (see my Net10 Review for more info.). This cut my cell phone bill from $60/month to $30/month for two phones. Net10 was great, and when combined with the Ooma VOIP system, I was able to cut my cell minutes down to under 100/month because I typically used my phone for a quick check-ins, emergency situations, and texting (today, I use a lot more data).
With my minutes so low, I eventually stumbled across Tracfone and was able to cut my phone bills even lower, and wanted to give a Tracfone review so that you all may benefit if the plan fits your mobile phone usage behavior. I have subsequently switched to Xfinity Mobile (see my Xfinity Mobile Review for more info.) as it offered one of the cheapest data plans out there, but think that Tracfone is still a great option for many users. Not sure if Tracfone is right for you? This Tracfone review should help guide you.
Tracfone and Net10 are Owned by Verizon
Net10 is a sister brand to Tracfone and is joined by Page Plus, SafeLink, Straight Talk, SIMPLE Mobile, Telcel, and Total Wireless. All were owned by America Movil, but were sold to Verizon in 2021. All of these brands are are MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), meaning they don’t own their own network, but instead lease bandwidth from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Depending on your phone and which network you choose, that will determine the network you are running on with Tracfone.
Tracfone is actually the largest prepaid cell phone service provider in the U.S., with roughly 21 million subscribers. Let’s start by taking a look at Tracfone’s plan options.
Tracfone Plans
Tracfone has some odd plans, to be perfectly frank. They are all prepaid (no contracts) and allow for flexibility based on your mobile phone usage habits. What differs with Tracfone is how long some of the plans last. Instead of 1 month, there are plans that last 60, 90, even 365 days. The 365 day plans are typically cheaper, per month, than the 30, 60, or 90 day plans.
For your money, the best value is going to come from the following 2 plans:
For those who use basic flip phones for talk, text, and very occasionally data:
$99.99 for 365 days: 400 minutes of talk, text, data. If you run out of minutes or texts, you can refill additional talk/text.
For those who use smart phones for talk, text, and data:
$199 for 365 days: unlimited talk, text, and 24 GB of data. If you run out of data, you can “add-on” 2 GB for $20 each.
Tracfone Network Performance
As noted, when you use Tracfone, you essentially get the same network coverage as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Running on AT&T’s network, I have never experienced any major coverage issues with Tracfone over the years.
Tracfone Customer Service
I’ve only had to have one encounter with Tracfone customer service (when my wife’s phone was stolen), as the phone service quality and setup have been flawless. The online help center is pretty well built out if you run into problems. Unlike the large mobile customers, Tracfone and Net10 don’t have local stores to get service in. I’m sure this is a contributing factor to why they are able to offer such inexpensive service.
Tracfone Phone Selection
Tracfone has a pretty good phone selection. There are a variety of smart phones, including Android phones from LG, Motorola, and Samsung, as well as Apple iPhones. Additionally, if you want a basic flip phone, Tracfone still has them.
Tracfone also has the ability to bring your own device.
Tracfone Pros
- No contracts.
- Choice of network from the big 3 carriers.
- Flexible plans catered to customer use behavior.
- Good phone selection.
Tracfone Cons
- If you buy a talk/text plan with little data and then want to use a lot of data, you probably will need to add a new plan.
- Not the best if you use your phone as a hotspot for a lot of data.
Final Thoughts on Tracfone
Tracfone offers some nice flexibility with their choice of phones, network to run on, and a wide variety of service plans that can be catered to your personal usage habits. If you want unlimited data to burn through, Tracfone probably isn’t the right choice for now. Right now, Tracfone is offering sales on many models.
We’re usually right on the border with these types of phones vs. our Sprint plan with two phones.
We use about 300-400 anytime minutes (we get up to 700) and 500 night, weekend, and Sprint PCS to PCS minutes. We also use about 50-75 texts a month (we get 300 each). We don’t do data plans…no internet. Our bill is $79.66. That’s a better deal for us, right?
Yes I think you’re correct, right on the border. For that reason you are better off with Sprint, I think – it’s more flexible toward a greater amount of use with and it’s safer, has better customer service. Yes, my arithmetic is the same as yours must be & I would stay with a conventional service if like to use quite a few minutes of the various kinds as you do.
Great advice, I think I will take those high priced services such as Sprint & save the 200.00-300.00 dollars spent monthly and add a Tracphone, place that mint right into savings since I hardly ever use all those minutes.
Pauline~
We have Cricket as our provider. We get unlimited calls/texts with 5G of Data and we pay $50/mo…..just curious, are you saying that your bill is $79.66 for each of your phones or total?? If total..that is a great deal, way to go!!
@ BIFS – Depends on how many minutes you use, it’s hard to say.
Hey…I got the Samsung Finesse phone from Tracfone and it has every bell and whistle you could ask for…bluetooth,3G, a large touch screen, high speed EVDO data connection and much much more. Added to their doube minutes for life plan I’m in cellphone heaven!
I don’t see the Samsung Finesse phone being offered through Tracfone. How do you get it?
I use a tracfone and can say that it has really been a savings. I have everything that I to call and sms and no monthly contract that I have to pay
@ Lyn – are you on the $45/mo. unlimited plan?
Sounds like a good thing to look into. First stop is their coverage map to see if they are in my neck of the woods. I don’t use my phone that much, so it could work. Thanks Lyn for your comment or I might not be interested.
Tracfone doesn’t actually have it’s own cell towers or even it’s own network, it just piggybacks off other cell phone companies. If you have a smartphone, then your Tracfone service is running on Verizon’s (CDMA) network. With regular cell phones, Tracfone runs it’s service using T-Mobile’s (GSM) network.
I’ve been with Tracfone for about 2 years, reducing my monthly expense from over $60/month, down to $7/month. included in that $7/monthly fee, I receive 160 call minutes, 160 texts and 160MB data, but with my landline, I use my cell so rarely, I already have over 2,000 unused call minutes ugly up, all of which rollover indefinitely.
A relative recently upgraded his service, giving me his older iPhone 6, and I was able to transfer my existing tracfone service over to it — quickly and with great ease, making My $7/month tracfone service, and even better deal than it already was! All my 2,000+ built up minutes automatically transferred too!
for me, tracfone is fantastic! I’ve heard some have experienced difficulties, , especially with Tracfone’s customer service dept. I personally haven’t but regardless, you generally do get what you pay for, and what do you expect for $7/month?
Great article and comparison between 2 of the best prepaid options out there. I think you really nailed it, if you’re a mid-level user look to Net10 and if you use very few minutes and texts, look to Tracfone. I knew they were linked somehow but didnt know they were owned by the same company. Either way, I’ve got a Net10 phone, I like the clarity in pricing and find its the cheapest for the amount I use it. Great service and good value. Thanks again for the review.
I think that Tracfone is a greta option and so is Net10. Both of those prepaid carriers, without a doubt, are the best ones out there. I have a Net10 cell phone, and I am saving so much money! My daughter has a Tracfone phone, and she is also saving loads of money. I can’t tell of my daughter’s experience with the Tracfone because she lives across the country, but Net10 for me is definitely amazing. Great nationwide coverage and great rates. I recommend either of these companies to everyone.
First a note that net10 texting is down to 2.5 or essentially 3 cents like tracfone. I have net10 and done the math and it works better for me but ive heard great stuff about tracfone as well. What makes the difference for me is the price of minutes, i use enough minutes where the flat rate of 10 cents beats out all the 60 minute aircards i would need. But thats just how it works out for me.
I have Net10 and suggest it to all of my friends. It’s so great and so cheap.
I bought a $10 Tracphone with double minutes. The coverage is awesome and the value is unbeatable. I’m not a big talker but you got to have a phone so I like it.
To G.E. or anyone else. I would like to hear more about how you combine Net10 and OOMA to get more out of each other or just more out of Net10?
@ Ron – my goal in combining the two and doing away with an expensive Verizon plan was to drastically cut my overall phone expenses. I use the Ooma to make calls from home, and Net10 when I’m on the road. I was probably using 500 minutes/month before the switch. Now I use about 100. And my cost is half what it use to be for two phones (if I had just one phone, the savings would be proportionately bigger). Plus I have a very clear and reliable home phone service vs. no service before.
Excellent Tracfone review! I’ve used this service for about a year and a half and still remain a happy and devoted customer. The coverage is wonderful and the savings each month really help our budget. It’s the perfect plan for our family and going prepaid has made a great difference :) The best part is… NO MORE CELL PHONE BILLS!
Trackphone may hay have a cheap reputation… because it IS cheap but I have one an really like it. I use mine as a second phone for business. I work mainly in a city with a differnt area code then my home so I have it with that area code. It’s a great cheap second phone amnd it costs me almost nothing to use. I really like Tracphone and like saving money even more!
I won’t disagree about the customer service being out of this world, but i must say, the fact that the plans Tracfone offers are so cheap, make me gladly look the other way. The phones are pretty standard, nothing special, but they are reliable phones and they never drop calls (so far, so lets knock on wood). The minutes are cheap too. I buy them whenever I need to re-up the phone so my spending is a bit sporadic. It really depends on the month and how much I am yapping. I know I am saving money though, which is big for my limited budget. At least I know that I am using what I am paying for and not losing minutes that I don’t use. That always bugged me about my previous plan.
I love TracFone. I have been using it for the past year. I only use the 60 minute 19.99 and it lasts me for about a month.
I went with Tracfone and have no regrets. I haven’t had a problem with service, activation, or usage so luckily I can avoid any apparent customer service mishaps there may or may NOT be. I am in no need for a smartphone so the available stock of phones provide me everything I need. I only talk/text and perhaps occasionally browse the web, and rates are really cheap for text/web. Like the article says, my unused minutes just rollover but its the beauty of PRE-paying that really gives me a sense of satisfaction. Good stuff Tracfone.
Horst, I think straight talk might be right for you but not for everyone. I use my phone very little and just need to be reached by my family. Tracfone is the best solution for me. Here’s mm video on Tracfone. It’s the best!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaTD_5Xzo_Y
It is so awesome that you can get 90 days of service for only $6.67 per month! I to am a very conservative minute spender so Tracfone is the company for me, I also love the verizon network for reliability purposes. Another great thing about tracfone is the cheaper texting rate of $0.3 a text. I cant pass up such a good deal because I love saving money!
So glad I made the switch to Tracfone. Let’s start with your downsides, as far as customer service, how is this different than dealing with the major carriers. And, for selection of phones, I don’t know about you, but my family goes through phones rather quickly, so this really is not a problem. Now, on to the good things…for me the best is no more contract! I pick the minutes I want each month and as long as I keep the service active I can roll them over. No hidden charges or surprises at the end of the month….because no contract! Did I mention, no contract!
Really great review. Switching to the Tracfone service has been such a wonderful decision. The savings are incredible and the phones are high quality brand-name. My whole family adores it and it actually has made a big difference in our budget while struggling with this economy. Going prepaid is definitely a smart choice, and giving Tracfone a shot is even better. I definitely reccommend it :)
Oh yeah great review. I personally found myself gtting them for my kiyds back to school. They always have specials. They have a special now at family dollar that is like a tracfone bundle.Its eight dollars and it includes a car charger, phone case, headset, and phone. My kiddies don’t need anything more and they are saving .. or well I am saving ! haha
I’m not much of a talker or a techy, so the simple Tracfone that I have fits my needs perfectly. I have a reliable phone that costs under $10 a month. Works for me :)
You forgot to mention the best part of Tracfone’s billing system, Promo Codes. I only buy 60 minute cards and there is a website that always has codes posted that give me 30 bonus minutes with a 60 minute card. My phone is also Double Minutes For Life so I get 60 regular minutes, 60 DMFL minutes, and 30 promo minutes that add up to 150 minutes total. That comes out to $6.67 for 50 minutes a month, awesome.
I really like the no-contract thing and no bills, too. I can’t believe how cool it is to NEVER get charged extra for crazy stuff like I used to with Sprint.
Man, I really appreciate tracefone and love the value of the great service. Yes!!
Tracfone is a wonderful way to stay in communication. It is cheap reliable and the service is great. I hihgly recommend it instead of a contract which can cost a fortune
I agree with the sentiment that tracfone offers the most affordable plans. Especially for a family of six. Every other prepaid service provide seems to be focusing their marketing, and their turnover generation on selling unlimited packages, for high usage, and consumption. This approach sort of isolates the budget orientated parent. Tracfone is the only company doing this for me at the moment.
I always buy the 60 minute Tracfone card and get a promo code for another 30 minutes. With double minutes it really comes out to be a value. Since I go laid off I have to be extra budget conscious and Tracfone allows me to do that.
TracFone is quite down-market and laughed at by cool people but you can’t beat the savings. They’re easy to use and cheap too, so they’re perfect for seniors.
Very good idea!
Im thinking of buying my Grandma a Tracfone SVC so she will have it for emergencies. I am a student on a budget so it is great that Tracfone is so inexpensive. You cant really put a price on the safety of your loved ones.
Buy her a Trac Phone. I am a senior. I don’t sit around with a cell phone stuck in my ear all day like younger people seem to But I knew I should have one for emergencies. Even though I had Trac phone a few years ago I fell for the JITTERBUG, which is suppose to be great for seniors and a piece of cake to use. . It isn’t!. I am being charged $20.48 per month for the service and an additional $5.70 for taxes and fees for a total of $26.18. Last month I made 5 calls that lasted 6 minutes (total).. With Trac phone I would still have basically everything I paid for, You don’t lose it, until you use it.
I bought a tracfone for my mother who is in her late seventies. She doesn’t use her phone a lot and really only wants it for emergencies. Tracfone has been ideal for her as she is not locked into any contract and the phone is simple and easy to use
Tracfone is a wonderful way to stay in communication.
Tracfone is good for me. I am happy that i have a tracfone this thanksgiving so that i can stay in contact with the one’s i love. Getting laid off from my job i thought there was going to be no way for me to afford communicating with my family as they live far from me. Thanks Tracfone!
great review! thank you. I also switched to Net 10 to save money, my cellphone bill was killing me, and after getting rid of cable I had to switch. Cutting expenses was the only way. Net10 probed to be reliable and very affordable and then a month ago… $50 for unlimited nationwide voice, text and web.
You can’t beat that!
My mom has Net 10 and she loves the $50 unlimited, who wouldn/t? But I’m 15 and I dont need that much. Now finally mom agreed to get me phone, so I think I will go for tracfone, all the comments and reviews I see are really good. Plus tomorrow for Black Friday Walmart will be having a great sale! I can’t believe I’m finally getting my Tracfone!
I know that with tracfone I can budget effectively. With contracts you end up paying for all those little extras and also for calls that you don’t even use. With Tracfone depending what my budget is for the month I can plan my cellphone costs and not have to worry about any contract fees. Tracfone has definitely been a moneysaver for me.
Something I’d like to share is how great Tracfone’s SVC is for us older generation. For some reason, it’s something I haven’t seen much mention of, but I think it’s really nice that some attention is being given to us oldies! I should add that up until recently, when my daughter pushed this on me, I really didn’t have much of an affinity towards a cell phone. I have however come to appreciate why there could be a need for them after loosing my car in a car park and missing a tea date with friends.
This Senior Value plan has such a user friendly phone, which has dispelled my fear of cell phones. Not only is the menu easy to follow, but the text is actually of readable size! And as far as the pricing goes, I pay as little as $7 a month, which is so little for this back up option. Friends speak to me about confusing bills and extras they are being charged for, and it is quite a relief not having to worry about those things. And best of all, my daughter is no longer fretting about me or nagging me to get a phone!
I am one of those daughters who frets about her folks. My mom does have a cellphone but it is far too complicated and tiny for her to use. After reading E.Smith’s review it has definitely made me decide to get my folks a new tracfone that they will be able to use – Thank you
I can see why people might be hesitant about prepaid phones. As far as prepaid goes, I think TracFone is a great choice – not to mention a great moneysaver. I was tried of contracts and too expensive phones so it was nice to lower my bill, avoid a contract, and purchase a new phone for under $60. For me, maintaining a budget so I’m ready for the holidays is a big plus.
For me its great because tracfone has a great family plan.. Kids are always on the phone, either texting or talking. Tracfone’s family bundleis a good way to teach them to be responsible. If they know they get so many minutes a month, you’d be surprised at how quickly the learn the art of budget and control. It is low cost to get and low cost to maintain, all with no contract obligations and great nationwide coverage!!
Tracfone is currently the only real provider of wireless that sells small plans. This help me a lot, as having to top-up more often is a deterrent in it’s own right. And that’s how I save money. I don’t believe in saving cause you buy massive amounts of minutes for cheap, cause you just end up using more anyway – and that’s no way forward for a conscientious user.
I am currently on at&T and was thinking about switching over to their prepaid gophone options… but from everything I’ve been reading on the internet.. it has made it VERY clear to me that there prices are MUCH MORE than other prices. I’ve read net10 is great but I was thinking that Tracfone phones would be better for me. THe phones are great and I got mine at 15 dollars and I pay at most 30 dollars a month. Have you heard good things as well?
I didn’t want a cellphone but Tracfone is a Godsend; cheap to buy, easy to use and cheap to use. Love it! Great value for the money.
So my mom sees a certain amount of status attached to her phone, and even when she’s battling to keep up with the payments (for something she doesn’t use much)and make head or tail of her bill, she has been insistent on sticking with her contract provider. Not so long ago, one of her grand-kids decided her phone would make a wonderful bath toy! This was my moment to get in there and get her something cheaper and less of a challenge. I got her Tracfone’s SVC-a sturdy flip phone with external icons to let you know about missed calls and messages, without having to go into the menu. It’s got large font, menu navigation is really user friendly and has emergency location assist.
Well you may wonder how she feels about it, seeing as though she’s the one who now uses it. She loves the fact that she doesn’t have to deal with a bill anymore, and can’t stop telling me about how much cheaper it is for her-under $10 a month. Nice that Tracfone has an option to keep the senior citizens happy too!
Great review and amazing comments. One of the best things about tracfone is the bundles and the promotions they always have for the air cards on their website. I think being a Tracfone customer not only gives you teh freedom of no contract but also saves you lots of money everymonth because you only pay for what you use.
Love tracfone! had nothing but good experiences so far because it’s saved me about half of my monthly phone bill per month which is very crucial because I’m in school and don’t have money to spend frivolously. The fact that I pay around 30 bucks a month for the same amount of minutes as Verizon is really great!
You know I met someone in the laundry room who was commenting on my blackberry. And was like do you like this? and i said uhh i mean its ok i guess drop signal a lot. and I asked what he used. AND he was like oh a tracfone. After explanation and him ranting and raving I decided to come online and search it out. And i mean this phone just seems perfect for me. Are there any smart phone type phones for tracfone??
Hey Blair,
If you’re looking for a cheap way to use some smartphones, I’d suggest looking at Straight Talk. It’s pretty much the same thing, but they have some better phones to use. The pricing is still amazing. 45 bucks for everything! It still has no contract or hassles. You should def check that service out too!
I agree with you TamPat, the $45 unlimited with Straight Talk is the best choice, especially if you have a smartphone and want to take out all its juice, get apps and download music, share pics and email. I have a Straight Talk and because I work in sales, Straight Talk really does it for me, unlimited service for $45 a month with no contract, awesome!
This is a very complete review, with the highlights and all the important points to have into consideration when buying a prepaid phone, great points! thanks! I finally got me a prepaid at wallmart, I went for a Straight Talk because they have a lot of models and some smartphones, and the best part is their $45 a month unlimited plan with no contracts, you can get unlimited web text and voice for a low monthly price. Awesome
Amazig review, I have to agree with desTravis, really I does not get any better than Straight Talk, I got a smart phone and for only $45 a month I get unlimited service, it’s great, I can download music, apps and email, It’s a great tool because I work in sales and this is the best value in the market, I’m really happy I switched.
I love the fact that one company can offer net10, straighttalk, and Tracfone. I feel like they supply products to all kinds of costumer despite how the economy is doing or how poor people are doing at the moment. For example i use Tracfone and all i pay is $30/month and i have no contract and the service is pretty good.
Tracfone works just great for me. I have total control over my monthly bills, never spending more than I had planned to, I’ve never had a problem purchasing minutes or loading them onto my phone and coverage has been perfect with no dropped calls. All round, I’m a happy customer!
I completely agree with ParkerLove. My parents got me a brand new TracFone as part of my going away presents and I had not had one single problem with it! Now while I’m away at college I can keep in touch with my parents without worrying about pricey bills. Their $45 a month unlimited talk, text and data is incredibly affordable and reliable with the Verizon network.
Love tracfone! It’s not fancy and it doesn’t have smartphones or 3G speed but it’s got the basics for as cheap as they can possibly come. I use them for my kids, it’s the only way I can keep track of their minutes and not pay an arm and a leg in overages.
Love the fact that the time not used roll over. I only buy 60 minute cards that automatically doubled to 120, so I have over 900 minutes and only pay about $20 bucks every 3 months.
Tracfone is the way to go in my opinion. It is the most affordable and has great coverage. I think that its not for eveyone though, you gotta check ur bill but its most likely the best option for you too.
Tracfone is the only way that I can stay on top of my kids’ cell phone usage and also keep the cost down. It’s not for everyone but if you’re dealing with low-frequency users and you don’t want terrible service just because you don’t unload tons of cash on cell phones every month, then it’s right for you.
I’ve been using Tracfone for 6 or more years now and I love it. I wish I had looked into Tracfone sooner. I am not a heavy cellphone user, so Tracfone works great for me. I was previously a Verizon Wireless subscriber, but it began bothering me when I looked at my monthly bill compared to how often I actually used my cellphone.
However, both Tracfone and Net10 are now coming out with entry-level smartphones, e.g. LG 800G, so I’m now wondering if Net10 might be a better value especially if the Mobile Web feature works out to be a good feature on the new smartphones. I would definitely eat up time if the Mobile Web feature works well.
i think the value of the tracfone is by far the best thing out there. Times have been touch for my family and I just hate that I had to leave my iphone. I do … i admit i miss it. But a cellphone was one thing I couldnt get rid of. And the best thing for was to get a prepaid phone. I like the tracfones. Im intersted in the samsungt301G but i dont know much about a few things. Does anyone know anything about the international calling? my mother lives in england and i still want to be able to call her.
If your mom is on a land line phone, not a cell phone, you can probably still call her on a Tracfone. I think it uses units/minutes faster, but it’s do-able. Tracfone doesn’t have cell to cell working in most countries. I made one short call to England last year.
TracFone now has a qwerty phone and a touch screen phone. I saw them on their website, so now they have modern phones along with their prepaid service
Interesting post. I think with Tracfone’s doubling minutes, promo codes and no-contract service, coupled with solid coverage. it’s a very solid and competitive service , especially for those who don’t use their phone alot.
And now, Trac has tripling minutes! Saw the deal on HSN a few times and just also found it on their web sight. It’s for 2 models of phones, no card but it’s an enhanced value for sure.
I’ve seen a couple of mentions of Tracfones SVC service. It’s not for everyone. If your looking for a o more modern phone then this will disappoint. No qwerty keypad, for example and the web browsing is rudimentary. But if your seeking simplicity and low cost, this is a very viable option.
I’ve had a trac phone now for about 8 months.
It provides double minutes for life of the phone.
The clarity is better than I had with Alltel.
I rarely get dropped calls unless the caller or myself
are in a very rural or mountainous location where
there are few cell towers.
I like the small size of the phone.
It is easy to operate.
Photos it takes are acceptable quality for phone photos, but I rarely use it to take photos.
I rarely text on it, occasionally receive a text but it works for me.
The website takes a little getting to understand how to maneuver.
However, it is easy to buy more minutes for your phone online, using a credit card (not debit), and the minutes show up instantly on your phone.
The phone came with a coupon book for 2 years worth of discount codes.
The website also has coupon codes you can use when buying minutes.
When I was with Alltel, I had a Samsung Eternity phone with all the bells and whistles, but found I didn’t really need them.
The reason I bought a trac phone is because my only option was to go with AT&T or Verizon. I hate AT&T and the three Verizon stores I visited nearby were all unimpressive and their rates were too high.
This phone charges up really fast – faster than the Samsung.
What I do that is saving me a lot of money is that I make free long distance calls within the U.S. using my gmail account phone service.
Gmail has extended this free calling plan another year so it is saving me lots of money when I make hour-long calls to relatives, etc.
I highly recommend Trac Phone, the fact that you can quickly add minutes online, that the phone is cheap & has double minutes for life of the phone, and that it charges quickly.
I highly recommend the gmail phone option too.
We are “snowbirds” and thought we loved our trac fone last year. saddly, this year, I am having trouble calling Canada. I do the 1800 number..then 1 for english then 1, the city code,and the 7 digit number. Then it goes no where. It might take 7,8 or more tries before it will make the connection properly. The people I call say it rings at there end, with only a muffled noise when they answer, and I hear nothing at my end…just dead air, so eventually I hang up (but I am charged the time). Is it me or my phone? Would we be better off if we purchased one of the more expensive trac fones (we don’t need all the bells and whistles)? I seem to have good tower connection. HELP!
My brother lives in Canada – (Vancouver). I have no trouble in getting hold of him. I have the LG500 phone. From what I have heard Tracfone is available in at least 40 countries. Hope you have sorted out your problem and if not and you think it might be your phone then I would recommend the LG500g. Plus this phone came with double minutes for life. This has been a valuable assett to me (which didn’t cost a lot at all)
I have had a TracFone for years and have used it minimally so it had 2800 minutes on it when I got a new one. I tried to transfer them, even spoke to a “supervisor” who assured me they all transferred, but all I have is 1300! Not a great deal if you lose more than half the minutes when you replace the phone. I have always had difficulty with adding minutes and airtime and have had to deal with customer service many, many times. If I had known the minutes wouldn’t transfer, I would not have, and WILL NOT EVER, get another TracFone!
I have been with Tracfone and Net10 and Virginmobile. I have also used pageplus cellular. I am currently going back to a tracfone that has triple minutes for life. I text more than I talk, but for me, the $19.99 for 90 servuice days has sold me, but the lg900g is really my favorite phone but the bottom line is cost so I am going to stick with Tracfone. I was using a Virginmobile android and finally came to my senses. I really don’t “Need” to have an android phone and the Monthly cost asscociated with it. I also have Ooma, That is a very good deal. Great website George, Keep up the great Work!
I know I just posted to this discussion yesterday but I did a little figuring and for me, I am going to remain with Pagepplus cellular for the next year. One year of Service days and 2000 minutes will cost me $80.00 And I am using a phone that I used when I was with Verizon, You can use those with pageplus. Ironically, Pageplus uses Verizon’s prepaid towers. As for the coverage, it is very good, though in my house, Tracfone actually works better. But pageplus breaks down to something like $6.66-1/2 cents a month, and I broke it down to it being 166 minutes, give or take, a month. Of course I can use more if I want but I think that might work for me. Next year at this time I will know exactly as I am going to keep track.
An update, My wife and I both went back to Net10….I did the math. Cheaper with net10 for what we will use. My wife and I both reactivated our LG900G phones and right now, net10 is selling refurbished LG900g’s on their website for $9.99!! They come with the warranty too.
A wifi capable Tracfone with triple minutes is freedom at its best.
I have had my LG900G phone for at least 2 years and recently I dropped it in my dishwater. I quickly put it in a bag of rice. The phone part still works perfectly but the camera now looks quite psychedelic!
So, I ordered a refurbished LG900G phone from Net10. It was only $9.99. It looks perfectly new. It came with a home charger and it has a 1 year warranty. You can’t beat that!
I use the $25 a month for 750 minutes. Perfect for my needs for texting & talking.
Great service. It has NEVER dropped a call and there hasn’t been a single place or state that I haven’t been able to use it in. Why on earth would someone pay those exorbitant fees for a cell phone with all the big companies.
BTW….cell phone usage while driving should be like Garmin GPS rules. My Garmin won’t even let me put in a new destination unless the car isn’t moving.
I LIKE THAT!
100% Positive feedback on my little Net10 LG900G phone.
Hi George,
Thanks for a Great Website and offering such great advice! As I have posted before, I Agree, Tracfone is the way to go. I ordered a LG840G tracfone from HSN and got 1200 minutes and $365 days of Service for $69.95. I did the math and it sits somewhere around $5.82 a month for cellphone service with that purchase. I too used to be with Verizon and I think I have come to my Senses, why get a large bill every month when I could be putting money in the bank? I take what I was paying Verizon and do just that…Put it in the bank!
I purchased an airtime refill card and called trackfone to activate the card. Trackfone put the minutes on some strangers phone and told me the only thing they could do for me was to sell me another card if I wanted to put minutes on my phone! Their mistake was my problem! Rude inept customer service! I smashed my phone and will never do business with this group of scam artists again! Their are legitimate phone providers out there; Trackfone is not one of them! They take your money and provide nothing! BEWARE!!!!
I’ve been watching trakfone ads on tv and noticed that 90 day cards cost $20. Four 90 day cards is nearly a year and cost $80. A one year card costs $99.99 Why $20 more for only 5 days?
That’s why I go w/ the 90 day cards. They are the best deal. The one year card is perplexing.
I thought the same thing until I lost all of my saved up minutes. I live in Canada and use my Tracfone when in the US. (GEEZ, I wish we had something like this in Canada, where cell phone company plans are a total rip off). I am usually in the US at least once a month for a few days at a time, up to three months at a time, BUT if you miss adding minutes to your card by the end date, you loose your minutes…and that’s what happened to me when I was sideline with shoulder surgery. I now purchase to $100 card just to avoid having to worry about loading minutes up every three months whether I need them or not.
My Wife and I are going back to tracfone after a long abscence from it. They have beter phones now to choose from now, maybe not Thee greatest but ones that will suit our needs just fine. Great website george!
I live in a DC suburb in Maryland and my tracfone coverage sucks. There are two places in must go to every week and I get NO reception at either place. I have to drive down the road about a mile from each facility. Do you know if they are expanding to a 4G network? If not, I’m gonna have to move on to something else.
They don’t own their own network – they lease off of ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. So depending on your phone and location, you are basically saying that ATT or Verizon, etc. coverage sucks. You could try a different type of phone (CDMA vs. GSM).
Or, you could simply have a bad phone.
G.E.,
This update comes at a great time for me and my wife. We are now retired, have had iphones (mostly because I am Apple obsessed)for some time. We seldom use the phones. We probably have thousands of roll-over minutes. Being retired we’re looking to retain our wealth by getting rid of the frivolous things we that we spend money on. I’ve been looking around at the options. Consumer Cellular seems like a contender. We’re considering Tracfone more closey especially since reading this review. Can you recommend a phone to choose for Tracphone? We need just calling and texting for the most part. Some of the extras would be nice but much more than we need. Looking for low cost but effective.
(I need to comment on your mission of being finacially independent. My wife and I are retired now at 62 years of age. We would have been retired much sooner if we knew, way back when, the things you are teaching. We were lucky, had good jobs and found an advisor about 10 years ago who brought us into the idea of “financial independence”. With her advice we almost tripled our assets in the years since, just by becoming aware of what we were willing to do for money and where we put that money after we got it. You are doing a great work that everyone needs to learn when they are young!)
If you want something really basic (not Android), check out the LG 306G on their site.
Perfect! Thanks for responding. This is definately something we can live with. I appreciate your help.
I’m using both Tracfone and TotalWireless, another new Tracfone company. I used Straighttalk for about 7 years and the buttons started falling off my reliable flip phone, which I intended to replace.
I used the $30 plan on str8 talk. 1000 min, 1000 texts, and 20meg of data per 30day period. The web browser was minimal, and a few times I ran out of talk minutes – maybe 5x in 7 years, most of them being the last few days. Sometimes I just waited out, others I purchased a new card. Very Happy.
When I went to purchase a new phone, I decided to try the new TotalWireless – $25 a month(30days, actually) unlimited talk and text but no data. I got the $40 android, which I can use at hotspots like McDonalds for my web browsing on the Android. For $35 a month, I get the same talk/text, but also get 2.5gb of data.
Totalwireless also sells extra 1.5gb data cards that don’t run out until the data runs out. Data is taken from your monthly data plan before it comes from the “xtra” card. So I switched from the $35 plan with data to the $25 plan without data, thinking the 1.5 gb “extra” could be used (I only use about 0.6gb a month). Wrong! No $35 plan, no data access, but the 1.5gb extra credit remains attached to the account as long as the phone stays active.
I don’t like the android as a phone. It’s a GREAT miniature computer trying to be a phone, but awkward to hold, to dial with, to hold to my ear. I’m probably going back to a flip phone.
Meanwhile ….
I have a programming business. I spend very little time in the office, I’m usually at client locations. I converted my business Verizon land line over to a tracfone. In this area, some tracfones are on AT&T, others are Verizon. My office phone is on AT&T which allow you to forward any voice messages to another phone immediately. So I leave my business phone in the office (I kept my business phone#, transferring it to the tracfone) and immediately return calls after I hear the voicemail on my personal phone that’s with me at all times.
My business phone went from $75/mo landline to $7/month!
I’m changing subjects here a bit.
Years ago, I bought MagicJack but never used it much as quality of service was not that good, especially if I was going to use it for business. I have service thru 2018.
Well, MagicJack has just come out with Apple & Android apps called “MagicApp”, allowing one to call and text from their mobile devices. The service is free if you have a MJ account, and if not, it’s either $2/month or $15/year.
If you’re not aware of it, you do not NEED to have active service on your android device to browse the web or use apps if you can connect to a wifi hotspot. So what’s that mean?
I can go to Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. and make calls of reasonable quality service for practically free on a “no longer activated” Android.
Maybe I’ll get a Tracfone Android and activate it, where I can call over the tracfone service when I’m not near a hotspot, yet save when I am.
I use Skype for that. If you dial up a phone with it, it costs about 2-3 cents a minute to most places in the world. It costs me less than $10 dollars a year. for all my long distance calling. It’s also another way around using your cell phone minutes, if you have a wifi connection.
A few more tips to keep yours costs down:
forward your tracfone (/net10/straighttalk) number to your home # (or your work # during the day) and not be charged minutes when you answer on the land line (which I assume has unlimited incoming minutes):
If u have Verizon service on your cellphone, dial
#72 nnnnnnnnnn to forward (nnnnnnnnnn = 10 digit phone #)
#73 to cancel forwarding
If u have AT&T service on your cell, dial
**004* nnnnnnnnnn # to forward
##004# to cancel forwarding
if your phone is on, it will ring, but if you ignore it, the call eventually goes to the forwarded number. Answer it, and the minutes are coming off your balance.
[a side note: when people say to me, “You’re cheap!”, I reply, “You say that like it’s something bad!”. My unwillingness to wizz away money allows me to take a lot of short vacations and still leave appropriate tips. I’d rather be “cheap” than foolish.]
Nice honest review of Tracfone. I would agree with most everything. I’ve had Tracfone for many years; just now going to Republic Wireless which is very economical. We’ll see about clarity of calls at is uses Sprint’s network exclusively. Anyway, very good review.
I’m not a heavy user and have had tracfone for years. The coverage is as good or better in many cases than any subscription service and the cost can’t be beat. Customer service is a little lacking although I’ve seen it improve over the years. I’ve never had an inquiry that wasn’t taken of although with some frustration at times.
With Cricket now offering no contract unlimited service for heavy users on the cheap and Tracfone covering the infrequent user base on the chap I honestly don’t see why anyone would sign with a contract carrier at many times the cost.
We switched to Tracfone when I realized we were paying nearly $20 in taxes for two Verizon phones. Also, we just got back from vacation and had no problem finding service.
I’ve been with AT&T for years and am happy with my plan and service. I work in a metal building and get 4G with ATT while co workers with Verizon get no coverage. However, I camp frequently and have found a few areas where I did not have service. Others around me with service were on Verizon towers. Not wanting to pick up another expensive contract I did my research and selected Tracfone to carry for those occasions. I picked a phone that uses Verizon towers and forward my ATT number to my Tracfone number. Not worried about data so much that I am about calls getting to me in case of a family emergency at home. It’s a perfectly cheap way to have cell phone coverage on CDMA and GSM towers.
Even for short chats this company is exploitative. Just get a Cricket phone for $25.00 a month and have unlimited service!
That’s horseshit. You keep paying $25 a month. I’ll pay $7.
I agree George! We are putting out too much money in this country for cell phone plans etc. $7 is a very good deal $25….is not
Maureen must be a heavy user. like those people you see that never put there phones down. Like the article states…Tracfone is great for those who don’t live with the thing like a feeding tube. But if you are like a lot of addicted cell phone users… it’s not the plan for you. For me it’s perfect.
“I went with a borderline smartphone with a full touchscreen QWERTY keyboard and it is great for talking, texting, and occasional web over wifi.” Which phone did you go with?
I have done saved hundreds with tracphone and rollover time all the other phone company’s are just taking your money,Just switch to tracphone and save daily I buy the biggest card and it triples ha it takes me nine months to use all that for 100 bucks …wow. used to be 125 a month with verizon.
I’ve had Tracfone for about eight years, so I have a lot of experience with their system. I had Verizon before Tracfone, and agree with the author that Tracfone’s sound and lack of dropped calls are superior. As to avoiding the Android smartphones, I completely disagree because I’ve had such a good experience. Last year I got the LG Ultimate 2 Smartphone, and I have not been disappointed. It’s a high quality LG phone, works perfectly, and runs all the same Android apps that any normal smartphone would run. It appears to simply have a separate Tracphone software than runs on top of the Android software. The phone came with triple minutes for life, so when you buy minutes you get triple the call time, triple the MB and triple the texts. You can turn on WiFi calling via the website and save on minutes. On the website you can also buy additional data and texts separately from the call minutes. 1000 texts is $10; 2GB of text is $30, and they have smaller and larger data pkgs you can get. You can set the phone to use WiFi only for data, and you can easily turn direct data connection on and off. A feature about this LG phone I love is the pulldown available on all screens that lets you turn data, location, wifi, quiet mode, airplane, and other features on and off instantly. I don’t know of any other service where you can simply log in to the website and buy data if you need it, or more text messages. I’m a Mac user and even found Android Apps that synch my calendar with the one in the phone, so I’m all set. There’s a slot for a microSD card so you can load up your music. So that’s what my experience of the TracFone Smartphone has been. I have not used the Moto or any of the other phones, so I have no idea how they compare. The ONLY drawback of the LG phone that I found was that the default email program deletes your messages from your server if you have your own domain and use POP email boxes – which means when you get back to the office there’s no way to get those messages into your work computer unless you forward them all back to yourself. There are several mail apps you can purchase that treat POP mailboxes properly, and can be set to leave messages on the server. That’s it, folks! Best, Karen
I’ve had Tracfone service for a few years now, and totally agree with G.E. Miller’s review. It is PERFECT for those of us who don’t spend every waking moment on their phone and who just need basic, cheap phone service. As to customer service, I have found that using the “Chat” feature on their website seems to result in much less confusion on both their and my end, and every time I used it any problem was resolved before the “Chat” session ended. Recently, I received a message indicating that Tracfone was (finally!) migrating from 2G to 3G service (a big upgrade for them!). To do so, I needed to upgrade to a new phone. While there are several models they offer that you can pay for, they offered a free one (the LG 441G) very comparable to my old model (Samsung T245G). I admit I approached the process of changing over with some trepidation, but between Janine and Salvador of Tracfone, any problems very quickly resolved and my new phone (with all the minutes transferred from my old one) is working great!
Great review. I am thinking of switching over. I have an At & T go phone plan.
Which cost 20 cents per minute for a phone call. My question is, what is the true cost per minute for a tracfone. Thanks…
I have been a Tracfone used for the last 10 yrs. no problems till now. I just bought a new car with auto starting by phone,, will my Tracfone, work on this auto start up on the car I have Bluetooth in the car but it onlt works when I’m in or around it? Help!
I have my service with tracfone that GSM “BYOP” even work with my iphone 6.
I had AT&T unlimitted since the iPhone 3GS…
Since then I was paying $80 or more per month, until January 2017 when AT&T sent out a letter saying they would raise rates even higher.
Unlimited was good for travel, but $80 for my average of 4 GB of data = $20 per Gigabyte.
not including minutes / texts.
TracFone let me switch my AT&T Samsung S7 Edge ! I just pulled out the AT&T sim, put in the TracFone SIM, and the help person at TracFone called AT&T and switched my number over for me.
Now I only pay $1 per Gigabyte for data,
saving $19. And TracFone DOES NOT THROTTLE – FULL SPEED!
50% faster internet than AT&T.
TracFone minutes & calling averages less than $9 a month.
I am saving $70 a month on TracFone.
Be careful with TracFone. I have had service for over 10 years and have been very happy. I have 2 homes and activated my LG840g at my vacation home. I’ve never had a problem using my phone anywhere. Until now. I am not getting service in my primary home. I chatted online with a rep who informed me the network coverage has changed and I would need to return to where my phone was activated to get service! This basically means that my cell phone is no longer portable. It might as well be a land line. I will be moved no on. It was affordable while it lasted.
I’m going to Canada and I have a tracfone is there a way I can use my phone while I’m there?
I just got informed by Tracfone that their lease agreement with Verizon fell thru and they will be dropping the CDMA network on April 1, 2017. That’s only three weeks away! I still have 4500 unused prepaid minutes that they refuse to refund. They only offered the lesser of $50 or 50% off a new GSM phone (from them, of course) and to transfer the minutes. Unfortunately, GSM towers do not reach my house (I’ve already tried several phones and carriers).
I have been using Tracfone for 4 years. No compliants ! The article that I just read Here is well written and outlines the Flexibility and Consumer conscious intelligent advantages to getting great Value for very good low price. I live in mountainous ,Desert in california, My boost Mobile Unlimited Plan drops calls and low signal That I was missing really important conversations But Tracfone out here is on Verizon network and Never Drops calls. I just got a new android and got to keep my triple minutes and they do bank up roll over the new ZTE citrone was reconditioned But I am sure it is brand new incredible it works with my amazon Music Prime account !
I know its a hard risk to take to switch service provider’s but If It doesn’t work out you return. I bet You it will save $$$ and customer service is not that bad it just that they are in the south Pacific and hard to understand but have always been dedicated to their providing and assisting all phone matters
For my money, Tracfone is the best! I’ve been a customer for six years and have absolutely no complaints. I was never willing to shell out $40 or $50 a month for a cell phone so I started out using Tracfone prepaid service. I have accumulated lots of minutes over the years and when I purchased my current phone, an LG Power smartphone, all of my minutes AND my phone number transferred without a problem. Minutes purchased are tripled with Tracfone smartphones. Because I have so many minutes in my account already, I really only need to add service time to my phone to keep it running. I go to the Tracfone website and buy the smallest airtime card available – a 30 day/30 minute card for $10 which translates into 90 minutes – 90 texts and 90 MB of data for my phone. At the end of the transaction I have the option to ADD ONE YEAR OF SERVICE TIME FOR $50. This option is only offered on the website as far as I know. I add that and because I have so many minutes already, my phone only costs me $60 per year! I use very little data but both data ( $10/1gb) and texts ($5/1000) are offered as “add-ons” which can be purchased directly from my phone with the Tracfone “My Account” app. Neither minutes, texts or data ever expire. “Tracfone Reviewer” is a good site to check out if you would like more information about the way Tracfone works, a comparison of the different service time options and reviews of available phones. Tracfone has also started a BYOP (bring your own phone) program which makes it possible to bring an unlocked phone to use with Tracfone service.
We have 4 tracfones and love the service. A flip phone can be as little as 8 bucks a month per phone while smart phones are as little as 12 bucks a month, per phone, on average. (This is after the initial cost of the phone, just the service plan.) Rarely if ever do we have interruptions in service when traveling across country… only in the remotest areas. TracFone doesn’t always have the latest and greatest phones, they are typically 2nd or third generation, but they still work. If you are into saving money and not spending it, a later version of phone that still works shouldn’t be a problem.
I have been with Tracfone for awhile, but only switched to a smartphone in June 2016. QVC and Home Shopping Network always have offers for Tracfone smartphones that come with an initial bank of minutes/texts/GB of data and the average cost for this package is usually around $100. I bought mine from Home Shopping Network; it’s made by LG; it came with 1350 minutes/1350 texts/1.35GB data all of which had a one-year expiration. I use my phone mostly for texting and always use wifi when going online at home or wherever wifi is available. I’m completely happy and have only spent $10 since the initial cost. I bought additional texts twice at $5 for 1000. I have tried to convert friends and family who complain about high bills with Verizon (I’m a retired employee and used their service from 1996 till about 5 years ago; even with 25% discount it was no bargain). I’ve not been successful at getting anyone to switch to Tracfone and I think the reason is this: with unlimited plans you have no idea how many minutes/texts/GB of data you actually use. You may not even be using that much and yet paying upwards of $70 per month. I have one friend who was convinced that she talks for hours each week as she has no landline. I checked the usage on her phone which she’d had for about two years and she had talked for less than 100 hours during that time. She still hasn’t switched. To heck with them! I’m happy and love having the extra $$ in my pocket where they belong.
Correction: you actually do know how much data you use,
Had tracfone for over 8 years. Dropping them. Bought a refurbished phone that never did work and they never replaced. Have spend 2 months on service to keep the number only to never be able to use the phone. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT SUCKS to no end! I have had 3 big problems with them in less then 3 months after years of no issues. As such a long standing customer who had 4 phones at once with them, You would think they would care. They didn’t even slightly try to help worth a darn until I got BBB involved. Even then the issue is still unresolved. I’m going over to Cricket. I’m done. I lost over $100.00 with tracfone and have got no service in that time for the refurbished phone they advertised as GAURUNTEED to work on arrival. They have not offered to replace the phone or refund the 2 months service that I did not get. They did replace SIM card and that did not work. So phone is obviously having issues. They should have sent another and given me the service I paid for.
Check out Home Shopping Network for great deals on Tracfones. They offer smart phones with 1200 min. 12 data, 1200 texts and 1 year service for less than $100. Specials are always changing but there are lots of phones and plans to choose from. Every year I buy a new phone rather than buying minutes. I’ve never had a problem with them.
I’ve been tracfone user for maybe 10 years or more? Never used anything else. In the last year however, I’ve been having problems with coverage dropping, even in my house. I know it’s using ATT network based on SIM card. The 3g coverage drops and I have nothing. Usually, if I drive away in my car to some other place in town, coverage comes back. Very annoying. I’m at the point where I’m ready to graduate to a “real” phone plan. I’m wondering if this is ATT related, Phone related (LG), or Tracfone related? Any thoughts?
I have a 4G LG Tracfone with AT&T and have never had any issues even when in the Virgin Islands. When I had various brand of phones with Verizon Wireless, I never had coverage inside the house; incoming calls always went directly to voicemail and outgoing calls always dropped before ringing. Had to talk on deck or in driveway, not to mention have a contract and monthly bill
Tracfone could be categorized as the Value Network. Just like my Chevies, its affordable, reliable, dependable and it is fair cost. Its Value. I don’t need phony service snobbery, I just want a good product and service. Tracfone has given me that for over 7 years and I have no complaints. Are their service staff a little behind the curve. Yep. But don’t expect them to hold my hand for me. For me, it just works.
I use Tracfone, and happy with it. However, the one problem I have is the Service minutes. I don’t use my phone for many calls, mainly for texting. Even the cheapest plan is good for over 2 months worth of calls and texts. My problem is my service minutes run out way before the call/text minutes do. I now have over 200 minutes worth of text/data/call time, but my service minutes run out in 3 weeks, so I have to buy more minutes to add service time.
I don’t know if you are aware but you can buy a year’s worth of service time on the Tracfone website for $50. This is ONLY available on the website and it doesn’t include talk, text or data. It doesn’t show up as an option if you add airtime from your phone. This is something that is an option when you are “checking out” after buying something else. If you still have talk minutes left and you mainly use texts you can buy 1000 texts for $5 and then at the end of the transaction you can choose to add the airtime. I have tons of minutes from my first several years of Tracfone use and I rarely use any data so I really only need texts and airtime. This works very well for me and my phone service for the last couple of years has only cost me $50/year for service time and whatever texts I need to buy at $5/1000. A pretty sweet deal.
Since I have contacted Tracfone Customer Service a couple of times, I have realized that no one there knows what is going on, so I will try my question here. I wanted to know if Tracfone sells just talk minutes only for their SMARTPHONES? If they do, how does one go about purchasing minutes only? Thanks in advance for your response.
I’ve been a Tracfone customer for several years and as far as I know there is no way to buy ONLY talk minutes. They are bundled with the service time. You can only buy texts and data separately. If you look at my post above your question you can see that there is a way to add a year’s worth of service time for $50 but that is time only and includes no talk minutes. Tracfone used to offer triple minutes for the life with some of their phones but they have been phasing that out. I did read something recently that said they were offering it again with some new phones. If you continually run out of minutes before you run out of service time Tracfone might not be a good fit for you. Another good website for information about Tracfone is [email protected].
I’ve been with TracFone for many years. No problems. Currently use an iPhone SE with monthly data plan purchases, and an occasional 1G data purchase. Fits my lifestyle perfectly.
The TracFone BYOP SIM kit is the Best !
https://get.tracfone.com/bring-your-own-phone/
BE SURE to get the BYOP kit with TRIPLE Minutes !
(you buy a 120 minute card, but get 360 minutes when you put it in the phone).
You can put the TracFone SIM in any new unlocked phone and enjoy the best of both worlds. You can have your provider unlock your old phone and use it with TracFone instead.
We’ve been using TracFone BYOP (bring your own phone) for several years now and are very happy with it. Coming from the AT&T iPhone $90 a month down to the pay as you go TracFone runs $10 / $30 a month depending on activity.
DO USE Opera Mini browser. It can save you up to 90% of your data plan.
Opera Mini has a data saving feature, shrinking the size of web pages
and pictures, while also blocking ads you don’t want to see.
This can save you many gigabytes of data every year, saving Money $$$ too :-)
https://www.opera.com/mobile/basic-phones
So by saving well over $700 a year, TrackFone BYOP means you can buy any new unlocked phone. And Opera software extends your data plan for maximum savings.
Works great with Samsung, LG, and even little flip-phones.
Changing phones is easy too.
Just swap the SIM card into your old or new phone, turn it back on – and now it’s a Tracfone ! Account and values all carry over with the SIM card, So it is safe to upgrade (as long as the SIM, nanoSIM, or MicroSIM fits your new phone the same way.)
I did end up having to call a TracFone human tech support to initially migrate my AT&T phone number… but after getting through the hold queue, and a couple restarts – the AT&T phone became a tracfone.
IMPORTANT: DO NOT CANCEL YOUR OLD ACCOUNT.
TracFone can transfer your old AT&T / Sprint / Verizon number to your new tracfone, as long as you Do Not cancel your old service. Once your new service is started, your old expensive plan will send you the final bill – tracfone will transfer and close your old account for you, and saves your old phone number too !
You will need two phones to talk with them while setting up your BYOP tracfone.
. One to stay connected to talk to tech support,
while they swap over your new SIM in your BYOP tracfone.
Data is $10 / 1 GB – so it is great for email and light web use.
but NOT good for video streaming like netflix or amazon.
Please always do that on WiFi !
And check out Opera Mini : https://youtu.be/lQ0Kv6Sx8LQ
Tracfone works well for me but I am retired, at home a lot and on my computer often so data usage and cost isn’t an issue for me. The no contract/pay as you go also serves its purpose well for me because I’m not a phone talking kind of a gal anymore – spent too many years making a living on the telephone. The actual service – product, reception, devices offered – is good.
The only negative as far as I’m concerned is that obviously in order to maintain their low costs, their customer service sucks hard. And I do mean HARD!!
Not only are the reps extremely difficult to understand, after my last encounter I’m convinced they enjoy making things as difficult for the customer as possible and laughing their a~~es off while doing so. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so!!
A relatively simple transaction turned into a 2 day ordeal (with at least 2 hours spent on hold after waiting for a call back that never came) before I was connected with someone who cared and/or knew what they were doing and finally corrected the issue within 10 minutes, max.
Tracfone has been a perfect fit for my teenage son. He pays for his own phone and service, so he has learned to be cost conscious about it. We started him out on a $50 phone that offered triple minutes. At the time, a $20 airtime card got you 30 days which tripled to 90. So yeah it was around $7-8 per month with taxes. When he moved to a nicer phone in late 2017 the triple minutes option was not available. I believe we do the 60 day air time for $25 now. With taxes it’s around $15 per month. Still a bargain vs dealing with Verizon. A couple times per year he pays $10 for an extra 1000 texts which of course is our primary mode of communication. The actual phone reception – when we use it – is very reliable.
BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!! Trac Fone shut down my service even though I had LOTS of minutes on my existing contract. I received no notification of this action and only discovered it when I went to use the phone. I then spent countless hours on the phone trying to get assistance from their customer service staff. I was repeatedly told I would receive a replacement phone in 3-5 days. I went over a month without a phone. No one could ever explain why my service was disconnected On my old phone, I had data, calling, and text within whatever amount I purchased. I now find the replacement phone has only calling. I have been trying to get an answer from Trac Fone as to what happened to my text and data but keep getting the runaround…again. I am totally frustrated with this company. I do not use the phone a lot which is why I went with this product in the first place but even with minimal usage, it’s just not worth the aggravation you encounter if you do have a problem. Their customer service is the WORST on the planet!! BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!
I live in a valley in the country, so cell service is always iffy. My cell is used for casual calls, if I am away from the house and land line, but do plenty of texting. I get the 1 year service plan with 4500 talk/text/data units and have NEVER had to add to purchase more of any of them. I rolled over most of last year’s into this year and am at over 7000 units each (talk/text/data) and it costs me 129.99 + tax for a year, or 10.83 a month. I recently purchased the Moto 5g S Plus, which is marketed as unlocked, and was able to transfer everything right to the new phone. TracFone is golden! Besides, if I actually NEED more texts, it’s $5 for 1000 units.
I have used tracfone for a few years now, switching from Verizon. Verizon is the only system that works well here, and Tracfone uses Verizon towers. I get a new phone yearly, with 1200-1500 min/msg/data, for about $100 from QVC or HSN. They run specials a few times a year, which means the phone is basically a freebie, since a one-year card for the phone is about $100 from Tracfone. They are very nice smartphones, LG or Samsung, with large screens, which I like. They are generally running 1 gen older android, have 13 MP cameras, 16 +GB with a slot for a 1 TB micro card. The only downside for me is, they will not work outside the US, and very sporadically in Puerto Rico. They do have wifi,and I usually go that route when I am at home, so I have a big bank of unused minutes. I am looking into whether I could use the phone in Europe with a mobile VOIP.
My mom, sister, nephew and I all have Tracfone for our provider for 8 years now. The auto renew option each month they offer is also a great option rather than buying cards. It’s $5 -$10 cheaper than the cards plus the saving $ on gas and your time in the store. Very easy setup on the website. Customer service seems to have a language barrier so I just email from their website. I’ve only had to contact them 1 time in the 8 years! Never had anything to complain about. Very clear and strong signals everywhere I go. I Love Tracfone. I just wish they could offer newer smartphones at a bargain price. Maybe they might in the near future as they DO offer better cellphones in other parts of the country, I see. ( O~Oj )
I’ve been using Tracfone for years. A couple years ago they started allowing you to bring your own phone. My latest is a Moto G6 Play for $200 that does everything I need (using AT&T network). I normally don’t use a lot of data, but if it spikes up, I just buy more. It still seems cheaper than anything else, even though the data price is a little high.
I like my tracfone. I am not a heavy phone user. I always have minutes left over. Great for me. I also have the triple min.
like I have read up & down these postings, for my use their service is perfect & affordable. Down side….. ANYTHING to do with them outside of using their service sucks. Took hours to get my service switched to a new phone when my old one died. And recently purchased a new phone that had an attached deal of 2 day shipping free…. 6 days later I still have no phone.
Been a Tracfone user for 20 years! It is just what I need and the rates are good. I haven’t had been experience with customer service but then again, I haven’t needed it that much. I BYOP and use a BLU.
My ONLY quibble with tracfone is that it can’t be used in Canada…or Europe. The hassle I went through recently to get a sim card for Canada for a 5 day trip! And the cost! I spent about $45 for phone, text and data and 3 sessions with customer service because they put most of my data on an expired sim that I didn’t have.
In case you are flying to Europe and need a sim LeFrenchMobile was easy to use and price was good.
I’m really happy with Tracfone. I have a newer iPhone purchased from another provider but can use it on Tracfone’s network through the Bring Your Own Phone Plan. I think I run off of the AT&T Network and have always had good service. I’m not a heavy data user and it’s adding up every time I purchase a new card because it rolls over and I don’t lose any of it, I have more talk and text than I’ll ever use. Customer Service is offshore so communication is a bit of a challenge but thankfully I don’t need help very often. They have a better selection of phones now than they used to have on the website, from basic to flagship. Just remember to keep your service active and you’re good to go.
I’ve been using Tracfone since flip phones were The Big Thing. I used it mainly for business and occasional social calls. When I switched to a smartphone with triple minutes, etc., life only got better. I recently upgraded again because _they’re_ upgrading to 4G by year’s end. Minutes and texts transferred flawlessly, and the call to Customer Service was professional, helpful, and reassuring.
The only “drawback” lies not with Tracfone but with my bank. Tracfone is _not_ listed as a carrier but Net10 _is_. Bummer!
Just for the record, I don’t use the phone for games, movies, YouTube, etc. The _most_ I use it is when I eat out alone. The phone takes up less space than a newspaper on a restaurant table.
Just a question: In December 2019, when Verizon drops 3g, what will happen to those of us with a 3g only tracfone? Have been seeking an answer from the website with no luck. Otherwise, love tracfone.
I’ve had Tracfones for 12 years. With inlaws in Puert Rico, my wife and I always had coverage while there. That includes my wife’s last visit which ended in January 2019. But now in June 2019, our phones don’t work. I did an online chat with Tracfone and was told “Puert Rico is not part of the U.S.” and that there is no coverage in the San Juan area.or P. R. for that matter. When did things change? They couldn’t provide any info. Why does the Tracfone web page list numerous dealers that sell Tracfones in the area? All they could say is that there is no coverage. Very disappointing to say the least.
I’ve used Tracfone for years, few problems. Lately I’ve noticed the text minutes were going faster. Went online to buy a text only card and they suddenly don’t sell them. I use text more than call, and I never use data. I have about 2500 of those. Because I HAVE to buy them, too, to buy talk mins. Talking to a rep got me nowhere. Was just told I can buy more minutes. So I do……talk/text/data for $19.99, to get me tru the last week of the month. TWO DAYS LATER I’M OUT OF TEXT MINS AGAIN! Now it will be cheaper to get on a monthly plan. Maybe that’s what they’re trying to force? I do not want to be on a plan. I do not want a contract. At this rate, I can’t afford to keep buying minutes. This month has just started, and now I have to wait to get paid again SO I CAN CHANGE CARRIERS. I’m reading on Facebook that several people are now complaining about their minutes draining fast. That is dirty!
Just got a moto6 with 1500 min Text, talk and data. Have had tracfone for many, many years, no problems. Home shopping channels such as QVC sells them for $100 or less but it includes a years service plus 1200-1500 minutes. A years service cost 100. So it’s easier to just get a new phone every year.
Hi Ginger – You might want to check out a website called Tracfone Reviewer. It’s a great resource for Tracfone customers, new and old. They list and review new phones that are being offered – even before they show up on the Tracfone website. They also list all of the Promo codes every month. For the past few months they have listed codes for texts – 2000 for $5 instead of only 1000. I’ve taken advantage of that a couple of times because like you, I use many more texts than minutes or data. I have been a Tracfone customer since 2009 and have accumulated a LOT of talk minutes which I will probably never use. I use very little data; I keep it turned off and use it when only wifi is not available. I find that my phone only costs me about $60/year to use. I do the add-on $50 for 365 service days on the Tracfone website (that option ONLY shows up there) when I buy texts. I usually add texts whenever they are on sale so always have plenty in my account. Have noticed recently that Tracfone has finally started selling minutes as an add-on too. I don’t need more but that option might help people who run out of them at the end of the month.
Can you do WIFI calling with a trac phone? I live in an area that has sporadic cell signal, so at home, I must use the internet for calls and texting.
I’ve had success using the Viber app (Play Store app) on my Tracfone. I use it when I’m signed on to my daughter’s WiFi In Toronto – since there is no Tracfone coverage in Canada.
Good Review. But it seems like it’s from circa 2015 instead of 2019.. I’ve had Tracfone since 2003. Bought 3 or 4 non-android phones along the way. The last few had the Triple Minutes which was great. $20 for 90 days service, 180 mins, 180 Texts, and data was something i never used on them cause it used up your minutes. But I was always happy with Tracfone in those days.
I’ve since had 2 Android Phones through Tracfone. A little LG Optimus Fuel, and a Samsung Galaxy Stardust. The LG was stolen in 2017, so I got the Samsung. Both were $10 dollars through Tracfone with a plan. Deal! And, this was even before or right around when they introduced actual Smartphone minutes plans. The LG was triple minutes, so with a regular $20 plan i was gettng 180m/180t/180gb data. Fine With me.
Now, my Samsung is not tripled. So the way I’ve been working it, is buy a $25 android plan, 500/500/500 with 60 days service, and then near the 60 days I’d buy a regular $20 plan mainly for the 90 days service! I made the mistake of buying a $20 card at Walmart once (mid 2019), and it put no minutes on my phone, I had to call Tracfone, and they tried telling me that those don’t work on Androids. After quite a bit of arguing, they put the minutes on my phone. I’ve NEVER had this problem buying the $20 card online. But see below for my real reason I’m losing love for Tracfone.
The service times for the current plans (as of Nov 2019) are getting so tight, that it’s almost not worth it anymore for a person like you’ve described who does not chat it up on the phone all the time, not many texts, not much data.
I’m on their plan page right now. They got these New plans ($20-$30) with Unlimited T&T, and 2-3GB Data but *Only 30 Days Service*. My whole thing is, I DO NOT want a monthly bill! That basically forces a monthly bill on you.
Then they got their “classic android” plans. Not a while lot better TBH. The cheapest is $15 for 500/500/500, and 30 days service again!!! GRR. The $25 and $35 classics both have 60 days service. But to get the 90 days service, you got to pay $45 at the very least. I do not need 750m 1,000t and 1.5d!!!
They still have the regular cell phone plans, ala the good old $20 plan, but with the coming network upgrade, I’m assuming those might be gone soon too.
As you can see, Tracfone is slowly but surely getting greedy by squenching up their Service Days, they’re gonna kill off their bread and butter – people like me who only use the phone for limited talk, not many texts, and not much data.
Lastly, this whole network switching thing starting in 2020. I understand it’s Verizon who’s the cause of the network switch. But I’m sure not too happy about it, and it might just cause me to go somewhere else than Tracfone. And also, you look on Tracfone’s web site to buy a phone through them?? There’s not alot to be impressed by, again, mainly in the way of a cheap phone that’s half decent at the same time.
15 years with Tracfone…2020 might be when I switch.
Dennis Mohican
ATX
I find the unlimited talk and text for Tracfone is great, I have internet at home so I only do the 3G once in a blue moon for extra emergency gigs when I’m out and about, I usually just do the $20 plan.
when seniors are using you for updates on coronavirus and you cut them off, that is ridiculous