Tips on Choosing a Prepaid Cell Phone Plan

When you're shopping for a new cell phone plan there are several important considerations. Getting adequate coverage for good call quality and reliability is of utmost importance, closely followed by being sure your usage and the limits of the chosen plan match up to prevent excessive charges. The same holds true with prepaid plans, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind while researching this as things are a bit different with prepaid cell phone plans. Here are some basic tips to get you headed in the right direction.

1.  Coverage.
Just as with any cell phone plan, you want to be sure the service you select will provide adequate coverage and signal quality in those areas where you will be calling. For instance, you need good coverage at home, in your work place, on the routes where you tend to travel, as well as places where you tend to visit. Many prepaid services use the networks of the traditional providers, but you want to be sure of the coverage area they indicate on their website.  Luckily, with a prepaid plan, you won't be locked down, if you find out later that coverage isn't all you had hoped it would be. 

2.  Costs
Before choosing any plan, you want to be sure you know your usage. You need to have a good idea of how many minutes you will use in a given month. This should include both incoming and outgoing calls. You also need to know your usage of other services as well; services such as text messaging.  When you select the plan, you'll want to choose one that is economical based on your usage. For instance, there are unlimited prepaid cell phone plans with very competitive pricing, but if you only use 300 minutes per month, you would probably be better off with a smaller bundle of minutes.

Prepaid cell phones offer a number of packages. In most instances you will buy bundles of minutes that have a decreasing per minute cost as you purchase larger bundles of minutes.  You want to be on the alert regarding extra fees however.  For instance, look for activation fees as well as access or per-day charges. Many prepaid providers don't have these, but some do. In some instances, the provider may have a small per day fee that is charged in addition to any minutes thay you use.

Also be sure you know the cost of other services such as text messaging.  Texting is often billed separately and you need to know the cost. Some prepaid providers offer economical text messaging packages, but you need to do your research to find them. For instance, Virgin Mobile has "Texter's Delight" and Page Plus Cellular has "Power Text".

Some prepaid provider's also offer specials that can take a bit of research to find. For instance, Tracfone has Double Minutes for Life that offers users twice the number of minutes shown in their standard plans for the same price.

3. The Handsets
Prepaid cell phone plans tend to have far fewer handset options than traditional plans. In the past, few high end phones were offered. This is starting to change as more and more smart phones become available.  However, new buyers need to understand that handsets generally aren't free or discounted with prepaid plans.  Thus, buyers need to be sure the phone choices they have will meet their needs and that the cost will be acceptable. There are certainly plenty of affordable options but this adds to the overall cost of the service.

4.  Use of Minutes
This is another area buyers should research well. In the not so distant past, prepaid cell phone plans were known for the fact that their minutes often didn't roll over, and thus, unused minutes were lost.  This isn't always the case now, but like any cell phone plan, you need to be sure whether or not minutes roll over and for how long. If you buy 500 minutes and want it to last you 4 months, you need to be sure those minutes will still be there when you want them.

5. Customer Satisfaction
I advise anyone seeking a new service provider, to check with current customers to get an untainted idea of how good the service is in the real world. Pretty much any service will have a few dissatisfied customers, but you want to know what the majority have to say.  Asking friends about their experiences is a good start, searching online can help too, but checking with sites like JDPower.com can give you the best answers probably. Companies like these gather customer satisfaction data each year and publish the results on their site for all to see.  Take the time to see what others say.