Need a cheap cell-phone plan.

[Richard K]

My 89 yr. old mother has decided she needs a cell-phone for emergency use only. I doubt that she'd ever use it though. The cheapest plan I can find is $39.95 per mo. The 10 cents per minute plan sounded attractive until you see that it requires a 99 cent per day activation fee. Are here any alternatives out there?

Thanks

[PhL0aTeR]

i just got my grandmother on with my plan about a year ago, only $10 to add to my sprint plan, phone was free. mine doesnt use that many minutes so its little or no efect on my minutes.

[7idl]

tell me more about this adding of another line to your phone... added cost per month?

[mr_will]

if she wants it just for emergency and rarely uses it, a prepaid maybe a decent deal. On some companies the minutes are good for a year if they are not used


Also Sprint has a 19 dollar a month plan for 200 minutes with free nights and weekends.

either that or as said, just add a line to your plan, it is usually 5-15 dollars to add a line to an exsisting plan.

[Gman]

You don't need an activated phone for 911 service.

[Great-Kazoo]

You don't need an activated phone for 911 service.

beat me to it.

ANY cell phone as long as it holds a charge will allow you to dial 911 w/out any contract, payment plan etc.
my old ones are in all our vehicles (just in case0 and the older ones we donated to womans shelters

[robsterclaw]

tell me more about this adding of another line to your phone... added cost per month? My Tmobile account charges 9.99 a month per line +tax. Then it uses up your minutes just like yours does. I've added two lines and got a free phone each time. I did have to go to a more minutes per month plan because there are teenagers using those 2 phones.

[Richard K]

Thanks Guys,

I'll look into the $19 Sprint deal. I don't mind paying that for her peace of mind. I've disposed of all our old cell phones so would still have to come up with a phone for the 911 only. Her idea of an emergency, however, is calling me from a payphone when she locks her keys in her car (frequent occurrence when she drives to a park to walk her dog)

[Great-Kazoo]

another option (which i found out about bysheer luck) is to buy a phone from wally world. they have cell phones on a rack away from the desk with the cell ph deals/plans. you buy one then activate it. and do a pay as you go.
since her emergency's are not always real emergency's ,perhaps a pay to talk plan might curb some of the needless calls to you.

[PhL0aTeR]

tell me more about this adding of another line to your phone... added cost per month?


i just got my grandmother on with my plan about a year ago, only $10 to add to my sprint plan, phone was free. mine doesnt use that many minutes so its little or no efect on my minutes.

Already did.... it was $10 a month ($9.99 anyway)

[7idl]

tell me more about this adding of another line to your phone... added cost per month?


i just got my grandmother on with my plan about a year ago, only $10 to add to my sprint plan, phone was free. mine doesnt use that many minutes so its little or no efect on my minutes.

Already did.... it was $10 a month ($9.99 anyway)

well you didn't specify the terms, only that it cost $10.

My dad wants one for his cross country travels for emergencies and that's it. I'm exploring options.

[roman gnome]

We started our kids out on Virgin Mobile phones a few years back.

$39.00 phones that you add $20 phone cards to every 90 days.

From their map it looks like they would work in most of the U.S.

They work well for what they are, might be worth looking into.

[PhL0aTeR]

tell me more about this adding of another line to your phone... added cost per month?


i just got my grandmother on with my plan about a year ago, only $10 to add to my sprint plan, phone was free. mine doesnt use that many minutes so its little or no efect on my minutes.

Already did.... it was $10 a month ($9.99 anyway)

well you didn't specify the terms, only that it cost $10.

My dad wants one for his cross country travels for emergencies and that's it. I'm exploring options.

Well, i have a sprint shared family plan where you can have up to 4 phones (i think) on one plan that shares the minutes. Its only an added cost of 9.99 a month if you have more than 2, as the second one is free to add. There are numerous phones you can get for free, most are decent, im sure he doesnt need the latest greates mp3 player/camera/camcorder phone. It carries the same 2 year contract as most other phones/carriers, and a $200 Early termination fee. Other than that, i think thats all the info i have on it. I think other carriers have the same type of deal.