Prepaid Wireless Service Buyers Guide

Having a cell phone certainly makes life easier. You can make phone calls, conduct business, or just catch up with friends from any location. When you have a cell phone, you always have the ability to find help in the event of an emergency and you are always available if someone needs to contact you. The benefits of having a phone available to you whenever you need it are tremendous, but they do come with a price.

Many cell phone users are shocked when they receive their first bill and find that it is much higher than they anticipated. Perhaps they went over their allotted minutes and had to pay extremely high fees for the extra time they talked. Maybe they sent more text messages than they were allowed or they didn’t follow their contracted plan exactly as it was written. No matter what the cause, coverage charges can add up.

One way to avoid a hefty and surprising cell phone bill is to use a prepaid wireless service. When you use a prepaid wireless service, you buy minutes and then use them, so there is never a bill and never a surprise charge. You can buy the minutes as you need them or take advantage of plans that automatically add minutes to your account each month according to a schedule you have set up. They then deduct the money for the minutes from your credit card or bank account, so you never have to deal with a bill and you will never deal with late charges or extra fees.

Another reason to get a prepaid wireless service plan is the fact that they do not come with a long term contract. When you use a prepaid wireless service plan, you pay as you go. You don’t have to continue the plan if you aren’t happy with your service. Unlike traditional cell phone plans, there is never a fee for terminating your service and you never have to wait for a contract to expire. When you have a traditional wireless plan, you are stuck with that company until the contract is finished or you have to pay rather large termination fees. Prepaid means no contracts.

The most common reason most people buy prepaid wireless service is because it is the only way to get a cell phone without having a credit check. Traditional cell phone service plans require a credit check before a contract is offered. If the potential customer has less than perfect credit, they will be denied a cell phone or possible get one after paying a very large deposit. When you get a prepaid wireless phone, there is no credit check. Because you pay as you go, you are buying minutes before you use them, so there is no reason for a credit check.

There are a few things to understand before you get a prepaid wireless plan. While it is wonderful to not be under contract, to not have to have a credit check, and to know ahead of time what you are going to spend on your cell phone bill each month, there are a few downsides to having a prepaid cell phone plan.

The minutes on a prepaid wireless phone cost more than minutes on a traditional cell phone plan. For some people, who use their phone very little, this is not a problem and can even prove to be less expensive than paying for a traditional plan with all of its extra fees. On a traditional cell phone plan, you are billed for a certain amount of minutes each month whether you use them or not.

It is also important to make sure that you buy a prepaid cell phone plan that rolls over minutes that you don’t use each month. It isn’t a savings if you pay for a block of minutes and then lose them when you don’t use them. Read all the fine print and make sure that you understand exactly how your prepaid plan works.

Some companies require you to purchase minutes with in a certain amount of time after your existing minutes run out, or you could lose your phone number. Other prepaid cellular plans require you to purchase minutes before you existing minutes run out if you want those existing minutes to roll over to the next month. Each plan is different, so it is important to know exactly how your plan works.

Many prepaid plans come with special features such as caller ID or voice mail for free, so shop around and see if any prepaid wireless carriers offer special features that you might be interested in. Purchasing prepaid wireless service makes a lot of sense if you don’t need to make a lot of phone calls each month, you don’t want to be under a restrictive contract, or you have a low credit score.