| Pay as you go cell phone plans differ from the monthly plans in one major area. With pay as you go plans, the customer purchases a card from the cell phone provider that works with their pay as you go cell phones. Minutes can be added at any time by purchasing additional cards. Like monthly plans, the cheap pay as you go plans may not always be the best. The best pay as you go plans are the ones that suit the individual’s cell phone needs.
When looking into pay as you go plans, there are a few things that need to be addressed. First of all, how many minutes a month are you planning to use? The pay as you go mobile phones are best for those who do not make frequent calls on their cell phone. Minutes can be purchased for as low as 10 cents a minute to as much as 50 cents a minute. If you are planning on talking for over 200 minutes a month, which is about one 6 minute call every day, you may want to consider looking at monthly cell phone plans.
How long your calls last is another consideration. Making two calls per day on a cell phone can average 13 minutes. At the end of the month, that is 400 minutes in talk time. Even at 10 cents a minute, the monthly bill is more than most entry level monthly plans which offer 450 minutes. Pay as you go phones should be used for emergencies only. A quick phone call from the grocery store, a call from your child letting you know it is time to get picked up, anything along these lines are perfect uses of a pay as you go plan. This keeps the minutes down as well as the charges. Thirty-minute chats with your best friend can really rack up the bill. If these are the type of calls you are making, look into the monthly cell phone plans.
How many long distance calls will you be making? Will you be calling people outside of your calling area? These questions deal with what type of plan you should choose as well. These are important questions to ask as well since on a pay as you go plan, roaming and long distance charges may incur premium service fees which increase the per minute cost of those calls. Most monthly plans allow for free long distance and free roaming. For the frequent traveler, a pay as you go plan would limit their cell phone use.
Read the fine print when comparing pay as you go plans. Certain plans have a daily use fee. Commonly, they charge $1 for each day the phone is used. Sending text messages and pictures many also incur higher fees. Look for this in the fine print as well.
Finally, make sure to look at the pay as you go phones offered by the service. The phones which companies provide for their monthly customers generally aren’t available on a pay as you go plan. Shop around for the best quality phones and include this in your comparison.
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