You can better understand how a pay as you go cell phone plan works if you, first, get information on standard cell phone plans.
THE STANDARD CELL PHONE PLAN
Most standard cell phone plans imply a mandatory contract of 1-2 years, a minimum monthly fee of about $20 – $35 U.S. dollars, and a credit card. You get about 200-300 minutes to use for this monthly price, depending on the cell phone company. According to your needs, you may be able to increase the number of minutes the contract offers monthly, but for an increased monthly fee . If you use more minutes than allocated, you will probably be charged an average rate for each additional minute. Yet if you don’t use all your minutes they do not cross over to the next month. Meaning, you lose them and start over after each bill.
STANDARD CELL PHONE PLAN ADVANTAGES
Standard cell phone plans have their perks over pay as you go cell phone plans. They often include promotional periods, such as weekends and evenings, when calling is free, meaning that the call you make then do not count towards your allotted minutes. You can also add options, like free calling to any other cell phone that uses the same service, or free calling to certain cell numbers on other services. These options also require a small fee to be paid, yet, if you need to regularly call and speak to a certain group of people like family, friends and business partners, the fee is well worth paying. With every carrier type you will find new options and combination to choose from. Actually, standard cell phone plans come with so many options that many people find them confusing.
Finally, standard cell phone plans most of the times offer a high quality free phone with the plan or more expensive phones at great discounts. This plan is probably best recommended for anyone who uses a cell phone more than 90 minutes every month.
PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONE PLAN
The pay as you go cell phone plan works completely differently. Firstly, there is no contract and no obligation to use the service for any period of time. Also, there is no monthly fee to go with it and you don’t need a credit card. Instead you purchase a phone card from the market which works much like giving the carrier money towards your account. Phone cards are issued by different companies and there are some differences in fees, yet they all work the same. Every 90 days you need to add credit in money to the account to keep it active. The minimum credit you have to add is different for each service company. However, with a pay as you go cell phone plan, minutes are billed at higher rates than a standard plan. And, generally, there are no perks in pay as you go cell phone plans.
HOW DOES A PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONE PLAN WORK?
You need to buy a cell phone type that would work with a pay as you go cell phone plan. Pay as you go phones can be bought from cell phone retailers near you. In most cases, the phone needs to be made for the carrier you will be using, . For example, should you opt to use Virgin Mobile, you’ll need a Virgin Mobile phone. If you don’t wish to buy a phone card for that carrier, you can use your credit card to credit your account. But if you don’t have a credit card or don’t wish to use one, you need to buy a phone card. They cost at least $20 and are small plastic cards that add credit to your account.
Once you have the phone, signing up is a simple process. The carrier’s number can be found listed in the phone manual. Once you call them, you will need to provide the serial number off the phone and the representative will then assign you a phone number. Some carriers automatically credit your account with $10 for signing up with them. With a pay as you go cell phone plan, you don’t even have to give the company your name, since your account is recorded using the cell number.
MINUTES IN THE PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONE PLAN
Cell phone minutes are deducted from your available balance. With the pay as you go cell phone plan, once your balance reaches zero before 90 days have expired, you will need to purchase a new phone card to add more credit to the account before you can make any more calls. This is why it is called ‘pay as you go.’ On the other hand, if 90 days passes and you haven’t used all your credit, you will need to add money to your account, anyway to keep the phone active, but your existing balance accumulates. You don’t lose it if you don’t use it with the pay as you go cell phone plan!
If you do have a credit card, and are willing to use it, you can opt to have the carrier automatically charge it every 90 days to credit your account, saving you the trouble of remembering. In a pay as you go cell phone plan, you can also add as many minutes as you happen to need at one time or another, by simply going to the top-off menu on your phone.
PAY AS YOU GO CELL PHONE PLAN ADVANTAGES
The advantages of a pay as you go cell phone plan are no contracts, no credit card requirements, and no monthly fees. However, minutes are typically more expensive. Plus, you generally, must buy a phone and there are normally no perks or discounts. In promotional campaigns, free weekends and evenings might be offered for short periods of time, but, in most cases, a pay as you go cell phone plan tends to be very straightforward.
The pay as you go cell phone plan is popular with teenagers who lack credit cards and adults who only use their cell phones minimally and therefore have no need of a standard cell phone. Before deciding which pay as you go cell phone plan is best for you, it is probably wise to talk to several carriers about your particular needs.