Virgin Atlantic's "Pay-As-You-Go" Wireless. . .Is it worth it ??

[DinahMoeHum]

Does anybody here know or have this kind of wireless phone service?

I may finally break and get myself a cellular phone if their service is indeed worth the hype.

The pitch is: why pay a monthly fee for something you don't use too often? I personally wouldn't use a cell phone except for an emergency or for that infrequent phone call.

Thanks for your help.


:kick:

[mouse7]

1. The only thing I can see myself using cellular for is emergencies

I'd like to have a cell phone if I could have one only for use in emergencies. I'm the same as you, it appears. I have no use for a cell phone on a regular basis.

[Jack from Charlotte]

13. The Virgin Mobile deal is $6.77 per month......

$20 every 3 months. No taxes added, no long distance, roaming or anything else. Also, it comes with voice mail.

[Ruby Romaine]

2. I've been looking at pre paid cellular

for the same reasons.
I think AT&T has prepaid -around 15-20$ a month if you don't use the phone much.you use a phone card which lasts 90 days.
I know a few people who do this.
Maybe you can get a phone & use it for emergency 911 calls only w/no carrier?

web pages that compare prepaid plans w/other plans.

http://www.letstalk.com
http://www.cellmania.com/
http://www.myrateplan.com/
http://www.getconnected.com/

[Jack from Charlotte]

12. I love my Virgin Mobile phone deal....

Have had it since last June. I was looking for a phone that is the opposite of all those other deals with 20,000 minutes a month usage. I was looking for minimal usage. This is PERFECT. All you have to do is BUY... not necessarily use.... but buy $20 worth of time every 3 months. That brakes down to a minimum monthly payment of $6.77.

Beat that! Also, there are no bills, or roaming or any other charges. Coverage is great over The Sprint Network.... which is everywhere.

If you just want a mobile phone for under an hour or two per month, this is a great deal.

[elfwitch]

21. Virgin here...

Boy I haven't be able to say that in years.

I like the pay as you go service. It's all I need. Emergancy use only.

[RebelOne]

3. I have TracFone and I love it.

Since I don't use a mobile phone all that much, it only costs me $20 a month.

[LynneSin]

4. Check around on those "Pay as you go" plans

some of them do give you free nights & weekends which is a nice bonus.

Also - those pre-paid cards are "use em or lose em minutes" which means if you don't use them after 90 days then you lose the money.

[tarheel]

5. I use Virgin Mobile

you can check them out one the web here :


http://www.virginmobileusa.com

They work great for my needs. I don't a mobile a great deal, but it is nice to have one when I need it.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. This was what I'm talking about. Is it really worth it?

Or do they stick a charge here, a charge there, etc?

:kick:

[tarheel]

8. No absolutely not

after you purchase the phone and activate your account, there is no charge other than air time. Air time is .25 cents per minute for the first ten minutes each day, then its .10 cents per minute after that for the rest of the day.

You only have to buy a "top-up card" once every three months (unless you use all of your air time up) and the cheapest top-up card is $20.00.

No monthly bill, peak hours to worry about, no roaming, all calls billed at the same rate whether local or long distance. It works for me.

[Blue-Jay]

6. I like Virgin Mobile.

Like many that have already posted, I seldom use my phone for "chatting", so the pre-pay system works best for me. I've used several different service providers in the past several years, and Virgin is probably the best in terms of ease. Once you get your account set up, it's and easy few pushes of buttons to add minutes to your account. Static pricing is also a plus in my book. I don't like trying to keep track of when peek/off-peak times are. Additionally, I believe that you are only required to add phone-time every three months instead of one or two, as many of the other companies. Other companies also require a $20 to $30 minimum in order to extend your time.

Virgin has cooler phones too, if that's a consideration. Mine ($99 model) has text-messaging, voice-recognition dialing, voice mail, and downloadable ring tones. (Mine plays "Uncle Fukka" from the South Park movie.)

If you're not using a cell for business purposes and not a "chatter", I'd recommend it.

[Don_G]

9. I Have Virgin Mobile

Built on the US Sprint backbone and my phone bill averages less than $10 a month. VM carries over the unused pre-paid minutes over for 60 to 90 days as I recall.

Check to see how far into the future you can roll them over.

[toddzilla]

10. i have it..

i have bad credit or i'd dump it. Too expensive, although i don't use it that much.

[LuLu550]

11. I have Virgin Mobile

It's great if you don't use it that much. Buy the phone top up with at least $20 per month and that is it. You can even use it world wide, if you just call them up and set it up for that.

I use mine more as an answering machine to receive calls for my free-lance writing business and for emergencies, so my kid can contact me if she needs to and to let her know when I have left a night meeting and I'm coming home.

It has cost me only $20 for the three months, then I had to top up with another $20.

Great way to go if you will use it like that. Bad if you are a chatter because you will be paying more than with a contract.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. Do they charge incoming calls? (nt)

[strategery blunder]

15. Yes (nt)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Then it sucks. (nt)

[Jack from Charlotte]

18. Show me a better/cheaper deal for under an hours usage....

per month then. I use mine very little. My first two months cost about $10 each. Since then it's been less.

Incoming/outgoing whatever.... show me a better deal and I'll move.

[theoceansnerves]

17. i think the at&t one..

has $10 cards. the minutes run out if not used in 90 days but any amount of recharge will roll over all of the remaining minutes.

[moof]

19. Can you keep the cell phone you already have?

or do you have to buy theirs?

[DinahMoeHum]

20. Thanks for all the feedback, gang !!

Looks like I'll go with VirginMobile.

:bounce:

[electricmonk]

22. Had it for over a year now and like it.

Actually use it as my primary phone. Had Suncom for a couple years but they kept doing the stealth price increase on me. Started out at about 35 a month and by the time I cancelled it it was over 45 and I never made a single change to my plan. So I figured up my monthly usage and the Virgin Mobile came out cheaper than the original SunCom plan. I use one $20 card about every 5 weeks. Sometimes more often sometimes less. Went 2 months on 20 bucks one time.