Pay as You Go Cell Phone Plans

The prepaid plans for cell phones are called 'pay as you go cell phone plans'. These plans are made specifically to suit an individuals need where one can buy their minutes and use them accordingly. This means, you can decide how much you want to spend on your cell phone bill each month. These plans are great for people who have a bad credit score and do not qualify for a wireless contract. Also, if you are not going to use the minutes offered by the standard cell phone plan, you can always invest in pay as you go cell phones.

Best Plans

When you think about buying a cell phone, you usually get a plan that comes with a long-term contract of 1 to 2 years. This contract can be secured against a bank card or credit card. You will get about 300 minutes of talk time per month and this won't be enough for people who use their cell phones a lot. Also, many people have a tight budget on which they can use their cell phones. A large bill will throw their tight budget haywire.

However, the best pay as you go cell phone plans do not need long-term contracts. They need not be secured against a credit card and you can buy the minutes beforehand. These minutes can be used the way you want in a month and when you run out of minutes, you can even replenish them with a new voucher. These best pay as you go cell phones in US are becoming the fastest growing segment of the wireless market. You have many companies who are offering competitive rates for their pay as you go cell phone plans.

So, what do these plans offer that makes them so attractive and affordable? You do not have to sign any long-term contracts, you will receive no monthly bills, there will be no credit checks carried out, no hidden costs as well as any one of you can secure these pay as you go cell phones. This makes it very easy for you to keep a check on your family monthly cell phone bill and keep a tab on how much you are spending on each call.

These plans are ideal for those who need to maintain a monthly budget, use a cell phone without signing a contract, want a prepaid cell phone for kids, and want to keep their usage in control. The best plans are provided by many network providers in US. Some of these plans are offered by:

• AT&T (Cingular)
• Net10
• Tracfone
• T-Mobile
• Verizone Wireless Inpulse
• Virgin Mobile

You may have seen the many advantages of getting pay as you go cell phone plans. However, there are a few disadvantages that should be kept in mind when you buy yourself a prepaid card. The call rates for pay as you go cell phones are really low, but slightly higher than the post paid cell phone plans. The minutes are valid for only 30 to 90 days according to your plan. If you do not recharge or buy more minutes to add to your account before the minutes expire, you will not be able to use them. However, many service providers sell minutes online, by phone or prepaid cards that are sold by many retailers. Thus, there will be no issue of hunting retailers or sellers, who sell pay as you go cell phone minutes.

How to Compare Plans

You must be wondering how to compare these plans, as the market is flooded with companies offering what they call 'the best plan'. Well, you first need to consider the cell phone coverage area. You need to find out which states are covered under the 'home service' plans. You should keep in mind some pay as you go services have good network coverage in New York metro area, that fade away as you move further north. Thus, make sure your network provider has cell phone signals in more areas.

Next, you need to compare the service rates. Some providers charge on per unit basis. This means, they have the charge rate for local and other rate for roaming calls. A few providers have free-calling between cell phones using the same network and charge for calls that are outside network.

These call rates then drop between same network users and as mentioned above can be totally free. Thus, you need to compare within your family and friends circle and decide which is the most used network. This will become an economical option as your call rates to the people you tend to call the most are lowest or even free.

The next important point in comparing pay as you go over cell phone plans is the text messaging rates. Some providers charge 2 to 10 cents depending on the plan. Therefore, make sure you choose the cheapest plans that is feasible if you are a text messaging addict.

You can speak to your friends using the prepaid service and get some idea about the service providers and call rates available in your area. If you need a financially stable cell phone option and avoid going overboard with your monthly expenditure, then pay as you go cell phones are the best options available for you.