Prepaid Wireless: Reviews

In large subscriber surveys, Virgin Mobile most often gets the highest overall scores for satisfaction, plans, customer service, account management and pricing. Interestingly, subscribers also give Virgin Mobile high… ratings for call quality, even though calls are delivered on the Sprint network, which generally gets lower scores. Pay-as-you-go minute packs start at $20 for 200 minutes, as much as double the minutes offered by competing carriers at the same price. Unused minutes roll over for 30 days as long as you buy more minutes before the current ones expire. The $35 month-to-month pre-pay plan has 300 anytime minutes and 700 night (starting at 7 p.m.) and weekend minutes. Overall, Virgin Mobile is best if you plan to talk more than 300 minutes per month

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Reviews say T-Mobile has an excellent combination of voice quality, phone options and flexible rate plans. Its cheapest pay-as-you-go option is 30 minutes for $10. If you replenish your account before your minutes expire… (in 90 days), unused minutes roll over. The pay-by-the-day plan has a 10 cents-per-minute rate with a $1 daily access fee on days when you use your phone. It also includes unlimited nationwide calling between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and free mobile-to-mobile. If you don't plan to use your phone very often, T-Mobile is a good deal because minutes don't expire for 90 days.

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TracFone gets high scores in large surveys for the best call quality, placing ahead of all other cell phone carriers. TracFone also has some of the best inexpensive basic phones. However, compared with other providers,… its plan selection is limited. The basic plan costs $10 for 50 minutes, with extra minutes costing 20 cents each. Airtime bundles start at 60 minutes for $20, and the minutes don't expire for 90 days. TracFone, like T-Mobile, offers an annual plan for $100, but you only get 400 minutes.

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Most prepaid wireless minutes expire in 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the carrier and the plan. If you want to keep a phone on hand or in the car for emergencies, however, you don't want to have to worry about… expiration dates. T-Mobile has the best prepaid annual plan, in which $100 gives you 1,000 minutes that are good for a full year. TracFone and AT&T have similar plans, but TracFone gives you fewer minutes, and AT&T adds a $1 daily access fee on days that you use the phone.

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Rated as the overall best in prepaid wireless customer satisfaction by J.D. Power, MetroPCS has inexpensive unlimited plans, especially if you make mostly local calls. You can have unlimited local phone calls for $30 per… month, and $40 will give you unlimited local calls and long distance to any area covered by MetroPCS. The $50 plan includes unlimited local, long distance, messaging and web access. MetroPCS is currently available in 33 states, with its largest service areas in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

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