You may have heard of a prepaid phone plan, or maybe you’re considering getting one. But what exactly is it and how does a prepaid phone plan work?
With a prepaid plan, you’re paying a set amount of money in advance for a month of talking, texting and data. This differs from a standard cellular plan, otherwise known as a postpaid plan, where you receive a bill at the end of the month reflecting your data usage. Since you’re paying up front with a prepaid plan, there’s no contract required.
A prepaid plan works just like any other cellular service, without the long-term commitment and some of the added features. You select the service you’d like to use and purchase one of their phones. You typically have to pay for your phone full price up front, which is the trade-off for lower monthly bills. When the phone is activated, you pay to put a certain amount calling time, texts and data (depending on your needs) and once they run out, you’ll have to reload the phone to use it again.
Since you only pay for what you need, using a prepaid plan can be extremely cost efficient, especially if you’re not a big cell phone user.
With a prepaid plan, you’re not tied to a contract. If you try a cell phone provider and decide it’s not for you, you’re free to cancel your service without any fees and try another provider with the same phone number.
Since you’re paying ahead of time, it’s not possible to go over your allotted minutes, texts or data. Once you’ve run out of allotted minutes, data, or texts, they’re out until the next month or until you increase your plan.
Typically when you’re applying for a two-year service contract you have to pass a credit check. With the prepaid plan, you don’t even have to submit one.
As mentioned earlier, you have to pay for your phone up front on a prepaid plan. There are inexpensive phones on the market, but if you’re looking for a smartphone it’s possible they can be a little pricey.
The calling minutes you purchase won’t last forever and likely have an expiration. Regardless of the deadline, you just have to remember to use them.
You’ll have to add a data plan to your services if you plan on doing anything other than making calls. Texting, surfing the web, and checking emails are all additional services.
It’s important to know how prepaid plans work before you decide to make the switch. Be sure to weigh the disadvantages and advantages of a prepaid phone plan to determine if it’s a good fit for you.
Looking for more phone tips, tricks and info from Trademore? Check out our blog.
Trademore has no connections, affiliations, partnerships or sponsorship agreements with the companies, entities, services and/or products mentioned in this blog post. The opinions, thoughts, views and expressions made within this blog post are independently created by and attributable to Trademore authors and/or contributors.