I will be driving to New Mexico and need a phone just for that trip. Don't want to sign any contracts.

Has anyone used a Tracfone prepaid wireless phone? I saw them at Walmart. Or are there any others to use that might be better?

I have a Virgin Mobil pay as you go phone, it's great, but has limited coverage. I'm thinking most of rural New Mexico would be a problem for coverage with most cell phones.

I've had one for about 3 years and love it. I need one only for occasional use, for the odd small crises in our life: buying a house and needing the other person to "come see what I've found" while I'm out with the Realtor, being out of town together and going separate ways but needing to stay in touch, roadside emergencies. I've used it for all these and it's been great. It works for us with no monthly charges. My DH has a blackberry so we are only paying for my phone usage and have no idea if it would be an economical solution for the normal family.

I bought a Tracfone about 5 years ago. It was a "just in case of an emergency" phone for a roadtrip. The problem I had with it was that it took 24 - 72 hours to be activated - so make sure you have time to activate it before you leave on your trip. Also, I would specifically ask about coverage for the area where you are traveling.

I didn't care for my Tracfone and no longer have it, but it could be a good solution for you. Just ask a lot of questions before purchase.

I bought one for my husband for the same reasons that Malersherbes lists (or at least similar). Now that it is up and running I love it, but what a nightmare to get it going.

First, I bought it at Christmas when they did not have enough customer service people, and when the activiation didn't work it took over a week for me to get through. Then the determined it was the defective SIM card, so they had to send me another. Sent that, tried to activate again, they finally decided it was a defective phone, sent another one. Finally got that one going. I should mention that I pretty much a geek, so I'm fairly certain we are not talking user error here!

That said, having it it for those occasional needs has been really handy. It's travelled a bit and really we have had no problems so far with coverage.

I guess my only caution is don't wait until the last minute to decide, much like what WTM is mentioning about even normal activation. And then of course, what happens if you have problems like I had. If you want one, get it up and running now.

And of course, enjoy the drive to New Mexico!

You should be able to look at coverage maps for the different pay-as-you-go wireless plans on the internet before you commit to any one of them.

We've got two Tracfones and love 'em. They rent their signal from the majors, so there's coverage pretty much everywhere.

That said, there are dead pockets where there's no cell service available for anyone.

Out daughter had to call us collect the other day. They were camping in south-central PA, about 30 miles from where we live. The campground's in a little valley, and has no access to any cellular signal. The pay phone(s) there get a serious workout....

In that case, it doesn't matter what phone you have.

Any idea what the per-minute charge is on the Tracfones?

I have no idea about New Mexico, but point about checking covereage areas is important - in more remote parts of US, no cell phone works - and if you want it for emergencies in remote areas, that won't be much of a help.

tuckerdc...here's the website with different plans. http://tinyurl.com/92kuw

I bought 250 units for $99 initially and have never run out. (1 unit equals 1 minute air time for local calls, 2 units are 1 minute long distance call). Those 250 minutes are good for one year. They roll over to the next year but you must buy more at the end of a year anyway to keep your plan active. Normally in the first time purchase there is a special where you get more minutes for the same $99 and I've forgotten now what it was...another 100 units though I believe.

My only concern with TracFone is that I'll forget to hit "end call" when my call is over and use up all my minutes in the process.

Thanks so much everyone. I will be in Santa Fe for a month and will not have a phone so I think I will get one. I am so glad to hear from actual users.

I won't get that many calls because MY CHILDREN NEVER CALL. But who cares, I'll be in Santa Fe eating my heart out!

Thanks again, nice Fodor helpers.

I've been looking at both Tracfone and Virgin Mobile.

If when you DO make some calls it is likely that you will be talking quite a bit, then the Virgin M appears to be a better plan, as the cost is approx 25 cents a minute, but drops to 10 cents/min after the first 10 min used in any one day.

If most of your calls tend to be short and very few calls, Tracfone looks better. I plan to use the caller id and to ignore calls that I think can be returned via "land-line" at a later time. I use pre-paid long distance cards both traveling and at home, findint the AT&T cards sold at Sams Club for under 3 cents a minute a good deal.

I just picked up some literture today on prepaid wireless services. Decided that I needed to get with the rest of the world and have some type of cell phone! Think the pre-paid cards meet our needs better than an regular cell phone.
Has anyone used T-Moblie pre-paid? Can you receive calls on these phone, or are they for calling out only? Reading the T-Moblie pamplet, I was somewhat confused about that.
Sure appreciate the advise given here. Will check out the webite given and do some comparison. Also was thinking of buying right before we leave on vacation, however after reading here, will make sure to purchase way ahead!

Another vote for tracfone. When we researched it a couple of years ago, it was the best prepaid plan. Things could have changed.

I want to know how I can use it in Europe.

I switched from tracfrone to t-mobile prepaid service about 4 months ago. I switched because of poor reception on my tracfone ( I think it was the phone itself) and you get more minutes on t-mobile for the same amount of money. You can call out and recieve on both plans. Target carries t-mobile. I researched most of the prepaid plans. Some of them charge a usage fee for the day. Some charge 35 cents to a dollar a day when you use the phone, plus minutes. T-mobile and Tracfone only charge minutes. I buy the year of service cards, which for both carrier is more than enough minutes for me. I had my tracfone when we were in Alaska. I was able to use it in Junuea. I do think tracfone contracts with other carriers for service. You may have problems with any carrier in a rural area. Having use both tracphone and t-mobile prepaid, IMO both are similiar. I will say that t-mobile does have a service line and you can speak to a real person.

Is there a difference in phones? I noticed at Target that some phones were $30.00, $79.00 and over $100.00. They were so busy at Target, I didn't take the time to talk to anyone about them. If I bought a Tracfone can I use a T-mobile SIM card later if I want? What about a Tri-Band phone? You can tell I am a novice in the wireless phone stuff.

(My answer duplicate some of what has already been said, but this is my standard reply when someone asks about a Tracfone).

In my opinion, a Tracfone is for people who make a limited number of calls for a limited number of minutes. The last time I purchased minutes, I paid 23 cents per minute. Keep in mind you are roaming outside your home area and the cost is double.

I've bought three of the Tracfones and I'm happy overall. Customer service can be bad so be prepared to wait. To be fair, I do most of my dealings with them over the Internet but the few times I've called has been a pain.

Coverage has been outstanding for us - in fact, we haven't found a spot without coverage (including most recently from the Kilauea Crater).

The last time I compared the phones offered by Tracfone, it came down to size since the phones basically had the same features.

After entering a seemingly endless series of security codes, activation has always happened immediately for me.

You have to add minutes once a year even if the phone has plenty of minutes on it. I go with the one-year plan (which is cheaper) and watch for promotion codes on the Internet to double the minutes.

Don't let your Tracfone membership lapse. In my case, I missed my mother's renewal by one week and due to the hassles involved, found it easier for them to give her a new phone number than try to reactivate her old phone number.

Finally, I bought one of my phones off eBay. I got a good deal but it wouldn't activate in my area. Tracfone wouldn't explain why this happened (can the phones really be tied to certain locations?) but exchanged the eBay phone with one that worked for free.

Mike Honeycutt

Malesherbes - I tried to acess the website you listed and was unable to do so. Is there a "typo" in what you listed? Thanks

I tried the link just now and it worked for me. Give it another shot--if it doesn't, I'll look it up again.

Verizon also has a prepaid wireless package and I understand their coverage is quite good.