Are prepaid phones and minutes sold separately?

Question

Before you say no, I want to go more into detail. I'm thinking about buying a new prepaid phone but I just want to know that if I first get a new one,do they already provide minutes in there or do I have to get minutes even for a newly bought phone? I don't have enough money so please tell me how it is...thanks

Answer 1

Many come with a few minutes that will expire within the first 30 days after activation. With T-Mobile Prepaid you'll need to spend about $100 in minutes before all your minutes will last a year before expiring.

Answer 2

There is usually some minimal amount of minutes included with the phone. Read the packaging on the phone and it should tell you.



Once you run through that, there are a variety of ways to refill. Via a charge card on-line or purchase of a top-up card at a retail outlet are the most common.



I have a Boost phone and find its quite inexpensive, since I don't use it much, and mostly have it around for emergencies. Minutes are good for 90 days, and roll over if you reBoost before the 90 days are up. If I buy the minimum $20 card every 89 days, it ends up costing me less than $7 a month to have a cell phone.



The other brands have variations in how often you have to refill and how or if the minutes roll over. I'm not suggesting Boost is the best, it just works well for what I need.

Answer 3

Basically the best thing for someone with not a whole lot of cash is to buy a GSM phone. You can get these pretty cheap, but you have to watch out where you buy it. If you buy it from a provider's store such as AT&T the phone will be locked to their network. The phones can be unlocked fairly easily using passwords and programs found on the internet, but it requires some skill which the average person does not have. If you buy the phone from Radio Shack or Best Buy it should come unlocked, meaning you can use it on any network.



Once you have the phone the next step is to get a SIM card. Find a provider with the best prices for pay-as-you-go plans and visit their store. Tell them you want to but a SIM card for a pre-paid plan. The SIM card will cost anywhere between $10-20 and will come with around 100 minutes on it. They should not charge you an activation fee, at least T-mobile didn't charge me. After that you pop the SIM card into your phone and you're ready to go, all you have to do is refill your minutes when you run out.

Answer 4

2

Answer 5

prepaid cell phones usually don't have minutes on them at first but some give you $5 worth of minutes free once activated but it would have to be a phone that hasn't been activated yet because sometimes they have a expiration date for the offer. prepaid minutes cards come as cheap as $5-$100 but if you use minutes a lot then it would become expensive but usually @ 9 pm it is free to use the phone without using minutes. I've had prepaid phones and they are good because you can go out of state with them, you only pay for what you use, and there's never any contracts, so you are really saving lots of money and they have cool models too.

Answer 6

Most require you to buy the phone and then "add minutes". Depending upon the features you want on your phone, you can get one pretty cheap. I believe the minimun you can add is $25 for 100 minutes -- and that doesn't necessarily mean 100 minutes. It could mean a number of calls based on distance called, etc. Some pay as you go plans require initial minimum purchases and then you can get reduced from there. Shop around. AT&T (formerly Cingular but AT&T has lousy customer service) has a pretty good plan wherein you can get the phone for a reduced price if you purchase an initial 100 minute package. 100 minute packages are generally only good for 90 days. Shop around and ask questions. I'd suggest you write down all the questions leaving space for answers and then answer them for each carrier so you can do a great comparison. The best thing I can say about AT&T is their phones work most everywhere.

Verizon generally requires a contract and some of the others do too. You have to read the fine print and ask lots of questions. It's worth the effort.

Answer 7

Prepaid Minutes

Answer 8

You get a few minutes with AT&T GO phones not much: but you can talk to anyone on any AT&T cell phone for free:



I also like that the minutes carry over you don't lose any minutes:



I also like the two plans they have:



One plan is where you pay 10 cents a minute but if you use it, it cost a dollar that day: So each day you use it it is going to cost a dollar at least unless all calls are to another AT&T cell phone:



The other plan is a straight 25 cents a minute geared to people who seldom use the phone at all:



You can look at it this way: If you talk as little as 6 minutes you have made up that dollar up front:



I've tried several others and keep coming back to AT&T:

Answer 9

prepaid minutes cards come as cheap as $5-$100 but if you use minutes a lot then it would become expensive but usually @ 9 pm it is free to use the phone without using minutes. I've had prepaid phones and they are good because you can go out of state with them, you only pay for what you use, and there's never any contracts, so you are really saving lots of money and they have cool models too.

Answer 10

A pre-paid phone is NOT the best way to go, if you are buying a cell phone for the purpose of daily, long chats. You will be paying for minutes at a rate of approx .25/min. these phones are for emergencies (REAL emergencies) and for checking for messages on a phone voicemail machine, or for confirming appointments when you are on the go. Any other use will consume your prepaid minutes very quickly, and then you will have to buy more. As I recall, there are no free evenings/weekends plans with a prepaid phone, either. If you intend to be VERY disciplined in your cell phone use, then this is a way to go if you don't want to be locked into a contract, or you have credit issues; if you are a talker, then get a regular cell with a plan.





÷

Answer 11

Funny, I was wondering the same thing myself

Answer 12

Don't believe that is correct

Answer 13

Depending upon the features you want on your phone, you can get one pretty cheap. I believe the minimun you can add is $25 for 100 minutes -- and that doesn't necessarily mean 100 minutes. It could mean a number of calls based on distance called, etc. Some pay as you go plans require initial minimum purchases and then you can get reduced from there. Shop around. AT&T (formerly Cingular but AT&T has lousy customer service) has a pretty good plan wherein you can get the phone for a reduced price if you purchase an initial 100 minute package. 100 minute packages are generally only good for 90 days. Shop around and ask questions. I'd suggest you write down all the questions leaving space for answers and then answer them for each carrier so you can do a great comparison. The best thing I can say about AT&T is their phones work most everywhere.

Answer 14

And there is an expiration on the air time--the length depends on the carrier. Before you jump into it, go to the different stores and get the literature on the phone--what constitutes a "free" call, how are minutes counted, how long does air time last, how do you get more minutes, who/where sells the cards for more time.



And then thank the clerk sweetly, and WALK OUT THE DOOR AND GO HOME. When you are at home, you can sit down and go over each phone and how the plan is set up.

Answer 15

Basically the best thing for someone with not a whole lot of cash is to buy a GSM phone. You can get these pretty cheap, but you have to watch out where you buy it. If you buy it from a provider's store such as AT&T the phone will be locked to their network. The phones can be unlocked fairly easily using passwords and programs found on the internet, but it requires some skill which the average person does not have. If you buy the phone from Radio Shack or Best Buy it should come unlocked, meaning you can use it on any network.

Answer 16

This phone is a good one for limiting how much phone time your kid has.(thats what my parents did) then once u see they r responsible enough u can get them a real phone.

Answer 17

How it happens in our store is that you can pick the dollar amount you want to spend and we enter it into a little machine that prints out a receipt. We scan the receipt into the register and you pay for whatever it amounts to. Then there is a code on your receipt that you enter into the phone to activate the minutes you just bought.

Answer 18

Depending on your provider, some phones charge you per minute even if you talk for a second. And be careful not to run out of time or they will charge you to reactive the number.

Answer 19

I bought my son one at Best Buy a couple years ago and activated it by landline,only to learn that by visiting the website he could have had free minutes.

Answer 20

but I agree w/another if u know alot of at&t users att togo phone is best, but same if know alot of verizon users. they have pay as u go to that are good my family has them. do u know a family member that would add a line for u thats a good way to save to..i share my minutes w/my mom..

Answer 21

A new phone will come with SOME minutes to get you started, then minutes can be purchased according to your usage.

Answer 22

I was younger and all of them came with some minutes. You may have to buy more later, but at least you'll have some to start and won't have to spend extra money right now!

Answer 23

Govios is one of America’s lowest Pre-Paid wireless companies around. Lowest plans includes:

Free Cell Phone and Handset Charger

250 Monthly Anytime Minutes

Voicemail and Call Waiting

Text Messaging

Roaming

All for $19.95 a month. This is the best deal in town!!



Check out www.asihealthcare.com/website/268817 or call 800-929-8344

Answer 24

My friend has one and it works realy well you have to buy cards though you can get 300 mins to unlimited for a year

Answer 25

it depends but i do belive you can buy the phones and minutes as a package or have the options of buying minutes alone in increments with 15 i think being the smallest increment... WHOA

Answer 26

Pre paid telephones will come with some talk time loaded on them - most times. The phone cards you buy will allow you to add talk to time you telephone. These telephones are usually not such a good idea to purchase because the talk time also expires and you are given a date to purchase "add" on talk time to the telephone.

Answer 27

Most phones will come with about 300 minutes, then you buy as you run out

Answer 28

I think AT&T phones come with just a few minutes to start and then you have to buy a phone card and add those minutes to your phone. I'm not sure about the other companies though.

Answer 29

Most places when you buy a phone they will give you some minutes but I don't think much. Then you have to buy the minutes seperately.

I would recommend looking into AT&T GO phones. They are reasonably priced with good phones and anyone with AT&T service is free.

Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Answer 30

get metro pcs if its available in your area. they have plans starting at 40$ a month for unlimited minutes. most prepaid phones are too expensive in the long run.

Answer 31

Most of the ones I have seen come with a very small amount (10-30 minutes) then you have to buy more

Answer 32

yes

Answer 33

Depending on which phone you purchase, I know some come with minutes based on special promotions. With most phones, you have to buy minutes separately.

Answer 34

I know when I bought my sons phone, it came with 50$ worth of minutes. But then of course, you have to pay to actually activate the phone, so they took 30$ off of the 50$ and that left him with 20$ of minutes...which really isn't all that much.



Depending on your provider, some phones charge you per minute even if you talk for a second. And be careful not to run out of time or they will charge you to reactive the number.

Answer 35

The INpulse comes with some,but I don't remember how many...and if you activate it online you get more minutes free......they don't tell you that at the store.

I bought my son one at Best Buy a couple years ago and activated it by landline,only to learn that by visiting the website he could have had free minutes.

Answer 36

I have checked with T-Mobile a few days ago and found out that the initial activation code comes with $10 while there is no activation fee for setting up the prepaid service. In addition, they actually provide a free refill card of $25 with some of the prepaid phones. That means you can get some minutes with the phone when you buy it.

Answer 37

you get quite a few with almost every new one...

you can rush for a recharge whenever needed!!

Answer 38

A prepaid phone comes with 10 minutes

Answer 39

I bought a Tracphone (quite a few years ago) - it had about 30 minutes on it when I got it - then you have to buy additional time. ♦

Answer 40

I got a net10 phone. I paid for the cost of the phone and it had 300 free minutes with it. You have to buy 300 minutes every 60 days to keep the phone activated and retain the phone number you have. The card is $30.00, so basically after your purchase it is costing you $15.00 a month. Then I upgraded to a camera phone. It also had free minutes with it, so I didn't have to buy any to activate it. You can transfer your minutes from your old phone to the new one and also transfer the same number. I abhor contracts and so it was perfect for me, and there are no roaming charges. Most phones I looked at had minutes free with them when you buy them.

Answer 41

I've had Tracfone for years. Check it out. It works nicely for me.

Answer 42

depends on area and who u would talk to most or what u would use it for the most.. but I agree w/another if u know alot of at&t users att togo phone is best, but same if know alot of verizon users. they have pay as u go to that are good my family has them. do u know a family member that would add a line for u thats a good way to save to..i share my minutes w/my mom..

Answer 43

Yes and the store should activate it as well.



I agree I had a GO phone and it is the best.

Answer 44

minutes are sold seperatly.

Answer 45

usually no

Answer 46

okay well when i got my virgin mobile prepaid phone it came with about $10 worth of mintues and it's 18cents a minute for my phone, then when you run out you go get more mintutes for your phone later.

Answer 47

Net 10 phones come with 300 minutes to start. All others that I am aware of come with about ten minutes to start or 10 bucks worth of airtime.

Answer 48

T Mobile comes with a few to start with. They had the best plan when I got mine. They were cheapest and after you put a 1000 minutes on you get to keep them for a year

Answer 49

if u buy a tracphone u will already have free 10 min right after activation....n then if u buy their double min card for your every other next card u will have double minutes.

Answer 50

you get minutes with the phones, but yes, you have to buy minutes seperately once you run out.

Answer 51

Yes. Where I'm from, we buy minutes in 10s,20s,30s, etc

Answer 52

where are you from? you should see if MetroPCS is in your area they offer better rates with their service. Plus your first month is free with the purchase of a new phone.



check it out

metropcs.com

1-888-8metro8

Answer 53

In most cases when you buy a new prepaid it will come with a phone card for 10 minutes (or so) so you can set it up and make a couple calls, but other then that you do have to buy a phone card or go to a gas station (etc.) and buy minutes to load on the phone! Good Luck!!

Answer 54

Depends on the phone(s) and service provider. You can buy a Trac phone for under $15. But then you have to pay for a minute card from $10 up. Minute rate is high that way. Some phones come with minutes when you buy it. Check out your local Target / Walmart stores.

If you don't talk much, the Trac phone will be the cheapest in the long run. I just use it for emergencies and so my work can call me when needed.But for idle chit-chat,it's not a good deal.

Answer 55

It depends on the company you use. Tracfones typically come with a few starter minutes....like ten...it's not much. Net10 phones don't come with minutes....they will often do bonus minutes....give you an extra hundred minutes on each of the first three cards you redeem, etc. The prepaid phones from AT&T (Go Phone) are ridiculously expensive for usage.....same with Verizon wireless, some of them charge you $1.99 per day just to use the phone....then they hit you for minutes as well. TMobile and Virgin mobile have some decent cost plans. If you order directly from the website, you are more likely to get some minutes included with the phone. When you buy at the store you get few or none.

Answer 56

It depends on the company. Most give a few minutes to start you off but then you have to buy the rest. However, you can get some offers such as for 50$ for 300 minutes and this phone. I had a Tracfone for about 2 years and if you talk on the phone like I do the cash you need can start piling up but if you will only use it a little bit the are a great investment because your minutes don't expire and you can use them when you need.

Answer 57

Yes w/prepaid phones minutes are sold separately. Usually any company will provide 10-25 minutes on your prepaid phone. And then you have to buy a "top up/refill" minutes card when you run out of time.

Answer 58

My granfather uses a tracfone because he's rarely on it. His came with 30 minutes free. That was years ago so they may have upped it, or even stopped giving free ones. It should say on the box the phone is in whether it comes with any special free minutes. The minutes probably won't be already on the actual phone, you'd have to activate the phone and get a phone number by doing that, then it will probably have a promo. card in the box with a toll-free number and a long code you use to activate the free minutes.

Also, if you register online with the company that sold the phone, you usually get more minutes. Tracfone send birthday minutes each year to my grandpa (like buy a 30 minute card, get 30 minutes extra for free).

Also if you add your minutes online (buy a minute card form the store and instead of adding them through a phone, type in the code on-line) the website usually gives you extra codes to enter for promos. and it will give you sometimes 20-200 minutes free (example: it would say " Buy 400 minutes, get 200 minutes free by using code ________")

Answer 59

I bought a NET10 prepaid phone a couple of months ago. It has worked really well and I have had no complaints with it.

The phone and 300 minutes was only $29.99.

Additional minutes are $30.00 for 300 minutes You have 60 days to use them. If you buy more minutes you get more days.





Advantages:

10cent/ minute. Always!

No roaming charges

No daily charges. Beware of plans that charge you whether you use the phone or not.

You can buy minutes (card) at a store, on-line, or on the phone.

Easy to setup.

Caller ID and voice mail included.

You can buy other phones or accessories if you want them.



Disadvantages:

Like most cell phones you have to get one that covers the area you will be using it in. I have used mine from Virginia to Florida with no problem.

Answer 60

Most NEW prepaid phones come with a free $5 or $10 air time card. It usually tells u on the box if you are still UN sure ask a store associate. I like walmart they are nice and the phones and or minutes are usually cheaper than most store. Go Verizon cause they dont charge you to make calls to another Verizon user even if you have a prepaid phone or not.

Answer 61

There are minutes with the new phone, but not many--10 or so. And there is an expiration on the air time--the length depends on the carrier. Before you jump into it, go to the different stores and get the literature on the phone--what constitutes a "free" call, how are minutes counted, how long does air time last, how do you get more minutes, who/where sells the cards for more time.



And then thank the clerk sweetly, and WALK OUT THE DOOR AND GO HOME. When you are at home, you can sit down and go over each phone and how the plan is set up.



Do NOT be surprised if the clerk starts getting nosy about "why a pre-paid" as opposed to a cell phone you get billed for, and then starts pointing out this phone and that phone and this plan and that plan. Then refer to the above paragraph and thank the clerk AND WALK OUT THE DOOR AND GO HOME. A lot of stores' clerks are on commission for the contract cell phones, so they want to push that.



Hope this helps!!

Answer 62

It probably depends on the carrier; however, seeing as how the phone companies always con their way into as much money as possible, I highly doubt that you'll ever find such an offer. You should call your wireless store just to be sure, but it most likely won't happen. Don't get your hopes up.

Answer 63

From what I know, yes. Some come with a few dollars of free minuets. For example, T-moblie comes with $10 of free minuets.

Answer 64

When I bought my prepaid phone it came with an activation pack which gave me a $50 airtime card for my phone as well as instructions on how to activate it. That was with Telus, so I don't know with your specific carrier. Hope I helped!

Answer 65

yes they are

Answer 66

When I bought my TracPhone, I was given 20 bonus minutes that came free with the phone. Since those have run out, I buy more minutes separately at Walgreen's or Target.

Answer 67

I like AT&T - the Go phone. You don't need to choose the go phones. Any phone AT&T sells will go with the Go Phone plan.

Check out Radio Shack. Sometimes, they have free phones.

I think they give you a few minutes to get started.

Go Phone Pay as you Go plan is very good for emergencies and occasional use. If you plan to talk more, you should look at the other plan, the Pick your Plan. There, minutes are 10 cents/min, but you get charged $1 for each day you use the phone.



You may get a few minutes, but you can buy a $15 (60 min. worth) card - good for 30 days.

A $25 (100 min.) card is good for 90 days, and is eligible for "free rollover" minutes..If you buy the new min. before the time runs out.

Bonus is that you can never overspend. Just buy new minutes when you need them.

No credit card needed on Pay as you GO. No monthly billing. Just keep buying minutes.

Answer 68

minutes are incorperated into the phone price.

Answer 69

yes dat if u have prpaid but if u have a contract then u have like 100 mins every month or so

Answer 70

some come with a few minutes but its not usually more than like 30- 40 minutes. but yes you have to buy them separately for the most part..

Answer 71

www.tracfone.com



I bought this tracfone for $6.95 on Ebay and all I have to do is buy the minutes online or at Radio Shack.

Answer 72

Most phones come with about 10 min. tracphone comes with 10 min. verizon prepaid comes with $10 worth of min, but they also charge a $1 a day everyday you use it for activation. net 10 says it comes with 300 min, but to get those 300 min you have to buy 3 airtime cards. t-mobile and verizon are the best if you're gonna use it a lot. they have free nights and free mobile to mobile. plus really good service. trac is good for an emergency phone.

Answer 73

yea a virgin mobile come with 2.50 but if you go virgin mobile.com and do sugar mama u get 1 min each time u go there. :-)

Answer 74

I've had several pre-paid phones when I was younger and all of them came with some minutes. You may have to buy more later, but at least you'll have some to start and won't have to spend extra money right now!

Answer 75

It depens on the one you buy

Answer 76

You'll get some minutes to start out, but not many, then you'll have to buy more.

Answer 77

i should come with some minutes. the rest is up to you

Answer 78

The prepaid phone cards come with minutes already on them. It depends how many minutes are on the card. The more epensive the card, the more minutes you get. Once you run out of minutes, then you can start adding minutes to your card that you already have

Answer 79

most phones come with about 50 minutes or sometimes 100. after that you'll obviously have to get more minutes but they usually start out with that many minutes. i have had 3 phones and they all came with 50 minutes.

Answer 80

yeah you can buy minuites

Answer 81

usually , when you buy a new prepaid phone ; they give you SOME minutes . it could be anywhere from 20 - 300 .

after your out ; or after they expire -- you need to buy more .

Answer 82

Some already have free minutes in them but its rare for them to be already in them. but everytime ive got a prepaid phone i had to buy the minutes for $25 or more depending on the brand and how many then the phone for $10-$100.



also dont get verizon prepaids. i had it for a year and i spent a ton of money, like $1000 easy on keeping minutes on it. it was insane!!

Answer 83

this is depending on what kind of prepaid phone you get some models come with it and some don't i suggest looking at the info of the phone.

Answer 84

I'd go with a tracfone. They have some really great deals for people who want to get a phone that comes with a good amount of minutes! Some people prefer a phone service like "My Cricket" that gives you coverage over more then a few states and unlimited airtime local&long distance and there is no contract included. You pay month to month but can quit anytime. They have alot of unlimited services like text message etc.. Only thing that sucks is there not available in all areas yet but in most.

Answer 85

I have Verizon pay as you go and they only come with a small card of $10.00. Then you just have to buy more as you go.

Answer 86

Prepaid phones suck. get a cheep plan with out the bells and wistles form Verizon or Revol

Answer 87

AT&T prepaid phones give u $10 to start out with and then every $100 u spend on ur fone they give u bonuses

Answer 88

Some phones are sold with a starter card with only a few mins on it.the start up min is like 10min sometimes it just teases you because when you get a new you phone you really want to talk on it just for fun.

Answer 89

My family uses Virgin Mobile. There are NO minutes included in any of the phone packages, but that is okay, because the phones are so inexpensive ($20 to $100). Their customer service is pretty good, too. The quality of the phones is good so far, too! And so is the coverage area. You can either pay by the minute or you can get monthly plans, NO contracts though and you can change plans anytime you want. www.virginmobileusa.com

Answer 90

the phone i bought came with 300 minutes but after u will have to buy them

Answer 91

Verizon has pre paid.. Phone came with like 10 minutes..

I buy a new card every 2 months for airtime and minutes (same card)

but I love it.. no monthly bills and I can't go over my limit.. so no extra fee..if I seem to be running out of minutes I can always add another card.

Same thing as my old Trac Fone..

You WILL have to buy a card to use the phone...

Answer 92

MOST OF THEM COME WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF MINUTES AND SOON THERE AFTER YOU MUST PURCHASE MORE.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT MINUTES COME IN "WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD RIGHT NOW" INCREMENTS LIKE

$10, $15, $20, AND SO ON. WHEN YOU FIRST GET YOUR PHONE YOU'LL MORE THAN LIKE GO THROUGH THOSE INITIAL MINUTES QUICKLY.: )

Answer 93

inquire at metro pcs.. if you have it in your area.. it's a free phone.. then you pay 35 dollars a month for unlimited text and call service.. locally and long distance.. my sister has it.. she never stops talking on the phone.. lol...

Answer 94

yes they are sold seperatly. although some phones come with a couple of minutes already on them.

Answer 95

well.. some companies provide you with the minutes and some dont.. you might have to buy minutes separately

Answer 96

Depends on the phone u buy. Cingular you get $10 to start with. would not recommend them b/c of the $1 a day charge, unless a majority of your friends have cingular. Net 10 phones usually only come with bonus minutes. which means u have to purchase minutes b4 they give u your free(bonus) minutes. There is usally some stipulation like this.

Answer 97

you get a few minutes with purchase.

log on to activate it and that should save you a few of your first minutes.

Answer 98

You buy a phone as track fone they come with 300 minutes



the you buy a card and just you keep refill it so you do not pay fees . becouse you will pay about $ 4.50 first time



thank you

Answer 99

some phones come with free minutes and you also have to buy a card to add minutes to it!

Answer 100

I also have a prepaid phone.. It kind of depends on who the phones company is.. depending on the company and then phone, its different.. Just ask whoever is helping you at your store if it comes with minutes or not. If they dont know. look on the phones website and it should say OR jsut buy more minutes :D hope this helpedd!

Answer 101

yes they are... try Tracfone.. its the best!

Answer 102

Pre-Paid cell phones can be bought phones and minutes separately. A new phone will come with SOME minutes to get you started, then minutes can be purchased according to your usage.

But if you are into texting, and lots of calls, a contract phone is better.

I love my Verizon phone, and my wife loves her Trac-Fone.

Answer 103

They usually come with a certain amount of minutes and then you buy more.

Answer 104

most come with some minutes, and when those are up you can buy new minutes at stores like sears, target, etc.

Answer 105

Most prepaid phones do come with minutes 300 and as the minutes get low or run out there is the option to buy more minutes

Answer 106

Yes and no. There is usually a minutes card included with the purchase of the phone but it is usually only something like 10 minutes. It should tell you whether or not any time is included on the box. I would check this before I buy the phone. Whether you will have to buy another card depends on how much time is included with your particular phone and how long you have to talk for.

Answer 107

Where I work, we don't sell the phones, but we sell the minutes. I think maybe the phones come with a certain number of minutes already on them and you can buy additional minutes.



How it happens in our store is that you can pick the dollar amount you want to spend and we enter it into a little machine that prints out a receipt. We scan the receipt into the register and you pay for whatever it amounts to. Then there is a code on your receipt that you enter into the phone to activate the minutes you just bought.



Hope this helps you decide.

Answer 108

They are sold separately.



You have to buy the phone.

You have to activate the phone.

Then you have to buy minutes.



I don't know of any plan that comes with free minutes with the phone. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile don't. Verizon will let you activate the phone for free on their website though. You can also buy minutes through your phone, online, or in store. You also don't have to go to a Verizon store to buy the minutes. They have them at many places. They also have AT&T minutes many places too. AT&T has monthly plans too where you pay so much per month. It is $29.99 for 200 minutes, $39.99 for 300, $49.99 for 400, $69.99 for 650. They come with varying night and weekend minutes too. The last one is the only one with unlimited night and weekend minutes. But it is $15.00 cheaper to go with Cricket and get unlimited everything and that is postpay.



I have a Verizon prepay right now. I am seriously considering switching because I have already spent so much money adding minutes. Prepaid phones are only good if you don't plan to talk to much.

Answer 109

I think that it depends on the prepaid service. Try virginmobile.com, they have very affordable cell phones. There, sometimes they give you minutes with the phone if you buy certain phones, but otherwise you buy phone cards or add money online to keep the phone working. So, with this service, yes, the phones and minutes ARE sold separetly.



Hope this helps you!! :-)

Answer 110

Yes they are separate. Check out GoVios mobile. They recycle your old cell phone and give you a deposit. They are a green company. The least expensive prepaid calling plan out there right now. It is less than 8 cents a minute. I don't know any other company who is beating them with price for minutes. Crystal clear calls, very little if any dropped calls. Plus you can get a free Motorola cell phone. For more info on the plans call 1-800-929-8344 Reference Code # 199644 Plans start at $19.95

govios (dot) com

Answer 111

depends on the service you are getting boost comes with a $5 card and most others come with a $10 card that 5 or 10 dollars doesnt offer alot of minutes though i know boost calls 20 cents a min and if you use the walkie talkie its a dollar a day and they dont tell u in minutes how much time you have it would just say u have 5 dollars remaining. verizon and t mobil and cingular will tell u in minutes not in dollar amount but i dont use those services so im not sure how they charge when i had verizon like 2 years ago i think with 20 dollars i got 180 minutes so a 10 dollar card that it comes with would be like 90 minutes. good luck hope i helped

Answer 112

Depends on the brand of phone. If you get a go phone they include a code that gives you $10 on your phone, but I would not recomend an at&t go phone, it's 25 cents/minute and 10 cents/text and 10 cents to recieve each text. I would reccomend t mobile to go, virgin mobile, or trac phone, it's the cheapest. I only know that go phone does if you buy the $20 phones they have a red camera phone and a black camera phone, that are like $50 at wal mart I think. Wal mart has t mobile, virgin mobile, and trac phone, and they're pretty cool. And that thing where you can call other at&t people costs an additional $1/day fyi. I thought it was free to call other at&t customers but it costs an extra $1.

Answer 113

most prepaid phones and plans come with a set amount of minutes depending on the provider..it can be anywhere from 100 to 500 minutes. you can get certain phones that you can load with minutes..like the cards at walmart or the supermarket..or you can purchase a pay as you go phone. boost mobile has a good thing going. you can get a month to month service with web and stuff instead of just minutes. no credit checks or anything like that. you can text and surf the web on those phones too. when you get one you just set it up like any other phone and choose your plan depending on your needs. i know they have some for around 50 bucks a month. good luck with your purchase

Answer 114

Yes.....You purchase a prepaid phone that will come with a certain amount of minutes. After those minutes are used you must purchase a prepaid card for minutes, offered by the carrier of the prepaid phone.

Answer 115

i just bought a prepaid cell for my boyfriend this christmas. It came with $10 worth of minutes that I activated when I activated the phone. Those expire after about a month. If you run out of minutes, you buy a phone card and refill your minutes.

Answer 116

i had 1 of those fones. You buy the fone and after u activate it it has about $5-$20 depending on what company its from. You dont "buy minutes" u put money onto your account, and your phone works as long as you have money left.

you can use that money for anything tho. lik you could text, go online, buy ringtones.

Usually theres a rewards pollacy 2. Lik once you spend $100 u get $20 or something. Most phones also have feature packages lik regular phones. These features include stuff lik 200 text messages for $5, web time.. extra stuff like that.



hope you find out what your lOOking for.

and i hope i helped.



This phone is a good one for limiting how much phone time your kid has.(thats what my parents did) then once u see they r responsible enough u can get them a real phone.

Answer 117

I have had Page Plus for many years now. When I first bought my phone it came with 100 or so minutes. Reloading is easy as the minutes are sold most everywhere. The only thing I don't like is the charge applied to check your voice mail and they don't give you the choice to access it by other means, like a land line or computer. Otherwise, it has worked very well for me and I don't have a high monthly bill for going over my minutes.

Answer 118

Ya i have virgin mobile and i paid 50 dollars for the phone and i had to buy a top up card ($20) to put money on the phone to have a talk plan. But if you are a new customer you can get free minutes sometimes.

Answer 119

Back when I had a prepaid phone, I had Virgin Mobile.. I only used it for texting because minutes were expensive.. when I got it, I had toget the phone seperatly from the minutes which costed 40 dollars. 20 for the phone 20 for the minutes.. the cheapest card is a 20 phone card which didnt last long...

Answer 120

I remember mine sucked. You would get a card and have like 150 min and texting would take about 10 cents for incoming and outcome text. Then even if you called and no one answered it took minutes off. Pretty much you were sitting there 3 days later like Where the F*** did all my minutes go?? So good luck with yours and mine did not come with minutes until I bought the card.

Answer 121

Alot of it will depend on what company you go with. If you go simply with a tracphone they only come with about 15 minutes and you have to buy cards. I am not sure about if you go with a major company but I think they will give you a few free mintues but not enough to do much with.

Answer 122

When you buy the phone you and by cards with the minutes on them and load it up that way or you can just call your service provider and load it up from a credit card.

Answer 123

yes they are. some come with maybe 300 minutes like net10 or $10 for most other services to start.

Answer 124

Go to Walmart and check their Trac phones. They are inexpensive and you can buy airtime as you go. 3 months service and 60 minutes is about $20.00 plus the cost of the phone-they have a Motorola phone for $12.88.

Answer 125

wow, i was about to answer, and i just realized there are 157 answers! haha, i am not even going to try!

Answer 126

it depends on what kind of phone it is, usually they don't, you have to buy them separately

Answer 127

you buy cards call the people and tell them how many minutes or text messages you want.

Answer 128

some come with 300 minutes but usually there are only about 10-20 minutes. i got one it was a net10 it came with 300 minutes it also says on the box how many minutes it comes with

Answer 129

yes

Answer 130

Well I HAD a prepaid phone. But when I got it, i had to buy minutes. and pre-paid phones are sold seperalty.

Answer 131

well i have a tracfone and the more exspensive the phones are they have cards but most dont

Answer 132

YUP I THINK SO..

Answer 133

You buy the phone separate and buy a phone card and add the minutes. You can get a 15 or 30 dollar card.

Answer 134

Don't go with Tracfone. You buy the phone and get some air time with the phone purchase. To keep the service going for a year, you have to spend $100 plus tax for 400 minutes.



The customer service is awful!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying to update service since last week. I bought a $100 card. The time got added to someone else's phone and now the Tracfone people cannot straighten it out.

Answer 135

I have had a tracphone for 3 years-- works good for me , but I very rarely use it-- phones about $15-$50 come with 10 minutes- you can get a 90 day 60 minute card for about $20.-- my wife, father, and mother all switched to trac phone. this will not work out well for you if you plan to talk alot or text-- its great for emergencies or short couple minute calls--

Answer 136

Most phones you buy that run on pre-paid minutes will give you minutes to start out with. As time goes on and when you run out of minutes you will not be allowed to call people or accept calls (you will recieve a text message saying someone tried to call you). So when that starts happening, you would want to go to a local store or where you bought your pre-paid phone and by minutes(that come in different groups).

Answer 137

The "Go Phone" comes with minutes and then you just buy more as you need them. I bought one for my brother-in-law and the phone cost me $30.00 at Sams Club.



You might be able to get it cheaper at one of the phone stores.



T-Mobil also offers a pay as you go system but I am not sure what the phone costs.

Answer 138

You should get a virgin mobile its just like a regular phone...

virginmobileusa.com

Answer 139

some prepaid phones like the go phone from at and t come with 10 min. but you have to buy the rest of your min. other phones don't have min. that come with the phone you have to buy them yourself but it should tell you whether it comes with min. or not by reading the box that the phone comes in

Answer 140

Depends,At&T have usually 10 mins or points and when u run out you go to rite aid or cvs wallmart stores like that and sometimes if u have a credit card u can bye them online

Answer 141

Yes, It comes with minutes when you first buy it.

Answer 142

yes they are sold seperately

you buy the phone then you buy the card to put minutes on it(the phone)

Answer 143

Yes they are.

Answer 144

for t mobile you have to buy the sim if you already have the phone. plus the sim card already comes with 150 minutes.

Answer 145

You can go to any carrier that has page plus, gas station, grocery store, corner store, etc page plus phones start at $10.00 they come with $10.00 worth of minutes (80 minutes) great for starting out. P.S. page plus has Internet ready phones, but don't offer it in all area's so you may want to check that out if Internet on your phone is a necessity. hope this helps.

Answer 146

yes

Answer 147

My mom had a TracFone and hers came with some minutes when she bought it. After they ran out she had to buy minutes "Calling Cards" to use her phone. She likes it that way

Answer 148

Depends on the plan. MOST include minutes and usually offer bonus minutes for the first X months. Mine came with 50 anytimes minutes a month, 1000 evening and weekend minutes (*this is for local ONLY.. long distance is always extra unless its included in your plan). Mine came with unlimited anytime minutes for the first 3 months. And there are many different plans to choose from, they'll ususally put one together for you if you give them you're max price limit.

Answer 149

Some already come with a limited amount loaded onto the phone. But it will vary with your wireless carrier.

Answer 150

I have virginmobile, and really like it... no WAY do I want to mess with contracts. On their website, they often have 'deals' like $25 worth of airtime.. and the phone is basically free. Nothing fancy.. no camera, but it makes calls, and sends text. I can use it for the web but that takes more $$ I think.

It is pay as you go.. when I had a bit of extra money, I loaded on maybe $35, then each month, I "pay" my bill by adding it up to a healthy balance. I like that I can do it using the website and credit card..I didn't register my card like they want. As long as I keep it "healthy", I don't worry about running out of time.. but if I have heavy use, I can add more mid month. One other thing is that only a limited few persons have the number, and have been told that I use it as NEEDED, and for chatting, call me on my house line or send email.

Answer 151

tracfone phones and minutes are separate.

Answer 152

yes

Answer 153

I got the go phone not to long ago and they gave me 60 minutes with the phone. if i wanted anymore, i had to buy them.

Answer 154

My sister just bought a Net 10 phone that came with 300 minutes. She bought it at the General Dollar store and paid $25 for it. You can buy minutes as you need them, they are good for 90 days..

Answer 155

usually when you look at the package for the prepaid phone, it will tell you how many minutes it comes with, for example $5 or $10 worth of air time. once all that air time is used up, you will need to refill the minutes on your phone. that usually involves buying a phone card worth however many minutes you need. the beauty of prepaid phones is no credit check, and no monthly commitment.

Answer 156

I think the best deal out there is the Net10. It comes with 300 minutes. Minutes are always 10 Cents. Like all prepaid cell phones, you have to top them up to keep them active. I have Virgin Mobil, but the minutes are 18 cents each. I wish they had Net10 when I got mine. I would have gotten it instead.

Answer 157

I have a Tracfone LG and they only come with 10 minutes. You will have to purchase more time, but every time you add minutes, it also increases by 90 days the expiration date.



My phone won't expire until Jan. 11 2012. I know I can use up 43 minutes by then.

Answer 158

Yes they are sold seperately. You have to buy the phone and then buy like a at&t or verizon or whatever company prepaid minute cards

Answer 159

I have prepaid, usually they give you 10 minutes loaded on your phone when you purchase it. Make sure you check though every carrier is different. I use Virgin Mobile and it was 10 minutes. After that you usually have to purchase a certain amount every 90 days, again each carrier is different.

Answer 160

Yes they come with minutes but you can buy more

Answer 161

AT&T sells something with minutes, but I just bought mine in WalMart along with a minutes card. No big deal. See?

Answer 162

some pre pays do come with like ten minutes already on there but otherwise you have to just buy them separately

Answer 163

Pre paid phones generally come with a few minutes, but not a lot. You can shop around online to see who has the best dealls in your area.

Answer 164

No they wont come together!

You have to buy them separate!

Answer 165

yes

Answer 166

most pre paid phone come with free minutes when your first buy them so if you're going to the store to buy it make to to ask someone if it doesnt say on the box. And also be sure you get a phone where you can buy minutes somewhere you can go to easily.

Answer 167

yes...They might give you some minutes for free when you first buy the phone, but later you have to buy the minutes, which can get pretty expensive.

Answer 168

some phones come wid them but some dont when ii bought a verizon prepaid it didnt come wid alot of minutes it lasted me anout 3days but ii txt alot so yeah good luck

=]

Answer 169

Most phones do t-moible only gives u $10 that's about 30 min of tlk time. Sumtimes they run a special on certain fones where you can get 300 min. I would ask.

Answer 170

sadly yes

Answer 171

Of course they are. Otherwise you would have to get a new phone every time you ran out of minutes.

Answer 172

I have got a virgin mobile pre paid phone, and it comes sepreatly but the phone comes with like 10 minutes on it when you get it set up. The cards go to $19.95 to $30.00 depends on how many minutes you want on your phone. Hope that helps.

Answer 173

you have to but minutes to use the phone

Answer 174

some times if you buy a Pre paid phone during a sale you can get minutes but usually you will have to buy minutes

Answer 175

The best prepaid service is Boost Mobile. I live in Southern California for one month of service unlimited calls to anyone in Southern California is $50.50 per month.



The bad part is you don't make the payment on time you have to pay 10 just to get it going again.

Answer 176

well with Virgin Moble u have to buy minutes when u activate the phone but wat phone company r u tlkin about idk wit cingular or verizon wireless or boost moble!

Answer 177

Mine did not come with any minutes and I had a Virgin Mobile but I think it depends on the type of phone you get!

Answer 178

SOME PHONES GIVE YOU MINUTES BUT NOT LIKE 1000 MINUTESO. THEY ONLY GIVE YOU AN HOUR

Answer 179

yeah

Answer 180

if u go with t-mobile, it comes with 30 minutes

Answer 181

They come with minutes when you buy the phone, but after you run out of the minutes they give you, you have to keep buying more.

Answer 182

Unfortunately, you need to research each one because they are vastly different. And sometimes places like Target will have sales - there was one around Christmas where you got $100 worth of free minutes.



But whoever said $300...I've never heard of that. There's usually enough to talk for an hour or so.

Answer 183

I have a tracfone they have awsome service you start out with 20 minutes then you have to buy more minutes after that.

Answer 184

You can get a Trackfone at Walmart.

No company is involved...no bill comes to

your house. You buy how many minutes

you want and it gives directions on how to

do it. You're good then until that amount of

time runs out. Frankly, I like it.

Answer 185

I have only bought one and it came with 10 minutes I think (this was a few years ago) they are honestly a waste of money. You can end up paying more then if you go get one from Verizon or some place.

Answer 186

Well, If you buy Net10, you will get 300 minutes automatically if you buy either the $60 one or the $85 one. But usually they are sold seperatley. And DON'T BUY TRACPHONE!! I bought a tracphone, and for $30, you get 120 mniuytes. and with Net10, $30 gets you 300 minutes.

Answer 187

no they usaly come with ten units or 10 minutes and then buy seperatly it says on the box what it comes with anyway

Answer 188

They ususaly come with some minutes and then you have to buy more seperately. How much they come with varies from company to company.

Answer 189

most of the time they are.

it depends where you go.

sometimes, minutes are added when you renew your account online

Answer 190

TracPhones you have to buy them seperate

Answer 191

yes

Answer 192

yeah

Answer 193

some come with mins but you can always buy mins sepretly

Answer 194

umm yeah they sell the card seoarately from the phones but i think if u.s cellular they come with cuz cellular dont use sim cards. please let me be best.........www.uscellular.com i think thats thier site.

Answer 195

you get a few minutes then u have to buy more

like att

Answer 196

idiot

obviously they sell them seperatley and seperatly for each brand(like verison or cingular etc.)

Answer 197

Yes. Some phones come with prepaid minutes. check carefully when you buy.

You can then buy more minutes as you need them.

Check for expiration date of minutes. (This happened to my son; he didn't use them up in time.)

Check out 'letstalk.com' for special offers.

Answer 198

You have to buy new minutes if your buying a new phone

Answer 199

yes they are sold separately and some companies give you minutes if you buy a certain amount, check out Radio Shack I buy 400 minutes and I get 400 free

Answer 200

Look online at Tracphone. they are always running specials.

bought 100 minutes for 89.00. The phone was free and they gave me a bonus of 100 minutes.

Answer 201

I bought myself a pre paid phone and then I had to buy a prepaid card and load it in , depending on how much you can afford , they all expire in 1month either you use it or not.

Answer 202

there is metro pcs and boost mobile

metro pcs= unlimited everything for only 40$ a month

boost mobile=unlimited everything for 60$ a month-radio shack has it

they both have unlimited texting and outgoing or incoming calls.

Answer 203

with TRACFONE it comes seperatly. I don't think they do with all phones though. all i know is i spent $15 on the new phone and had to immediately pay aniother $20 for 60 minutes

Answer 204

It depends. When I got mine I had to buy minutes(airtime). Maybe go to the store and check it out and ask the person at the counter.