Burner/pay as you go phone or service that will not deactivate?

April 7, 2014 2:05 PM

I am looking for your experience with a brand of cheapo phone/carrier/phonecard that I can "set and forget"--pay for, plug in, and pull out as a back up on a whim that will not expire or deactivate for a reasonably long while (is never okay?).

Hi, currently I have a cheepy emergency Tracphone that is for this purpose, but my "prepaid minutes window" keeps expiring and I have to keep reactivating it (KACHING-toilet flush sound effect here.).

Have you had a phone that is relatively cheap (less than $50) that you could set up with prepaid minutes that would not "expire"? I'd rather not have a monthly plan since I've used it only maybe 3x a year in various pinches. It does not need to even approach being a smartphone. It just needs to hold a handful of numbers.

For all intents and purposes, this is my "back up landline." I have not had a landline in 10+ years and do not want one.

If this does not exist then I suppose I will set a calendar alert to refill the minimum minutes. Thanks.

posted by Lardmitten to Technology (3 answers total)

Best answer: With TMobile prepaid if you once put $100 on the account you have "Gold Status", apparently for as long as you keep the account open. You would still have to add money to the account, but I think you could get away with adding $10 once a year. Not sure how $100 upfront plus $10 once a year compares to your current costs!
posted by mskyle at 2:14 PM on April 7, 2014

Best answer: Yes, we have two ancient candy-bar phones with "Gold status" on T-Mobile ($100 investment over three years ago), and since then I've spent $10 a year to just keep them alive.

I don't think you'll find a service that allows you to keep a number indefinitely without some kind of activity, because they recycle inactive phone numbers pretty quickly.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:53 PM on April 7, 2014

Best answer: The downside is that you cannot set it up for automatic payment once per year, but I believe T-Mobile is the best way to do this. If you forget, you lose the number.
posted by wnissen at 8:24 PM on April 7, 2014