Inexpensive cell phone for a young teen

[EFmom]

My 13 yo dd has had a Tracfone for about a year now. We try hard to minimize the cell phone usage and restrict the volume of texting she does. But she's been responsible, and I think it's time to loosen up a little on that and get her a better phone. We have Tracfones ourselves, and they are fine for us, but we rarely talk on them.

I don't want to spend a fortune and don't want a contract. Does anybody have experience with Kajeet or the Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk prepaid plans? Both of them sound like what we're looking for in that dd doesn't talk on the phone much, and the costs are reasonable.

But the customer review sites I've found for both are pretty dreadful. I'm sure that's because it's mostly disgruntled people who bother to review these things, but I'd like to hear from people who have actually used them.

If you've found a different prepaid plan you like (under $30/mo or so), I'd love to hear about it.

[zebra15]

I have the virgin plan at $50 month for unlimited... I've never had to call them and everything is set up to auto bill my account. I dont have a problem with the service or the phone/plan etc.

I have an older plan and Im not sure if its offered anymore...

[sunflower.mama]

We just got the virgin mobile plans today. Our old #s transferred from verizon in an hour or two, VM customer service was friendly and I got right to an operator, and my husband and I called and texted each other from inside our home, which we never could do w/verizon service. So far so good. The phone doesn't look like the greatest but for $50 ($20 off the loft phone) per phone and $25 a month, our expections are low. If we'd downgraded from a smart phone, yeah, we'd be dissapointed. But for a bit of talking and text - seems great. Mobile web looks to be a bit cumbersome but might be handy one of these days.

[sunnysandiegan]

I happened to be perusing the iTunes Apps Store last night for Hay House apps and I ran across a handful of free texting apps that can be used on a variety of Apple products (not just the iPhone). Perhaps something to look into?

[Ravin]

I would go with either StraightTalk (all you need incl. 1000 min./1000 texts/a fixed amt of data access $30/mo, or unlimited talk/text/data for $45/mo), or a Net10 phone with an unlimited plan (similarly priced).

[KristinaMarie]

I have the StraightTalk unlimited plan and love it. I was on the $30 plan but it was never enough, so I went to the unlimited. The unlimited is $45 every 30 days. If you buy the cards in store you add them to the phone when the 30 days is up. If you add them prior to the 30 days you end up losing whatever is left of the 30 days. I signed up for the monthly billing which is nice, I don't have to worry about going to Walmart(90 miles away). Whatever yuou do don't let your card expire though. I spent 3 hrs on the phone trying to get it re-activated the very next day.

[EFmom]

I googled StraightTalk and it looks to me like it's only through Walmart. Is that correct? We don't do Walmart, so if so that's not going to work for us.

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

I happened to be perusing the iTunes Apps Store last night for Hay House apps and I ran across a handful of free texting apps that can be used on a variety of Apple products (not just the iPhone). Perhaps something to look into?

We don't have any Apple devices that this could be used with, but it's a great idea if you do.

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by sunflower.mama

We just got the virgin mobile plans today. Our old #s transferred from verizon in an hour or two, VM customer service was friendly and I got right to an operator, and my husband and I called and texted each other from inside our home, which we never could do w/verizon service. So far so good. The phone doesn't look like the greatest but for $50 ($20 off the loft phone) per phone and $25 a month, our expections are low. If we'd downgraded from a smart phone, yeah, we'd be dissapointed. But for a bit of talking and text - seems great. Mobile web looks to be a bit cumbersome but might be handy one of these days.

How do you pay for it? I'm confused with the cards and some reviews I've read mention registering a credit or debit card with them. I'd prefer to pay automatically by cc, but I've also read reviews claiming that some people are getting random charges on their cards from VM in addition to the monthly charge. I also don't want to have to remember to add a card every single month if possible.

I looked at the available phones at Target and they had a decent selection--much better than the totally basic ones we have now from Tracfone at any rate. I'm sure they aren't the top of the line new toys out there, but dd will, I think, like them better than what she has.