Pay As You Go Phone Purchase

[wee-haggis]

I am looking for a basic cell phone that is of the "pay as you go" variety.
This is only for emergencies so the chaeaper,the better.
I can see one from Rogers for $99 and one from Bell for $129.
Are there any cheaper deals around ?
thanks

[MiniMike]

you can get a refirbished one from bell for 39 + tax and it comes with a 30 bill credit. Its an older phone but my friend had one when it came out and it worked great. Ordered one for my mom to use on emergencies so after I try it out I can let you know.

[Mike]

If you purchase a MuchMusic Rogers Pay As You Go Phone you get $100 in airtime upon activation and it lasts for 365 days. The cheapest Rogers phone is $99.

[Paul Stanway Jr]

Hi,

Don't forget to compare the "per minute" rate charges between Fido, Rogers and Bell. The phone might be cheap but make sure you don't get burned by the air time charges.

[don4life]

Virgin Mobile is pretty decent for prepaid as well. I just got the hotbox kit with the Nokia 2125i for $99 and its sweet.

[tweakthis]

The best deal around is the Virgin phones. With all other pay-as-you-go phones, your phone card is only good for 30 days, with Virgin it's 90 days. I used to run out of days, not money, with my old Bell phone. Now a $15 card lasts me forever!

Right now you can get the basic (non-flip) phone for $79.99 at 7-11 stores. The phones also go on sale at Future Shop and Best Buy occasionally. In the Ottawa Citizen there was an article recently re pay-as-youu-go phone and Virgin ranked #1 amongst users. The phones are on the Bell network so there is great coverage.

I bought one for me and one for my daughter last June and we both love the phones. I was concerned about the flip-clip wearing out (I bought the mid-range phone), but so far it's holding steady for both of us, and she is much more of a user than I am!

Happy shopping.

[Bogie]

re: Virgin and other "pay-as-you-go" type phones
You can also get them at Zehrs and Loblaws now.

[Paul Stanway Jr]

The best deal around is the Virgin phones. With all other pay-as-you-go phones, your phone card is only good for 30 days, with Virgin it's 90 days. I used to run out of days, not money, with my old Bell phone. Now a $15 card lasts me forever!


Yup, I forgot about this. The time that the pre-paid minutes last before they expire is very important too! Don't forget to compare how long minutes last before they expire. This also depends on the "top up cards" that you buy. For rogers a $10 card last for 30 days however a $25 card last for 60 days but you have to buy the more "expensive" card to get a longer expiry date for your minutes..

[Mviper]

I am wondering which is better for a husband & wife to get since both of our phone contracts are about to run out. I want to switch but I am not sure if Pay as you go will be better than getting phones on a contract with rogers,fido or Telus

[Nave]

i have virgin and i love it. you can check you account status from your phone for only 10 cents a day (this includes shopping for d/l's from virgins service). great service, and nice phones.