Compare 1000 Minute Plans
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How much will 1000 minutes a month cost me?
Since most cell phone customers use about 450 minutes per month, we chose 1000 minutes per month as an amount that a heavy cell phone user might require. Most cell phone companies offer a 1000 minute card. If you need more than 1000 minutes of airtime per month, then an unlimited prepaid plan would work better for you.
Note that some of these plans are very expensive at the 1000 minute level, but the same companies offer an unlimited plan that is much cheaper (like AT&T and Boost). You might be tempted to just get an unlimited minutes plan from one of these companies, but in my opinion why bother with the extra minutes and cost. There are four different companies that offer 1000 minutes for $30 (see below). Many of these companies, like Straight Talk, allow you to switch between plans on a month to month basis, so if you actually do need more minutes one month you can simply buy an unlimited card for the extra minutes.
| Cell Phone Plans | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $100.00 | a |
| Boost Mobile | $200.00 | b |
| Kajeet | N/A | c |
| MetroPCS | $40.00 | d |
| NET10 | $60.00 | e |
| PlatinumTel | $50.00 | f |
| Straight Talk | $30.00 | |
| T-Mobile | $30.00 | g |
| TracFone | $189.99 | h |
| US Cellular | $100.00 | i |
| Verizon Prepaid | $84.99 | j |
| Virgin Mobile | $30.00 | k |
There’s a three way tie for the winner of the 1000 minute level. You can get 1000 minutes of airtime for $30 a month from these 3 prepaid cell phone companies:
- Straight Talk offers a 1000 minute card for $30.
- T-Mobile offers a 1500 minute card for $30.
- Virgin Mobile offers 1500 minutes for $30.
A note on texting with these three plans: Straight Talk plans come with 1000 texts included. T-Mobile does not include ANY texts (their $30 card offers any combination of minutes or messages up to 1500.). Virgin Mobile offers 1500 texts with their plan.
Visit the Straight Talk website to check out their phones and plans.
Visit the T-Mobile website to check out their phones and plans.
Visit the Virgin Mobile website to check out their phones and plans.
Notes:
a. AT&T charges 10 cents per minute. They also offer an unlimited minutes plan for $50.
b. Boost Mobile charges 20 cents per minute. They also have an unlimited plan for $50 a month.
c. Kajeet offers a 300 minute card and the next highest amount of minutes they offer is an unlimited card.
d. MetroPCS only offers an unlimited minutes plan.
e. 900 minute card.
f. 5 cent per minute. This calculation does not include texts or web access which are extra.
g. 1500 minute card. This does not include any texts.
h. Two 450 minute cards at 79.99 each and a 120 minute card at 29.99.
i. 10 cents per minute. The offer an unlimited minutes plan for $50.
j. 900 minute monthly plan. They offer an unlimited minutes plan for $50, but it’s only for basic phones (not smartphones.)
k. 1500 minutes with the PayLo pay as you go plan.
Filed under: Compare Plans
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Hi, my name is Bill. I recently switched over to a prepaid plan, but when I started researching plans on the internet, I quickly realized that most of the review sites were total spam. I put this site together to help folks find the best prepaid cell phone plans.
This is a great comparison a window into what your potential costs of using a cell phone can be. What I didn’t realize is the big selection in the 1000 minutes range which is what I need. The problem with most of these is you either need a contract, pay some kind of activation fee, or incur some other type of fee the company doesn’t tell you about upfront. So, now my choices have become a bit more limited. Price wise, the best options in my area are MetroPCS or Straight Talk. As for coverage, which is important even if it means paying a little more, Straight Talk has the edge with better coverage based on the networks they use. If anyone has experience with either of these, I would appreciate the feedback.
I’ve used both Straight Talk and Metro PCS. They are both super easy to set up. You pay a flat $30 a month for 1000 minutes and that’s all you pay – neither has any hidden fees. You can just buy a refill card from walmart or the grocery store every month. I started off with Metro but switched to Straight Talk because the coverage is MUCH better. It’s easy enough to switch – you just buy a new phone and stop using the old one. The phones are cheap enough where you can do this (unless you want a fancy android phone.)
Thank you for these interesting figures, one must always keep abreast of the prices of monthly cell phone costs to see if you are getting value for money.
I see I’m getting the best value for my money in the market with Straight Talk plans, I’m actually using the $30 plan/1000 min,1000 texts,30mb of data and my reception and coverage is with Verizon and AT&T networks which are top quality.
I believe in getting the phone you really like even though it’s a bit pricey as long as you are going to use all the features, the real money saving comes in to play with what cell phone plan you have. Prepaid saves me $600/year.