Q&A: Do you know of a cheap cell phone I can buy that comes with telephone minutes that never expire?

by Clement Soh

I want a cell phone for emergencies only. I would like to buy the cell phone with, say, 100 minutes that never expire. That way, for example, I could call AAA if I need roadside service. I haven’t seen such a phone or plan offered. Thanks for any help.

Answer by Smiley Traffic
Virgin Mobile (whose minutes never expire if the phone remains active)

Answer by evilattorney
All minutes expire unless you purchase new minutes every month.

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7 things I bring on the go


Image by Clement Soh
The backpack. Gotten it from a local bag peripherals store. Rugged look with just enough compartments for my to house all my belongings. Zippers are always smooth and have never been stuck. Perfect for the on-the-go me.

Communications. One for the civilian me. The other for the regimental work use. Pretty much average phones for every day uses. Reason I need 2 cell phones. One has a built in camera lens while the other doesn't. My workplace forbids camera cells.

The shades. It's a cheap shades that my sis have gotten for me when she went overseas because I whine that I don't have a proper one. Nice and comfy and just enough to protect my eyes in sunny Singapore.

The player. The Zen 2GB. Decided to get it because I lack a proper MP3 player ever since my iPod Mini broke down. Also, it acts as a substitute for the future iPod touch I am planning to get. Pro iPod user here. It's small in size (just about a size of a credit card) but packs a punch in music quality. The more then sufficient 2GB capacity is good enough for me because I always load up the player with about 150+ songs and 0 videos. Protected in official Creative acrylic casing.

Would you choose the white or the black lighter? Lighters are a must on the go. At least for a smoker.

SBA-290. The portable music system on the go by Phillips. Ultra slim body with it's dynamic bass boost, incredible surround as well as XSL acoustics. Simply love it's piano black version which I chose over the pear white one. Runs on AAA batteries so it wouldn't eat into the battery power of my player.

The portable entertainment system. My beloved PSP Slim. For videos, games and also as a portable wi-fi platform. Equipped with a 4GB Sandisk memory stick, sufficient for my use. 8GB seems to be a little on the overkill side. Protected by a Logitech hardcase for hard knocks what god knows what else.

The Sennheiser HD212 Pro. Music is my life. Enchanced quality music is what makes a difference in my life. With noise-cancelling feature to block out pollutants such as baby cries, vehicles as well as gossiping middle aged women. It is a must feature for music on the go. Total comfort where it sits around your ears instead of surrounding it. Being everything clear, crisp and bassy and I do mean very bassy. Totally in love.

My wife lives in the USA but works in BC, Canada. With winter coming she wants a simple, low cost cell phone that she will be able to call for help (me or AAA) from both sides of the border. She does not want to spend the typical $ 35, $ 45, $ 55+ taxes, fees, and BS that come with normal plan type phones and accounts when she may only need to use the phone to make 3 or 4 calls a month max. Maybe less. She just wants a “pay as you go” phone. But, we can not find a phone that seems to work with a carrier in the US and that will easily work with a carrier in BC too. Does anyone know what the deal is or where to find a phone that you can maybe pay $ 25 for 50 or 60 minutes and not have to worry about getting gouged for extra money when your minutes age off, or what have you? Just a simple pay so much for so many minutes until you eventually use then and go.
We had a trac phone once and it was able to call from the US to Can so long as you first wasted some minutes by calling an 800# then dialing in a Can number when prompted… as long as you had a cell site in the US to call from. But, it would not connect to anything within Canada nor did it have any way to call back to the US via an 800# or otherwise. The AT&T plans does not seem to have any info or coverage or agreements to cell carriers in Canada either, unless you want to pay through the nose for a normal AT&T World plan with 2 yr contract, etc., etc. Not sure about cricket, but is seems we checked that one and it was a dead end also.

Answer by Karen P
have you tried cricket att or trac fone one of those should work for you

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