Prepaid Mobile Plans – Which One Is Right For You?
There are many prepaid mobile billing plans available, which makes it somewhat hard to choose between the various options. This guide, which is valid for all countries, is here to help you avoid unnecessary costs. Each cell phone company has pros and cons of each service and feature they offer.
To begin with, you need to understand that there are stark differences between the available prepaid mobile offers. They may seem the same at first glance, or perceptions of differences may at first only be tied to the advertising campaigns of mobile phone operators, but once you look deeper, you will understand the differences.
As for the handset, you will not get a subsidised one as offered with lock-in contracts by opting for a prepaid mobile. But even if you get an expensive mobile phone the cost savings will make themselves felt in the long term, as prepaid mobile plans are usually cheaper. But remember that you will have to pay the full price of the handset right away.
With prepaid mobiles, you need to top up your credit regularly. Generally speaking, the higher the top-up, the more benefits it will bring and the cheaper will your calls be in the end. Always prefer few but sizeable top-ups to a lot of small ones, if you can.
That said, bear in mind that prepaid mobile credit expires. You need to know when your credit expires, and if it’s about to do so you can take advantage of a feature called rollover. This means that if you add some credit, the old credit’s expiration date will become the same as for the new credit.
Another great perk is off peak time. With some prepaid plan, calls are cheaper at night and on weekends. If you spend most of the daytime at home, in the office or at school, this is a great bonus.
Some carriers offer cheaper international calls than others. And for US prepaid mobile carriers, not all have the same prices for long distance calls. These rates are usually buried in the fine print, but make sure that you compare them across operators.
There are several other points that you may want to check out in the fine print, depending on your usage pattern, such as internet connection price of voicemail calls, or cost of prepaid mobile content such as ringtones and music videos.
The main lessons to bear in mind are that you need to know your expected type of prepaid mobile usage to be able to save, and that comparing and contrasting offers will allow you to find the most appropriate prepaid mobile for you.
