Which pay-as-you-go/prepaid cell phone service is best, (Singular, Tracfone,

[zoe_jane_lane]

Virgin Mobile, other)? Which would you reccommend as far as having the best quality service, phones, and pricing and easy access to phone cards in stores?

[Ginny]

I've had Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) for a couple of years and I'm very pleased. They have a variety of plans and sometimes offer bonuses or other special promotions to customers. The plan I've been on requires you to pre-pay $20 every three months in order to keep your number active. That's the money you draw on for your calls. On that plan, I pay 25 cents a minute for the first ten minutes on any given day, then 10 cents a minute thereafter. Those are high rates, but if you don't use your phone much, then the bottom-line cost is a lot less than paying $19.95 or more a month for free minutes you don't use. At least once since I've used VM, there was a promotion where you got to go for 12 months without "topping up" (paying in the quarterly $20) just by adding $60 by a certain date. I did that, I've been living off my balance for months, and I still have plenty of calls to make without paying another dime.