Prepaid mobile, or pay as you go plans, are usually packaged according to different types of user behaviour, so to save money it’s important to choose a specific plan, depending for instance on if you text a lot or if you call during peak times Here are some tips on choosing the best prepaid mobile phone plans in the US.

Most prepaid mobile companies offer plans where you charge the account associated with your cell phone number with a certain sum, such as $20 or $100, and then use it to pay for services such as calls, sending texts, listening to voicemail, and so on.

One important point to consider is that unused prepaid mobile credit expires, but this takes a different amount of time based on the operator and on the size of your last recharge. You don’t want to find yourself losing half of 100$ because you didn’t know your plan details!

If you have no credit on your phone, you will still be able to receive calls, but after a time that can vary between four months and a year the line will expire and you will lose your number. In this case, you are faced with the option of paying to reactivate the line, or going through the hassle of getting another prepaid mobile phone number.

Another important thing to check is area coverage. Make sure that the carrier of your choice has a good reception in the area where you live, and also that you can use the phone in any out of state areas that you visit often, such as favourite vacation hangouts or where family members live.

As for the actual prepaid mobile providers, Virgin Mobile is probably the best overall operator, and its customer service is also quite good. Pay-as-you-go cards are very convenient. For $20, you can get 200 talk time minutes, which is much cheaper than several competitors. Unused credit only rolls over for 30 days though, and only if you top up some more.

T-Mobile is one of the few operators offering nice handsets together with prepaid mobile contracts, so if you would like a new multimedia phone rather than a basic device, this is the best carrier. If you top your pay as you go credit up in chunks of 100$, they will last a whole year.

TracFone offers nice phones too, if somewhat more basic, and generally the call quality is very good. Prices are similar to T-Mobile, around 20 cents a minute depending on the prepaid mobile top-up amounts. This carrier is suitable if you want to top up small amounts more often.

MetroPCS’s prepaid mobile pricing is quite good, especially if your calls are mostly in-state. It is to be avoided, though, if you are often in states other than your home state, or abroad. This mobile phone operator is currently available in 33 states, including several large

Cingular is great for occasional prepaid mobile use, as the calls are very cheap at 10 cents a minute, although they also charge you a dollar every day that you will make calls with your prepaid mobile.

Related posts:

1. All You Need To Know About The Calling Cards
2. Using Reverse Mobile To Identify A Mystery Number
3. Nokia N900 Mobile Computing Is Here