Basic Question about Tracfone

[1776]

If you don't use a Tracfone for a year - no minutes added - can you just buy a card and start using it again with no activation fees, etc? I am not concerned if the phone number would change?

[annepani]

If you don't use a Tracfone for a year - no minutes added - can you just buy a card and start using it again with no activation fees, etc? I am not concerned if the phone number would change?

There will be no activation fees and most likely you won't get to keep any minutes that were on there. Also, if this is a GSM phone you will probably need a new sim card which Tracfone will supply for free. You don't need to go through any of that if this is a CDMA phone.

[Pabster]

Yes, you can do that. Just don't leave much (if any) minutes remaining as they will be lost. Definitely easier with a CDMA flavor phone because the GSM models will require them to send you a new SIM card to reactivate the device. Something to keep in mind.

[1776]

Thank you for the replies. Around here all that I can find are GSM Tracfones. How can I get a CDMA phone on Tracfone?

[Pabster]

Tracfone is moving heavily to GSM as it is cheaper than CDMA for them. You may need to enter a zipcode on the Tracfone site where GSM is not supported and it will give you CDMA phone options. Otherwise, you can buy a CDMA Trac on the usual places like eBay etc.

[1776]

We do some traveling where ATT and TMobile signals are weak and scattered. I will try looking in retailers in those areas. If not I will try online. We are looking at Tracfone as a temporay backup when we are in areas that do not have good GSM coverage - which is why I initially asked about leaving the service unused for extended periods of time. We can't have to wait for Tracfone to send us a new SIM card and if we were on GSM service we would not need the Tracfone to start with. Thanks!

[dd78749]

Currently, only two CDMA flips are being sold on Tracfone's website. Both should be available in any zip code.

Alternatively, Target is selling the Samsung R455C, which is a slider QWERTY CDMA phone for $59.99. You may want to check there.

[dd78749]

For future reference, you can manipulate the phones that are available for sale from Tracfone. It really doesn't make any difference what zip code you use when shopping for phones.

If you want a CDMA Tracfone, click on the URL at the top of the page and scroll to the left until you see "market=" (without quotes). If you want to see ONLY CDMA Tracfones, change the market to "CO" only (without quotes) and hit enter. The page will refresh and only CDMA Tracfones will be displayed.