My friend Coffeesister just can’t contain her excitement about Virgin Mobile’s cell phone service. Like us, she and hubby Rhodester are on a really tight budget. Yet, she has a phone that’s way cooler than ours, and a plan that costs about half of what ours does, for around the same amount of minutes.
She uses Virgin’s “Pay as You Go” option, which allows you to add minutes to your phone either online or at Target. Virgin uses the Sprint network, so coverage is good. One of the best parts about Virgin: no contracts, ever, even if you choose one of their competitive monthly plans.
When you start making plans to become a full-time road tripper, one of the things you’ll want to analyze before leaving is your current cell phone coverage. Do you have the kind of plan that will give you the flexibility you’ll need when traveling across the country? How much coverage does your current provider’s roaming network have?
I just learned that the town we’ll be workamping in this summer has terrible cell phone coverage. Since our antique phone will be sitting idle all summer, why should we pay our $65 bill every month when we’re not even using our minutes? Thanks to Coffeesister, we’re going to make the switch and save some money. I like that!
Meadowrock, Humboldt County is on it’s own wavelength. Literally and figuratively. Big city phones just don’t work there.
Yes, I’m seeing that Virgin Mobile is definitely geared toward big city dwellers. We didn’t end up upgrading to them because they don’t offer service out in the sticks, where we’ll be located all summer.
Thanks for the Credomobile recommendation.
I was very happy with my Virgin Mobile service, until I found myself in downtown Eureka, CA with no signal! Apparently Edge Wireless is the predominate carrier on the north coast, and Sprint did not have a tower within miles. So be warned! While Virgin Mobile is a great carrier if you are near major metro areas, THEY DO NOT OFFER ROAMING, and you will find yourself, as I did standing next to a (non Sprint) tower with NO SIGNAL.
I currently have Credo Mobile, which is part of the former Working Assets long distance. If you are an eco/progressive person, please check them out at credomobile.com
Wow. I wish we’d seen this sooner. We let my mom negotiate contracts for four phones and ended up with unlimited minutes, free roaming and $40 per phone. You can’t deny she got a good deal, but we just don’t need that level of service. I want a $15 a month bill already!
Very cool! Who knew I’d inspire a whole post, not just a mention? Tis an important tip tho’, if I do say so myself.. ~_^ The lack of contracts mixed w/really decent prices creates the ability to change up one’s service month to month. Rhodester & I have different monthly services whereas our best friend lives across the pond & only pays for a month of service when he’s going to be stateside. The fact that Virgin’s an eco-conscious company certainly doesn’t hurt; don’t forget to recycle those old mobiles. ^_^
|_|) “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” ~ Western Union internal memo, 1876
PS: Fun fact – include the phone # of a current Virgin Mobile user as you register your new mobile @ http://www.virginmobileusa.com to provide some free minutes. Mine available at request via dorian [at] coffeesister [dot] com – heh.
WOW, uh..