How to keep a TRACFONE for $2.50 per month

[jeffweico]

OK... I am not 100% sure this will work, but I read something on the TracFone website that leads me to believe that it WILL WORK.

When you buy a $5 TracFone, you get 60 days and 20 minutes of time, but then you have to buy the refill cards.

But when you switch the number on one Tracfone to another Tracfone (keeping the same phone number) it is considered to be a NEW ACTIVATION, since a new phone is being activated. They confirmed for me that you WOULD get another 60 days and another 20 minutes added to the account.

So, if the TracFones are $5, you just buy a new one when the end of the 60 days is near and then switch your existing TracFone number to the NEW Tracfone, giving you another 60 days and another 20 minutes of time.

That way, there are no refill cards to buy and you bring the cost down from $7 per month to $2.50 per month!

[jojo2012]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

That way, there are no refill cards to buy and you bring the cost down from $7 per month to $2.50 per month!

If they would only cater to what we really want & need it would save track phone a ton of money.
I personally went through 15 track phones since last May and I have 20 sitting here for my next couple rounds of Stealth accounts. I'll probably get around to trying to sell them on eBay but gee, it is one heck of a waste....

[yaBeh8ater]

never bought a refill card before. they're unnecessary.

that and i only use each number once unless i can't change the number which has become the usual.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Having swapped Tracfones for legitimate reasons before (girlfriends phone is a Tracfone, she dropped hers in a puddle and it stopped working) I can confirm this DOES work, and DOES add 60 days and 20 mins (just as if you had activated a brand new phone)

[sln531]

I will definitely have to look into this thanks!

[unkown5454]

Originally Posted by GhostOfAmazon

Having swapped Tracfones for legitimate reasons before (girlfriends phone is a Tracfone, she dropped hers in a puddle and it stopped working) I can confirm this DOES work, and DOES add 60 days and 20 mins (just as if you had activated a brand new phone)

We're going to need video proof from you please.

[jeffweico]

Ghost of Amazon is right. I just tried this. It started the 60 day clock over and even transferred the unused minutes. So, I now have a phone good for another 60 days with 38 minutes on it.

While this wouldn't work for a person using their phones on a regular basis, it is a GREAT DEAL for stealth, because we don't need a lot of minutes on these phones.

[TGMT²]

Jeff..

Can this process be done online, or does it require a call to support?

Maybe you can post a walk though if it can be done online.

Thanks!!

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by TGMT²

Jeff..

Can this process be done online, or does it require a call to support?

Maybe you can post a walk though if it can be done online.

Thanks!!

It can be done online.

How To Transfer TracFone Minutes and Airtime to New Phone - The Fone-Review.com TracFone and Straight Talk Blog

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by TGMT²

Jeff..

Can this process be done online, or does it require a call to support?

Maybe you can post a walk though if it can be done online.

Thanks!!

Yeah, you just go to activate/reactivate and choose the option to transfer your number. It will ask you to enter your phone number, your current serial number and the serial number of the new phone. It takes anywhere from a couple of hours to 2 days to complete. But your old phone will work until the new one is activated. With some phones, you may have to call them to manually activate the new phone once the old one is deactivated, but with most of the phones this is thankfully not necessary.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Yeah, you just go to activate/reactivate and choose the option to transfer your number. It will ask you to enter your phone number, your current serial number and the serial number of the new phone. It takes anywhere from a couple of hours to 2 days to complete. But your old phone will work until the new one is activated. With some phones, you may have to call them to manually activate the new phone once the old one is deactivated, but with most of the phones this is thankfully not necessary.

Just wanted to add to this, I've experimented with transferring from both the LG 440G and the LG 305C. I've only done this ONCE each way, from one to the other, but both times the process was complete in less than 30 minutes. All I had to do after completing the online transfer was turn the phones on and off a couple times, and it was done.

Long story short, my anecdotal evidence suggest that these two models seem to have quick transfers, but it with the limited experimenting I've done and other factors (part of the country, time of day, etc) your experience may vary, as Jeff suggested.

But all in all it should be a quick, painless procedure.

[itemauctions]

Thanks i'm going to try this save me some money

[WillyWonkaMan]

nice, it does work and even works on the android phones with triple minutes! =]

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by WillyWonkaMan

nice, it does work and even works on the android phones with triple minutes! =]

Hmmm...

Has anyone tested doing this swap, and then swapping back to the "original" phone?

For example, swapping an Android phone to a flip phone, getting the 60 days + 20 minutes, then switching back the the same Android?

[unkown5454]

Originally Posted by GhostOfAmazon

Hmmm...

Has anyone tested doing this swap, and then swapping back to the "original" phone?

For example, swapping an Android phone to a flip phone, getting the 60 days + 20 minutes, then switching back the the same Android?

i'm confused. i don't understand the goal here of going back?

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by unkown5454

i'm confused. i don't understand the goal here of going back?

Here's an example:

Let's say you have nice fancy $100 Android Tracfone you use for personal, non-stealth stuff. It has Triple Minutes for life. You buy a $99 1 year, 400 minute card. This gives you 1220 minutes and 425 days, counting your free minutes and days.

At the end of the time, you haven't used all the minutes, but you're out of days. Swapping phones for 5 bucks then switching back is cheaper than buying another $99 card. Make sense?

[vogeltron]

Good info. Tracfones are such a pain. Having a desk drawer full of them always having to buy refill cards. Normally I let my service days expire for like a month then refill them. Got a few really old phones from 7-8 years ago I have a family plan for.

[unkown5454]

@GOA

Ok, yea, now i get it. i wasn't thinking that far ahead. that would be awesome. i don't see why it wouldn't work unless they explicitly block it on tracfone's end

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by unkown5454

@GOA

Ok, yea, now i get it. i wasn't thinking that far ahead. that would be awesome. i don't see why it wouldn't work unless they explicitly block it on tracfone's end

Yeah, you have to enter the SIM # for each phone when you transfer, so there's a strong possibility they might. I'm interested in doing this in the exact scenario I mentioned above, but don't want to burn myself by mistake. Hopefully another member has tried this and can give the forum some advice.

[miketyson]

I tried it for non stealth reasons. Once you transfer from that makes the SIM card no good and unusable. So you would have to get new SIM card to be able to successfully transfer it back. Customer service can send you 1 for free because they don't sell them on ebay anymore.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by miketyson

Customer service can send you 1 for free because they don't sell them on ebay anymore.

LMAO.

What if you have a Tracfone that doesn't use SIM cards?

[miketyson]

Try it out and report back. Should work without the SIM card.