Rates are high.  As far as getting voucher minutes you can get voucher
minutes for pretty much any prepaid plan at places like 7-11 stores.

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          To send an email reply send to
         GSMthemobilestandard (@) yahoo.com

Hi Eric,

TracFone is now offering a GSM (Nokia) model for NC, NY and Hawaii which has
no roaming anywhere.  All calls on it are local

More than likely in your case, depending on where you live, you will use the
CDMA or TDMA Nokia/Motorola models.

I have had a Nokia 5180i since October 2001 and  agree with the your
assessment about their
good coverage.   TracFone(s)  use national carriers including Verizon,
Alltel, Cingular, Suncom, and others,  so you're basically in a "Black Hole"
if you can't find coverage with a TracFone.

TracFone(s) roaming rate is the same regardless of the local carrier that is
available, i.e. 2 units used for every 1 minute of talk time.   The local
coverage area in my case is the eastern half of both North and South
Carolina, so I'm not complaining.  If I my local carrier was on the TDMA
network instead, my local calling area would be the entire east coast!

If you plan to talk locally more than about 30 minutes a month, you're
probably not going to like the cost of TracFone.  Their cost/min rates
aren't good.

If used mainly for emergencies, as in my case,  their minimum cost/month
rate ($9/month) is 2nd only to CallPlus of all the prepaid plans.  CallPlus
is the best at $3/month, but uses the ATT network which isn't available
everywhere.

I think ATT has a $20/month calling plan now, but that probably doesn't
include fees and taxes.

Bottomline:  There are trade-offs, but coverage and minimum cost/month are
TracFone's strong points.  If that what you are looking for, then they are
tops.  If you are looking at SMS, then forget TracFone, it costs a minute of
talk time to send a message or receive a message.  Currently, only
TracFone(s) that use the Verizon (AllTel maybe) networks support SMS.

By the way, if you decide on a TracFone, e-mail me before you activate and
we'll both
get 60 free minutes!  :)     lipizzan@hotmail.com

Check out the yahoo newsgroup for more questions about TracFone.  We now
have a TracFone CSR that regularly posts there.

Hope this helps you make the right choice.   With TracFone and many of the
prepaid plans, there are no contracts, so its easier to try and switch
anyways.

Regards,
Josh III
Upstate South Carolina
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tracfoneusers

I've used a Tracfone for a couple of years now; I'm in California but have
used it in Hawaii and Vancouver, BC while traveling.  I'm not supposed to
get coverage or service in Canada, but I did, just as though I were still in
the US.

Customer service is good, but I haven't had to use it very often.  It's
available by toll-free land line.

It's easy to purchase airtime cards locally but once my service began, I've
always purchased additional time via the internet.  You also can do that by
land line telephone if you want.

Price is excellent for someone like me who uses the phone only a very few
minutes per month, and keeps it mainly in case of emergencies (including
phoning from the grocery store if I forgot to bring the list).  I pay once a
year for a full year of service (none of this "minutes expire after 90 days"
stuff for me!) at a cost of under $8 per month per phone, and that includes
all taxes, surcharges, etc. (there aren't any, at least none that are
itemized to me).

Consumer Reports and others focus on the cost per minute, which is of no
concern to a low volume user like me.  Tracfone cost per year or per month
can't be beat, for my few minutes of use, and coverage and reception are
excellent (in my area they use Verizon; they contract with various providers
depending on location and other factors).

- Don