What does it mean when a pay as you go cellphone that keeps unused minutes active for 12 months suddenly switches itself on and says insert sim card? I put a small amount of money on the phone maybe 7 months ago to keep the number active for 12 months to late may 2014 just before we left. Three days ago the phone turned on by itself and said insert sim card.

That means the number is dead the credit must have ran out? There was at least 1 buck 20 cents left on it. I went the carphone warehouse and they didn't want to know. Go figure. The phone had also not been charged up since i returned home.

It might well be a problem with the SIM card. My phone started saying "No SIM" yesterday morning. I took it out, eaned the contacts with an alcohol impregnated wipe and put it back in and it works again.

Thanks for that. I will give that a try. If it were to be that the phone number has died, could the same number be reactivated months down the line? Or would they give that number to a new customer and i would have to get a fresh number?. I have the phone for nyc but it's a boston number.

Chances are it'll be reissued and you'll get a new one. Those PAYG numbers are recycled at a rapid pace.

You can always request it and see what happens.

Thanks, i will see what happens I left the charger over there so I can't do anything with it anyway. I can have 10 bucks put on it that should hold it over for another year. Is there anyway to tell now if the number is currently active. Like online or something?

Hi which cellphone company are you using? Is it Tracfone?
As we have. Tracfones and we topped up before we left for our last visit.
We topped this up to loads of $$ to get up to 6 months. So that we could have same number and no hassle.
But this next visit not sure when we will be going, so we left our phones with friends to get a sim and credit on our next vacation, then we have no hassle in setting this up when we next go to USA.
Is there a more easier way?


$10 is cheap to hold for another year.

Thanks

T Mobile I am a gold plus member or something like that. Unused minutes last a whole year. Should be good to may 2014. We will see what happens next time i get over there. My mate can probably top it up and ask find out if the number is still active.

Thanks for that

I wish we'd bought T mobile now, Tracfones can work out more expensive when you need to do top up to keep your phone number.

I have to top mine up to keep it active. It isn't a contract it's pay as you talk. My mate wants me to go contract you get free aim messages and all that stuff. If I lived there i would but not for a visit or 2 year or whatever it ain't worth it

If you're really concerned about keeping a number why not get a Google Voice number? It's free and it sticks with you no matter how many times you change phones all you have to do is point it at the number or numbers you want it to forward to.

You can get a annual card that's $100 for a years service and includes a bunch of minutes....so it's no different to the other options really.

If you are concerned about balance building up on a payg phone there is one thing to consider that can benefit everyone (except the phone company).

http://mobilegiving.org/

Send a few text messages to your favorite charity, the money goes to them rather than the phone company and at the end of the year you can claim the donations in your tax return (the website helps you print out a list of your donations).