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Senior Citizen Shopping, Discounts
Senior Citizens Can Find Special Cell Phone Plans
and Discounts
For seniors needing cell phone but not the extras or high costs
By David Smidt, SeniorDiscounts.com
 Feb. 19, 2008 - There are now wireless plan options
available for seniors that would like to have a cell phone but do not
need all of the extras and high costs associated with many of the
current cell plans and providers. These cell phone plans can be a great
alternative for people who would like to have a cell phone in case of
emergencies or while traveling.
We should note that while these plans are more
affordable, they have a limited amount of usage minutes attached to the
plans and people who may use a cell phone more often may find that
other, more common plans may better fit their needs. It can be difficult
to track the actual number of minutes used and we tend to use our phones
more often than we expect.
Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus
Similar to the AT&T Senior Nation 200 plan for
seniors, Verizon now has a wireless cell phone plan for people 65 years
of age and older. And like AT&T, this new lower cost plan is geared
towards seniors who may not use a cell phone very often, but wish to
have a phone for emergencies and stay connected to family, friends,
children, grandchildren and physicians for medical monitoring purposes.
The Verizon plan is structured much like the other
plan offered by AT&T, but has a few added features. The new plan
includes 200 Anytime Minutes, 500 Night & Weekend Minutes and unlimited
National IN calling minutes for a $29.99 monthly access fee. You can
also add extra lines, call internationally and have access to the
Internet. Fees may apply.
Plan Details:
- 200 Anytime minutes
- 500 Nights and Weekends minutes
- No Domestic Roaming or Long Distance Charges
- Unlimited National IN Calling Minutes
Plan Costs:
- $35.00 activation fee; $25 for secondary Nationwide 65 Plus 2-line
Calling Plan line
- $29.99 monthly access fee
- $.45 per minute for additional minutes
- One or two year minimum term required per line
Included Plan Features:
- Access to Mobile Web 2.0
- Three-Way Calling
- Caller ID
- Call Waiting
- Basic Voice Mail (Airtime minutes may be charged for accessing
voicemail)
- Long Distance
- 411 calling, fees apply
Early termination fees of up to $175 per line will
apply. If you think that you or your loved ones may use more minutes
than those allotted by this plan, you may want to look into plans with
more minutes, as you can not add more minutes to the Senior Nation 200
plan and it may be difficult for phone users to determine how many
minutes they are actually using every month.
(One must be at least 65 years old to be eligible
for the Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus rate plan.)
For the complete details of the Verizon Nationwide
65 Plus rate plan, visit:
Verizon Wireless
Consumer Cellular
Consumer Cellular is not specifically for seniors,
but has cellular wireless plans that are simple, inexpensive and provide
a variety of low cost wireless plans. Consumer Cellular buys airtime
from the other leading wireless providers and then repackages those
minutes into its own service plans. Because they purchase their airtime
form other providers, the coverage is essentially the same as the other
cellular companies.
The advantage with Consumer Cellular is that there
are no long term contracts and they offer a Risk Free Satisfaction
Guarantee. This allows one to try the service for 30 days or 30 minutes
of use (whichever comers first) and if you do not like the service you
can cancel and pay nothing.
Consumer Cellulars wireless plans are simple and
easy to understand. The plans start at $10 per month and have no long
distance or roaming charges. You can change your plan at anytime and you
can add an additional phone to the same plan for $10. There is a $35
activation charge and they only have four phones to choose from. They
offer one phone for free after a rebate that must be submitted by mail,
while the most expensive phone is $115.
Plans Costs and Details:
- $35 one-time activation fee
- Plans start at $10 per month
- $.25 per minute for additional minutes
- No long term contract
- Voicemail is free, but airtime charges apply
- No charges for switching plans
- Can keep current cell phone number
- No roaming or long distance charges
- Text messaging available, but charges apply
Available Plans:
Anywhere 25
$10/month No Minutes Included - $0.25 for each minute
Anywhere 100
$20/month 100 Minutes - $0.25 per additional minute
Anywhere 400
$30/month 400 Minutes - $0.25 per additional minute
Anywhere 800
$40/month 800 Minutes - $0.25 per additional minute
Anywhere 1200
$50/month 1200 Minutes - $0.25 per additional minute
Anywhere 1600
$60/month 1600 Minutes - $0.10 per additional minute
For the complete details of the Consumer Cellular
plans, visit:
Consumer Cellular
Jitterbug
Jitterbug does not have any age requirements for
its cell phone service, but states that its phones are ideal for seniors
who want a simple plan that can be used for travel, emergencies, and
low-volume calling.
Jitterbug plans start at $10 per month with no long
distance or roaming fees. The plans are all pay as you go and require no
contract and thus no early termination fees. You can pay monthly or
yearly and can add minutes to the plans at any time. There is a one time
set up fee of $35 for all plans. (Surcharges, government taxes and
assessments are not included in their pricing and vary by state and
municipality.)
There are only two phones to choose from and each
costs about $150. The phones are designed to be easy to use and include
larger numbers and buttons, larger screens and text and loader volumes.
Jitterbug provides 24 hour customer service that
can make calls for you, provide directory assistance and add names to
your phone list, but it comes at a price. For each Jitterbug
operator-assisted call, 5 minutes are deducted from the available
minutes on your plan and standard per minute usage rates apply for the
length of the call.
Plan Costs and Details:
- $35 One-time activation fee
- Plans start at a $10 monthly access fee
- $.35 per minute for additional minutes
- No contract
- Voicemail is $3 a month
- No charges for switching plans
- Regular minutes are good for 90 days
- Add on minutes are good for one year
For the complete details of the Jitterbug plans,
visit:
Jitterbug
AT&T Senior Nation 200
AT&T recently released a wireless cell phone plan
for people 65 years of age and older. This new plan is a lower cost plan
geared towards seniors who may not use a cell phone very often, but wish
to have a phone for emergencies and stay connected to family, friends,
children, grandchildren and physicians for medical monitoring purposes.
The plan is structured much like the other plans
offered by AT&T, but provides fewer monthly minutes and not as many
extras and features. The new plan includes 200 Anytime Minutes, 500
Night & Weekend Minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling for a
$29.99 monthly access fee.
Plan Details:
- 200 Anytime minutes
- 500 Nights and Weekends minutes
- No roaming or wireless long distance charges
- Unlimited Mobile to Mobile minutes
- Rollover minutes not included on this plan
Plan Costs:
- $36.00 One-time activation fee
- $29.99 monthly access fee
- $.45 per minute for additional minutes
- 2 Year contract length
Included Plan Features:
- Three-Way Calling
- Call Forwarding
- Caller ID
- Call Waiting
- Basic Voice Mail (Airtime minutes may be charged for accessing
voicemail)
- Long Distance
As with most cell phone plans, early termination
fees will apply, although AT&T offers a 30 day cancelation policy to
avoid the $175 termination fee. If you think that you or your loved ones
may use more minutes than those allotted by this plan, you may want to
look into plans with more minutes, as you can not add more minutes to
the Senior Nation 200 plan and it may be difficult for phone users to
determine how many minutes they are actually using every month.
(One must be at least, 65 years old to be eligible
for the Senior Nation 200 rate plan. If AT&T determines that the
subscriber is not eligible for this plan, it will change your rate plan
to one for which you qualify.)
For the complete details of the AT&T Senior Nation
200 rate plan, visit:
AT&T
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