Activate Straight Talk Phones

How to Activate an LG 290C

Here’s how to activate Straight Talk phones online. It’s a pretty simple procedure, but you may find it useful to see an actual example – in this case a Straight Talk LG290C.

Getting Ready

Put in the battery, charge the phone and locate the activation card. The go to the activate Straight Talk page.

Activation Procedure

Step 1: Choose How to Activate

You can activate or re-activate your handset as a new phone with a new number. If you are upgrading from another Straight Talk phone, you can transfer your service and keep the same phone number. Finally, you can port your phone number from another provider. In our case, we are going to activate an LG290C phone as a new phone with a new number.

activate Straight Talk phone step one

Step 2: Enter your Serial Number and Airtime Pin

Next, you have to enter the serial number of the phone. This number is printed on the red activation card and is also found in the prepaid menu of the phone.

If you have a physical airtime card, scratch off the paint on the back to reveal the pin number and enter it on the form. If you don't have an airtime pin, then you have to enter your credit card information.

Straight Talk phones do not come with any starter airtime, so you can't activate your phone without adding airtime.

activate straight talk step 2

Step 3: Create an Account

You have to create an account to save your information in a profile. With Tracfone and Net10 this step is optional, but it is required to activate Straight Talk phones.

If you already have an account from activating a previous handset, you can just login at this point.

active straight talk step 3

Step 4: Enter Account Info

Now you have to enter you personal info such as name, address, etc.

active straight talk step 4

Step 5: Activation Call

Finally, you actually have to make a call to a 5-digit number, and then call an actual phone number to really complete activation. Once you make the call, you will receive a message. Frankly, when I made the call, my signal strength was not all that great so I have no idea what the message was, but everything must have gone okay, because it said activation was successful and it needed to restart.

Once the phone restarts, you can find out your new phone number from the prepaid menu (or from the caller id if you call a phone in the house with caller id).

After restarting, you have to call a number. During this first call, you choose your language preference, and then the call goes through.

Update

This step was for CDMA-type phones that run on the Verizon network. The activation procedure for GSM phones (with models numbers ending in the letter G) should not require an activation call.

Step 6: Enroll in Auto Refill (Optional)

A Straight Talk airtime PIN is good for 30 days, whether you're on the $30 or $45 plan. Minutes and service time do not roll over. If you recharge too early, you waste a few service days (and minutes), and if you recharge too late, you lose your service (and phone number). So the most efficient thing to do is sign up for auto-refills when you activate Straight Talk phones. You can enroll in the auto-refill at the end of the activation process or sign up for Straight Talk Auto-Refill anytime here:

Your other option is to buy additional airtime PINs and place them in "reserve".

Return to the Straight Talk review page.

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