Straight Talk, Tracfone, & Net10A Lifetime Customer StrategySearch This Site: To compare Straight Talk, Tracfone and Net10, it is useful to think about how car makers position their lineup to try and keep you a customer for life.Note: I came up with this comparison before Toyota had all its troubles. You can substitute another car manufacturer in your head! Let's look at Toyota. When you're just out of college or high school, Toyota wants you to buy a Corolla. You take a test drive, decide you like it and become a Corolla owner for next couple of years. The car is reliable, but you're starting to do well, so you go in and trade it in for a Camry. Things go well, and finally you're ready to step up to a Lexus sedan or SUV if you need the room. As long as you were impressed by the quality and convenience of the first purchase, you're likely to stick with them. Now let's compare Straight Talk, Tracfone and Net10. Straight Talk is a Lexus sedan, Net10 is the Camry, and Tracfone is the Corolla. "But wait," you say, "Straight Talk is supposed to save me money". True, when cars from Lexus and Acura first came out, they were better quality and therefore cheaper to own in the long run. So let's begin with the first step of the Straight Talk, Tracfone, and Net10 comparison. Tracfone = CorollaTracfone have the lowest monthly fee among the three. It can cost you as little as $80-$100 a year if you don't use the phone much and buy the lowest airtime cards or buy the one-year card. One advertisement proudly says you get Wireless For Less than $9 a MonthYour airtime rates are a little higher. You can lower your rate by searching for the best current promo codes, but it's a bit of a hassle. Still, since you don't call that much, you don't really care. Tracfone handsets themselves are okay and get better each year, If you're comfortable with Tracfone, but find yourself calling more often and wanting a few extras and don't like having to find the latest promo code every time, it's time to move up. Here's the second part of the Straight Talk, Tracfone, and Net10 comparison. Net10 = CamryNet10 plans cost 10 cents a minute and about $15 a month. You avoid the hassle of looking for the latest promo codes (though there are deals on refurbished phone plus airtime bundles) as you're guaranteed one low rate. In fact, their motto is NET10...Pay As You Go Made Simple$15 a month gets you 150 minute or about 3 minutes a day if you use it every day. When you need to add more time, you just add another airtime card or even sign up with the Easy Minutes plan to automatically refill your plan. There are a few nice phones, including a slider-style camera phone with mp3 player. There are also newer phones coming out now, including one with a qwerty keyboard. What if you need more than 150 minutes a month. Before, your choice was to just buy more minutes or switch to another prepaid phone provider. But now you can upgrade. Straight Talk = LexusThe Straight Talk Cell Phone plans cost a bit more, but you get a LOT more. The All You Need plan costs $30 for 30 days. You get 1000 minutes, 1000 messages and 30 MB of web data. So for double the monthly cost you get six times the minutes plus a 1000 messages and 30 MB of web data.1000 minutes every 30 days is about 33 minutes a day. If you need more than that or you do a lot of web browsing, then you can go with the unlimited plan. You then get Unlimited Talk and Text Nationwide for only $45 a month The Straight Talk phones are also slightly better. You can get a Motorola Razr or a phone with a qwerty keyboard and a megapixel camera from Samsung. And yes, you get high quality and save money. The plan's Verizon Network coverage is excellent, and you get perhaps the lowest cost unlimited plan available. Even the $30 for 1000 minutes, messages and 30 MB web data is one of the best deals around. Lifetime CustomerThis is how they want you to remain a lifetime customer. Now you don't have to go outside the Straight Talk, Tracfone, and Net10 family.
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