We wanted to get an extra cell phone to keep in our motorhome. One reason was, we were locked out because the door latch failed. Luckily it happened in our driveway. Now, our concern is, one of us would be in the motorhome without our phone. The other reason is, on our last trip out west, there were many dead spots. We have Consumer Cellular (works on at&t), which works great for us. We thought having a phone on a different carrier would help. One of them would work, if the other didn't. Thinking Verizon. We just want a basic flip phone, with voice only. We're trying to keep the cost down. Verizon wanted $30 per month, plus the cost of the phone, plus activaction. Anyone have insights.I've read some other posts on this, but most were about voice & data plans, or a basic phone added on to an existing account. This would be one phone only.

my wife doesn't want any part of a smart phone only a flip phone to make and receive calls. For her we have a pay as you go plan with Verizon for her phone and instead of $30 a month for minutes that expire at the end of each month we pay $104 for 400 minutes that are good for a year. Works out to about $9 a month. Sounds like what you are looking for. Had to call Verizon for initial setup. Now we renew yearly on her phone without talking to anyone. I think with a credit card it can be setup to automatically renew.

So you had to call Verizon to get that deal? Sounds like a good deal. They never said anything about it at the Verizon store. Thanks for the info.

Tracfone using Verizon towers has worked great for DH. I use Straight Talk on Verizon for about 12 years and wouldn't change. I talk too much on my phone so tracfone wouldn't work. DH buys his minutes about once a year and I on the other hand get unlimited talk and text and 10gb a month. We use my phone for gps, streaming music while camping, and surfing the net. It works great for us. Verizon towers were the deal breaker on our phones.

Tracfone has a couple models out that get double and triple minutes. Their flip phone was double minutes. I have their LG phone that gets triple minutes. If you buy a card with 200 minutes, it adds 600 minutes. Love this phone for 3 years now. Runs on Verizon and only costs $7 or $8 a month minimum to keep it current. Check the Walmart or similar. It also texts, takes nice pictures and sends in text amongst about anything you could want.Brian

Thank you for the tracfone info. I was wondering about that. They seem like the easiest solution for us. I'll look into them today.

extra phone | Good Sam Community

charlysmom_dad
Explorer
Feb 27, 2018
We just wanted a backup phone for talk, no need for data. We've been packing for a trip this week. If one of us gets stuck in the rv due to a broken latch, we can call the other one to bring a ladder. We keep forgetting to bring our phones with us when packing.

This actually happened last year. One of us got stuck inside, but luckily had a phone that time.

So now we have the tracfone always in the rv.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Feb 26, 2018
I pay about $23 for 60 days, or about $12/ month, no contract of course, 500 minutes, 1000 texts, and 500 MB of data. All of the unused minutes, texts, and data roll over at every renewal. At present I have 980 minutes, 1844 texts, and 1.92 GB of data. As you can see "Unlimited Talk" would just mean that I would pay more.

If you use a phone a lot then you may need to spend more, but this works great for me.
rockhillmanor
Explorer
Feb 26, 2018
fj12ryder wrote:
rockhillmanor wrote:
I haven't paid for minutes or had a limit of minutes and/or data since 2010. I didn't even think they had plans that 'still' charged for minutes!
...
If you're not paying for minutes, or data, what are you paying for? Potato, potahto. You're paying to talk, call it what you will, if you don't pay, you don't talk.

And $45 per month is about 4 times what I pay and I never use it all up, so "Unlimited Talk" means just about squat. If I use less than what I pay for now, what good does "Unlimited" do?

The OP wants a backup phone, not a replacement.

:?
If $45 is 4 times more than you pay, then just what is your monthly charge with a "limited" minutes plan with a contract?
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Feb 25, 2018
Absolutely I wouldn't own a phone with a contract. Makes no sense for me.
Cobra21
Explorer
Feb 25, 2018
fj12ryder wrote:
rockhillmanor wrote:
I haven't paid for minutes or had a limit of minutes and/or data since 2010. I didn't even think they had plans that 'still' charged for minutes!
...
If you're not paying for minutes, or data, what are you paying for? Potato, potahto. You're paying to talk, call it what you will, if you don't pay, you don't talk.

And $45 per month is about 4 times what I pay and I never use it all up, so "Unlimited Talk" means just about squat. If I use less than what I pay for now, what good does "Unlimited" do?

The OP wants a backup phone, not a replacement.

I think the "NO Contract" means A lot, it would to me!
Brian
billyboy
Explorer
Feb 25, 2018
Home shopping network runs a deal on track phone now and then, 60 to 70 dollars for a year, can't beat it.
trb46
Explorer
Feb 25, 2018
I keep a spare TracFone in my truck in case I forget my regular phone when I leave home. Done that a few times. I have an Android phone that gives triple minutes. I buy the 60-minute, $20 TracFone card that’s good for 90 days; so i get 180 minutes, 180 texts, and 180 MB data, and it costs me $7/month for a fully functional cell phone. The minutes, texts, and data roll over. My TracFone is on Verizon and our regular cell phones are on AT&T. When I originally bought the phone, it was only $10. I’m happy.
Acampingwewillg
Explorer II
Feb 25, 2018
"Page Plus Cellular" 10 bucks for 100 minutes good for 4 months on the Verizon Network. I use one of their phones as part of my Pet Temp alarm in the motorhome but it can be used for talk or text too.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Feb 25, 2018
While I agree that having an alternate cell service is a good idea, and we also have both Verizon and AT&T, but keep in mind the door is not the only exit from your RV. The others, such as the emergency exit window, may not be as convenient, but they are usable when needed. Our coach has a driver's door as well as the standard entry door though, so we're pretty well covered anyway.
docsouce
Explorer II
Feb 24, 2018
I have a spare set of keys in one of those small magnetic box holders and stuck it inside my square hollow rear bumper. Opposite side of where I pack the dump hose..

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