Cell Phone Review: Alltel's Pay as You Go Service

I recently bought my 12 year old a prepaid cell phone for Christmas. I really only wanted her to have a phone so she could call me after practice and to be able to reach her while she was gone to away games. I didn't want to spend a lot of money or have a huge bill every month. After looking at the different plans and rates I decided on the Alltel's prepaid plans.

Features and Cost

So far the cost of the phone has not been as bad as I thought it would. I bought the actual phone for $24.99 at Wal-Mart. The phone came with a charger and 60 minutes of airtime. I have found this a very good deal. It was very simple to set the service up. I was able to do it all online and it took only a few minutes. Alltel offers a different variety of features you can choose from some of those include unlimited text, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekend, and unlimited favorite number. I picked unlimited text, nights and weekends and favorite number this only cost $1 a day. So far this has been great for my daughter. She really doesn't have much time to talk during the week so the unlimited weekends was great and she is able to text as much as she wants. Also having the favorite number set up as my cell phone number makes it easier to have her call me as much as she needs without having to worry about the bill.

Service and Signal

We live in small city and with other prepaid phones we were unable to get a signal even in town. We had previously had a Go Phone and the majority of time was never able to use it. With the Alltel prepaid phone the only place my daughter has not had service was in the locker room at school. So far even when away far from home she is still able to pick up a signal and call home.

Useful Tools for Parents

For any parent wanting to get this phone for their child they will find the transaction history online very useful. You may log on to the Alltel website at any time and check the usage and balance on the phone. The transaction history list text and calls with the time, length of the calls, and number called or texted. This makes it very easy to check and see if your child is using the phone at school and check who they are talking too.

Customer Service