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Does anyone know where to get a cheap prepaid-use phone? All I want it for is emergency phone use.
I plan to take a trip and part of it will be outdoors. I don't want to take my regular smartphone with me during the physical stuff. But I would like to have a phone with me in case of emergency, while I leave the good phone at the hotel.
Hopefully that makes sense. I would prefer not to have to take out the sim card, so a different number would be okay as well.
Basically, I'm just looking for a cheap, low feature, durable phone. Even water resistance (if possible) would be a plus. Thank you for any information.
Sorry to resurrect my old thread, but I would like to do the same thing again, and I think maybe the technology has improved since I started this thread. I have always just used one phone.
QUESTION: Can I buy a cheaper 2nd phone for rugged outdoor use, for emergencies, and pull up my contacts without having to switch the sim card? Is it an easy process that anyone can do?
SORRY, because I know this may have nothing to do with "prepaid" phones if I can use the 2nd phone on my same plan.
I use Consumer Cellular and with this company one may get a second line : you can buy the cheapie yourself and get the free SIM card from the company. That way, all your contacts & info would also be on the phone.
Your own carrier may have (or not) a similar set up. OR you can just a pre-paid phone with a different company and go through the thing of manually adding those particular numbers you want. Since you're vacationing, and will have the other phone nearby, it wouldn't be that much of a big deal.
The separate pre-paid phone and company may be the least expensive.
That's not what I'm asking. If all my contact numbers are backed up and stored online, can I just buy a second phone and retrieve them from the "cloud" myself?
That's not what I'm asking. If all my contact numbers are backed up and stored online, can I just buy a second phone and retrieve them from the "cloud" myself?
Contacts can be stored on Gmail, so if you have an android or an Iphone, then if you use a Gmail account and put your contacts into that account, then they will show up on whatever phone you sync your Gmail account on while on wifi. If you use a non internet phone or never turn on the wifi then the above will not work.
Why not just get a cheap phone on your same plan, and change the phones? Then when you get back you can change the phones back.
That would cost a Verizon subscriber $60 for two swaps.
If by "emergency" you mean 911 calls any old phone will do since even a phone that is not activated can make that call. I have an old flip phone I take on the boat and hikes just for that. Its an old Samsung and keeps it's charge for months.
Contacts can be stored on Gmail, so if you have an android or an Iphone, then if you use a Gmail account and put your contacts into that account, then they will show up on whatever phone you sync your Gmail account on while on wifi. If you use a non internet phone or never turn on the wifi then the above will not work.
Yes, this is what I was wondering. When I bought my last phone it showed all my numbers through the Gmail account matching the ones on the sim card. So I assume this is an Android. But since I didn't know my gmail password at the time (it was an emergency and that wasn't my primary email...won't happen again) they had to transfer the numbers from the sim card.
So does it cost extra to get a second or third phone for families? I mean, do you pay a higher monthly fee in addition to the phones? If so, I guess the answer to my question is that it would not be possible without doing it that way, since I'm the only person on my plan, right? I asked one Walmart clerk who told me there might be a second phone option, but that the phone could only be used in Wifi areas, unless I misunderstood her.
She recommended a very cheap phone for $20 and purchasing prepaid minutes. I'm wondering if I would have access to my contacts on Gmail that way.
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