Pay as you go cellphones

[Kirst]

Can anyone recommend a good company for pay as you go/prepaid cellphones here? I use sms a lot and am looking for the cheapest deals.

 

[Alzinho]

They're all much the same - ridiculously expensive. If you can get someone to get you one on contract, it's far, far cheaper.
I had a pre-pago on Claro for 2 years and have stuck with them now I'm on contract.
What might be worth doing is to choose the company that most of your contacts are with - you can get 'free' contacts with users of the same supplier. This works for me because I only really call/msg one person here!

 

[stephent]

Alzinho is so right, Kirst. They are all very expensive and credit tends to last no time at all, especially if you call rather than text. Choosing between the different companies is almost impossible as there is not a clear market leader. My advice would be to buy a really cheap phone: the most basic Nokia you can find, so that its loss is not a matter of consequence and when you return you simply get it out, put in a new card and go. And as Alzinho says, get a card for the company that gives you access to the majority of your friends. And then use text wherever possible as it is so much cheaper than calling. Do bear in mind that your card will be discontinued by the company if it is not charged with credit after two months.

 

[maydesantelmo]

Hi Kirst, as you have read, all are about the same cost, but not too expensive just for test messages. The best deal is to by a chaep phone as was suggested and use a Movistar prepay sim card (here they call it a 'chip') because on certain days, normally Thursday, they have a promotion whereby they give you 50% more credit for what ever credit you buy ie. 45 pesos when you buy 30 pesos of credit. The will send you a publicity message to remind you what day it is.
May

 

[Kirst]

The person I call the most uses NEXTEL, does anyone know of a company eg Movistar, Claro etc that allow you to sms nextel for free in your free sms/minutes each month, or can anyone tell me if they use nextel, are there good deals and where is there a shop?

thanks!

 

[oxente!]

If you are calling someone a lot who has Nextel it might make sense to get a Nextel plan with unlimited radio talk time and you can talk as much as you want but it´s "por radio" not a regular phone. I had a nextel phone last year (we used them at my work to communicate among the team) and it was around 110 pesos per month for the plan but very expensive when you use it as a regular phone to call or text because there are never promos for buying the pre-paid credit. However you can set up all sorts of different plans with prepaid minutes or limited radio, et.

I have a movistar phone also and there are a lot of promos that are even better than 50% more credit, ie generally 1x or 2x a week there will be "double your credit" promotions so if you buy $30 pesos of credit you really get $60, etc

 

[Alzinho]

...use a Movistar prepay sim card because on certain days, normally Thursday, they have a promotion whereby they give you 50% more credit for what ever credit you buy ie. 45 pesos when you buy 30 pesos of credit.

Really?
In that case, definitely go with Claro - their extra credit is available with every card you buy, not limited to one day per week! And over a certain value (I think it's 50 pesos) the extra credit is 100%.

 

[Kirst]

Thanks guys! Useful info and much appreciated!