Question About Cell Phone Minutes

[victoria]

I've looked through previous threads, but don't think this subject has been introduced ...

When you have a prepaid minutes plan (Personal) for your cell phone, are your minutes used up during calls to the States using a phone card? Also, what about 800 numbers? Does the minute meter start ticking for those?

I find this kind of cell service quite expensive and I'm getting stingy with my minutes.

Anyone know?

Thanks

 

[iStar]

Hi Victoria,

Yes your bucket of minutes is used when calling the access number for the calling card.

Same for 800 numbers.

I now use Skype for my long distance calls using wifi on my iphone. I pay $2.95/month and I get unlimited landline & mobile calls to Canada/USA

BTW... rates for pre-paid service is going up this month.

 

[wreReynolds]

To confirm the previous post. I have an account (in a girlfriends name) and I still get billed for 800 calls (A$R400 in three weeks). But the other calls (direct to US, Canada and other LatAm countries are dramatically less with an account, if you can get one - without a DNI it is essentially impossible. Good luck. The cell phone companies here are the same as everywhere; they want your money any way they can get it.

 

[delfshunter]

Hello. We are new to B.A. and would just like to know the best places to buy a cellphone with a prepaid plan. Thanks for any replies.

 

[iStar]

Hello. We are new to B.A. and would just like to know the best places to buy a cellphone with a prepaid plan. Thanks for any replies.

Hi welcome

I personally haven't come across a "pre-paid" packaged phone where you pay X amount of AR$ for the phone and comes included with a sim card and X amount of pre-paid minutes to get you started.

Your best bet is to buy a used GSM phone and then use pre-paid cards.

 

[Estopero]

There's some phone cards that you can use for long distance or international calls. They can be used from any public phone and they're not very expensive.

Tarjeta Línea, for example: http://www.tarjetalinea.com.ar

 

[delfshunter]

Hello again. Where are the best places to shop for cellphones for local use in B.A., and to ask about plans for prepaid minutes?
Thanks.

 

[Trabano]

There's some phone cards that you can use for long distance or international calls. They can be used from any public phone and they're not very expensive.

Tarjeta Línea, for example: http://www.tarjetalinea.com.ar

While it's totally possible to use a Tarjeta at any public phone, I wouldn't advise using it at a pay phone. If you buy a $10 card, it will be gone in about 5 minutes because the phone will charge you the pay phone cost, rather than what it printed on the back of the card.

When I need to call the US, I like to use the cards and only pay about 13 cents/minute.

 

[EliA]

Hey Delfs, go into any store that looks like it sells cell phones - they are all over. Cell phones are irrationally expensive here so ask for the cheapest phone they have; that way if it gets stolen you won't be too sad.

Then, you need to get a chip with a specific phone company. I recommend Movistar, they seem to be the cheapest and 2-3 times a week they do 'double' days where if you charge 30 pesos they give you 60. Not too shabby.

I'm not sure about your level of Spanish - what you want to say is "quiero el celu mas barato que funciona con Movistar, y necesito el chip tambien." (I want the cheapest phone that works with Movistar, and I need a chip too.) The chip is what generates your cell phone number, and it'll be written on the same packaging the chip comes in.

Once you have the phone and the chip, go to any kiosk and buy a Movistar card ("tarjeta de Movistar"). These come in various increments but I usually buy the $30 peso one on double days. Follow the directions on the card to add credit to your phone. When you're getting low on credit ("saldo") it'll send you a text telling you to top up.

Hope this helps!

 

[iStar]

Hello again. Where are the best places to shop for cellphones for local use in B.A., and to ask about plans for prepaid minutes?
Thanks.

If you can bring a unlocked GSM cell phone with you. Even if you have a GSM now you can get it unlocked here. It will be cheaper than buying one. All electronics are EXPENSIVE here, especially cell phones, ipods, black-berry, iphone etc...

MoviStar and Claro are the two GSM carriers here. I use Claro pre-paid cards.

I signed up for service at the Claro office in Alto Palermo shopping, they gave me a free SIM card but I had to purchase my pre-paid card at one of the many variety store kiosks located throughout the city. The cards come in 20, 50 and 100 AR$. Claro does give you FREE bonus time with each card. I usually buy the AR$50 and get a $AR40 FREE BONUS credit. They also send promo texts to your phone, I got one last week where if I credited my account with a minimum of AR$20 I get one Claro number to call and another to TEXT unlimited for FREE for 3 months.

I notice when my phone is running out of credit the promo texts start rolling in and don't stop. I guess they want to keep you hooked in case you want to jump to another carrier which would make sense to do when you use all of your minutes.

MoviStar also runs promos but not sure how frequent they are.

Hope this helps.