Isn’t a Tracfone the same thing as the Obama phone? When I was in Greenville, S.C. at the vets home getting some medical work done, they gave me one and it came with something like 300 minutes a month. Staying at the vet’s home automatically classified those living there as homeless so we got a few perks that I really didn’t need but it was nice. Now, I have read that some of the models are more pricy than the one I had but I hadn’t realized that they were a thing until @Tony Page brought it up.
No I've never had a TracFone before but like you I felt the deal is too good to pass up. The phone itself a Samsung is much better than my present one, it has better cameras and memory plus it accepts a microchip. It uses the same network (CDMA) as my current phone so the coverage would be similar. The offer included 1500 minutes of data, text, and phone, usually HSN only offers 1200 minutes. It was only $59.99 plus I paid a few dollars more for insurance. I am not switching phones I'm keeping this as an extra phone I wanted something a little better for internet use, and it might be useful if one of our phones breaks down. If I like the service I definitely will cancel the phone I got now, which supposedly has a higher monthly cost. I like the idea of just paying for the minutes I need. They claim the minutes they give you should last about 3 months, we'll see.
I don't know anything about the Obama phone, but TracFone has been around for years. "TracFone Wireless, Inc. was established in 1996 as Topp Telecom Inc., a prepaid mobile phone company, in Miami, Florida. It was founded by David Topp and F.J. Pollak."
I wouldn't mind having a flip phone, not necessarily to replace my iPhone, but to have something that I'd be more likely to carry with me when I'm out in the woods or working on the yard and stuff. I have one of the larger iPhones and, while I like it well enough, when it's not cold outside, I am not usually wearing anything with pockets large enough to comfortably carry it, so I tend to leave it behind a lot. I've never had a flip phone but they look like something I could simply place in my pants pockets without much fear of breaking or losing it. As for Black Friday sales, I'm not about to go out to a store during a sales day but if I come across something I want or need at a good price online, I might buy it. I doubt that I'll look particularly for a sale, however.
I realize they had been around for a while and after I did a little checking, my TracFone was a Nokia and was given the moniker of Obama phone because it was one of his initiatives to put cell phones in the hands of people who couldn’t afford one. But again, I didn’t realize that some of the models were indeed higher priced and a little more stylish.
I bought an Apple Watch with its own SIMS card for the exact reasons you cite. Reception had been great, even in the creek bed down a steep hill. It cost an extra $5-$10/month to have as a "Shared Device," meaning it's an extension of your existing phone rather than having it's own phone#. I've mentioned before it serves the same function as a Life Alert device, but is way cheaper (Life Alert costs $30-$40 per month) and obviously has greater functionality. I bought a 10 pak of cheap bezel/screen protectors for under $15...I don't care if they get beat up. The main limitation is the absence of a camera. There have been times I'm working outside and spot a critter or something else I want to get a pic of, and I can't. Just thought I'd throw that out as an option. [TOPIC]Maybe they'll be a Black Friday sale on them.[/TOPIC]
I have gotten them at the dollar store, Walmart and directly from tracfone on line. They have close outs occassionally. I got one with lifetime double minutes and they were transferable. But Tracfone has been bought out by Verizon, I think, and everything will change next year.
I think the biggest change is that all TracFone users will be on a single network...Verizon. Right now they are on several different carriers, depending on the location. I'm sure the cost of the plan/service will also change, and probably not for the better.