What is a Glovebox phone?

It is a phone you leave in the glovebox of your car to call for help when you have a problem.  This can be when you misplace or lose your phone or get in an accident.  It can also be for when your phone needs to be charged.  Many of the new smartphones run out of battery from checking email and leave you unable to call.

What do I want in a glovebox phone?

• Cheap to keep active.  The phone must be inexpensive to keep the service active.
• Cheap to buy the phone.
• Simple and easy to add minutes.
• Different network.  If the phone I normally carry works on the CDMA networks like Verizon or Alltel my glovebox phone should work on the GSM networks like AT&T or T-Mobile and preferably on both.

With this criteria in mind there are only two companies I would buy a Glovebox phone.  I would buy a Net10 phone or a Tracfone.  Why?

Net10 and Tracfone are the only prepaid phones that roam to different networks.  If you buy a T-Mobile prepaid or Verizon prepaid or Alltel prepaid phone they will not roam onto another carriers network.  Since the whole idea of a glovebox phone is the best cell coverage possible the answer is pretty simple.

How much will I have to pay?

Tracfone has phones as cheap so $9.99.  I would recommend only buying a Tracfone that comes with DMFL (double mintues for life.)   With DMFL all the phone cards you add will be doubled so with a 60 minute card you will get 120 minutes.  It will not double service time only the minutes.

Tracfone has always given 60 days of  service when you activate the phone.   You can buy 60 minute  phone cards for $20 and they give you three months of service and 60 minutes of calling.  You will end up paying less than $7 a month unless you use up your minutes.

Why Tracfone and not Net10?  Net10 requires you buy at least a $30 phone card every two months so it will cost you $15 a month.

Where can I buy minutes?
Tracfone and Net10 sell phone cards at every Walmart, Safeway, truckstop and mini mart in the country.  They are available on the web at TracFone.com and at  Net10.com

What phone should I buy?

• I would buy an inexpensive folding phone with DMFL.  They won’t accidentally get turned on, and I think the clam shell design is a little better protected.
• I would buy the accessory kit which has a car charger.
• Activate the phone and put a minute card in it.
• Charge the phone and turn it off.
• I would put the car charger, wall charger, an extra phone card,and the phone in a padded bag in my glovebox.

On the outside of the bag keep track of when the service date runs out.  If you let your service run out the minutes do not roll over.  The minutes with both Tracfone and Net10 roll over as long as you keep your service active.

GSM or CDMA phone?
Both Tracfone and Net10 offer GSM and CDMA phones.  In some parts of the country the coverage is better with one than the other.  The GSM phones have the little SIM card that sits behind your battery.  GSM phones usually will only work on the GSM networks like the ones that T-Mobile and AT&T use.  Verizon and Alltell and US Cell use CDMA networks.    Tracfone and Net10 sell their phones by Zip code.  If you want to buy a CDMA phone use 59601 for your Tracfone purchase.  If you want a GSM phone use the zip code of any large city near you or use 99201.

Load up your Family and Friends

Be sure to put the phone numbers of your family and friends into this phone.  When you need to use this phone you will not have a phonebook handy.  Anyone that you could potentially call for help put in this phone.  This can also function as your backup phone book.

Tracfone or Net10?
Net10 often has deals where you get a free phone with the purchase of a minute card.  The Net10 phones always give you 300 minutes and two months of service with activation.  If you buy the $30 card and free phone you will get four months of service 600 minutes and the phone for $30.   After that you will have to spend $15 a month and you will get 150 minutes per month also.

Tracfone has a yearly phone card for $100 and another one for $200.  The $100 yearly card will give you 400 minutes or 800 minutes if you have dmfl and 360 days of service.  The $200 phone card will give you 1500 minutes or 3000 minutes with DMFL.

Tags: Emergency Cell Phone

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Glovebox phone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.