I see several people who have tried codes that didnt work. That is only because that code has expired or it has been used on that phone previously.

Here are two sites to check your code with. One also checks your actual phone to confirm or deny the code you are about to use is good for your phone.

http://preprepaid.com/testing_tracfone_bonus_codes.php

http://preprepaid.com/testingtracfonebonus.php

attatood said:Not complaining, just curious how this happened.

I just activated a new phone with DMFL included. I added a 1 yr. 400 min card and used bonus code of 20475. The bonus code came on a postcard in the mail from tracfone and was supposedly already expired on 10/31/09, but it worked fine today for me.

> 400 for the 1 year card
> 400 for included DMFL
> 250 for the code
> 20 for activation of new phone

I ended up with a total of 1070 minutes and renewal date of 01/08/2011. I understand the minutes, but the renewal is greater than one year out. Any ideas why the renewal wouldn't be November 2010? Are there 60 days included with the 20 min activation?
I usually states on the phone package "20 minutes and 60 days upon activation*".

David301 said:shaniko86 said:I see several people who have tried codes that didnt work. That is only because that code has expired or it has been used on that phone previously.

Here are two sites to check your code with. One also checks your actual phone to confirm or deny the code you are about to use is good for your phone.

http://preprepaid.com/testing_tracfone_bonus_codes.php

http://preprepaid.com/testingtracfonebonus.php
Those utilities are wrong as much as they are right.
Last week it said the code I was checking was good for my phone's serial number.
But Tracfone's system said it was "Invalid".
So I checked another code for my phone's serial number, and preprepaid.com's utility said "Invalid", but Tracfone's system gave my phone 30 bonus minutes. So as far as I can see, preprepaid.com's utilities are a waste of time and effort.

Isn`t their some risk in giving out your phones SN?

David301 said:attatood said:Not complaining, just curious how this happened.

I just activated a new phone with DMFL included. I added a 1 yr. 400 min card and used bonus code of 20475. The bonus code came on a postcard in the mail from tracfone and was supposedly already expired on 10/31/09, but it worked fine today for me.

> 400 for the 1 year card
> 400 for included DMFL
> 250 for the code
> 20 for activation of new phone

I ended up with a total of 1070 minutes and renewal date of 01/08/2011. I understand the minutes, but the renewal is greater than one year out. Any ideas why the renewal wouldn't be November 2010? Are there 60 days included with the 20 min activation?
I usually states on the phone package "20 minutes and 60 days upon activation*".

Thanks David301.

I'll bet that's it. On the package I only saw 10 minutes included, but with DMFL that would be 20. Still don't see any indication of the 60 days, but if memory serves they used to give 60 days on all airtime cards, before they changed all the cards to 90 days. I'll bet for activation they left it at 60 to get us to buy a card sooner. Thanks again.

The online "Web Exclusive" 1000 minute card can be doubled right? I spoke to 2 reps already that said yes it will double. But I've heard that customer service with them is lousy and I'm not sure I can trust what I'm told over the phone by them.

Sorry, Last question. Is there anything in particular I should know/prepare a new (not activated) phone for reasons other than these small freebies of: 30 minutes, 20 minutes for online registration, etc? I feel my plan is good for me, since I could double the 1000 minute card to 2000 minutes for 1 year. The 165 minutes per month would be enough for me (8 cents/minute). I can't see doing any better, unless I can stand having as little as 100 minutes per month (doubt so). It's my first cell phone in 10 years.

taxmantoo said:tracfancier said:
It doesn`t come activated. Best for you to activate it online. There is no time limit to activate a phone but usually they state a limit of one year from purchase on an airtime card, even if from a bundle. Take your time activating and read all the choices given you along the way.

IME, time cards do not expire, and I'vs used several that were more than a year old.
OTOH, the TOS quite plainly states that after one year, they don't owe you airtime or a refund, so there is some risk involved. My newest 60 minute cards are from early 2008.

Ah yes, the old buy a 60 minute card and get a free 60 minute card and a free phone deal! Alas, that deal is apparently gone for good...or should I say bad? I believed the one year expiration dogma and put all my cards on my main phone. I don't have to worry about minutes (likely) or activation (certain) until 2012.

David301 said:tracfancier said:
Isn`t their some risk in giving out your phones SN?
Not really. They would need more info than that to do anything with or to my phone.It depends on the situation. If the phone is not in an account then using the serial number one could add the phone to an account which would then give them the phone number of the phone and their info would then be registered for the phone. They could then transfer the service from the phone. Since their info is the info registered for the phone you would have to prove ownership of the phone in order to convince them that the service was stolen from you. Knowing the last airtime card added to a phone is usually proof enough for something like that.

Probably the worst thing is that just knowing someones phone number with Tracfone or Net10
, one could port the number to another phone just to piss you off. Once they did that you would have to deal with CS and then wait for a new sim card for your phone and hope they port it back to your phone without losing it or without losing the minutes that were left on your phone.

Damn, I tried several of these codes online. I used the browser cache clear program each time. I had to keep entering codes in "code entry mode", some cleared and most didn't. I don't know if this was related to entering a wrong code for the 1000 minute web only card. Finally one one seemed to go through but then after putting my CC info in, it could not complete the transaction. The web page wouldn't allow me to even buy another card because one was already on file. I spent an hour trying to get customer service to activate the card. I gave them 4 different promo codes none worked because they were for cards of denominations lower than 1000.

jimates said:It depends on the situation. If the phone is not in an account then using the serial number one could add the phone to an account which would then give them the phone number of the phone and their info would then be registered for the phone. They could then transfer the service from the phone. Since their info is the info registered for the phone you would have to prove ownership of the phone in order to convince them that the service was stolen from you. Knowing the last airtime card added to a phone is usually proof enough for something like that.

Probably the worst thing is that just knowing someones phone number with Tracfone or Net10
, one could port the number to another phone just to piss you off. Once they did that you would have to deal with CS and then wait for a new sim card for your phone and hope they port it back to your phone without losing it or without losing the minutes that were left on your phone.

Soooooo True. Had this happen to me over a year ago. Some guy tried to transfer my minutes and number to his phone. All he knew was my phone no. (The phone was on Craigs List). Since he could not punch in the codes on my phone, CS shut him down. Also shut down my phone and I lost my number. Of course they had to send me a new Sim card and when I reactivated it, was cheated out of about 300 minutes.

Think I had taken it off my account because it was for sale. I was really angry, but guess it could have been worse. CS told me the fellows name (fake???) and for some reason thought he was my son. (It was weird). Anyway you can get screwed without even trying.