Current Tracfone Bundles / Retail Tracfone Deals / Tracfone Discussions - Newest Deal LG3280R w/60 Min Card $19.99

Free shipping still applies and promo code 23444 is still good for $3 off.

CDMA phones now only offered in the CO market. No longer offered in the COGSM4 or COGSM5 markets.

Tracfone often offers particular phones or bundles to only certain market areas. It is very common to see a bundle offered in one zip code and not in another. This does not mean you cannot obtain this offer outside that market area. (See detailed info below)
If you enter a zip code and want to know what market area you are in, look at the url in the address bar.
You can see the "Market= " as part of the address.

http://www.tracfone-orders.com/bpdirect/tracfone/Start.do?action=view&market=GSM4........
This tells you what market area the zip code you entered is in.

GSM4 =AT&T, GSM5=T-Mobile, GSM5AT=T-Mobile & AT&T
CO =CDMA, CO GSM4 =CDMA & AT&T, CO GSM5[ =CDMA & T-Mobile

Tracfone's phones work on two different technologies. CDMA & GSM. CDMA phones do not have sim cards. GSM phones use sim cards. If you are familiar with cell phones, you know it is not that simple. If you are not familiar, that is all you need to know at this point. Tracfone's CDMA service providers are Verizon, Alltel & USCellular. Their GSM providers are AT&T & T-Mobile.

CDMA phones are much more flexible than GSM because all you have to do is enter several strings of codes into a CDMA phone to reprogram it for use with another Tracfone CDMA carrier or to change the phone number.

GSM phones need the appropriate sim card for the GSM provider in the area where the phone will be used. Sim cards can be identified by a carrier designation code on the sim card itself. TFSIMC4 or TF64SIMC4 designate AT&T, TFSIMT5 designate T-Mobile. If you want to change the phone number of a GSM phone you will need a new sim card in order to do so.

TRACFONE® provides nationwide prepaid wireless service. They use the nation's leading cellular providers to create a national footprint covering 99% of the U.S. population. This gives you service everywhere cellular service is available. You can use your TRACFONE across the U.S. and if you move, you can relocate your wireless number with just a phone call.

Most of the major cellular providers, AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile, have a different service area for their prepaid customers versus their contract customers. Their prepaid service areas can be much smaller and can also have other limits. This is not the case with Tracfone. You get the same service areas and service levels with these carriers that their contract customers get, not the limits of their prepaid service. This means you get better service from the same carrier than their own prepaid customers.

Tracfone may not advertise/offer CDMA phones in your area, but that does not mean you cannot order a CDMA phone or use one there. You can buy any phone from Tracfone even if it will not work in your area. I give the proceedure on how to order a phone/deal that is not advertised for your area near the end of this post, after the individual market area lists.

They always get a better rate from GSM providers and therefore would prefer that you use a GSM phone in any area that has full GSM coverage available, even if a CDMA provider is available there also. There are times when there may not be phone numbers available from the GSM carrier because of so many users in the area. I have not had that problem with CDMA.

Be sure to confirm that the phone will work in your zip code prior to purchase.
There is plenty of help on this forum if you ask. It is always quicker and easier if you can provide the zip code when you inquire about phones or service for your area.

Here is a list of phones currently offered by Tracfone.. The links will take you to the detail page for each phone. You can view the user manuals from the detail page.

CDMA Phones currently offered by Tracfone.

• Kyocera K126
  
• LG 200C
  
• LG 3280

GSM Phones currently offered by Tracfone. Not All Web enabled phones will access the web outside Tracfone's web site.

• Motorola C139
  
• Motorola W175
  
• Motorola V170 FREE incoming text messages
  
• Motorola C261
  
• Motorola W260g
  
• Motorola W370 Double Minutes for Life
  
• Motorola W376g Double Minutes for Life
  
• LG 225 Double Minutes for Life
  
• LG 600 Double Minutes for Life
  
• Samsung T301g Double Minutes for Life
  
• Samsung T401g
  
• Samsung T101g
  

Here are the individual market areas and everything currently offered in each one.

GSM4 Market = AT&T

GSM5 Market = TMobile

GSM5AT Market = TMobile & AT&T

CO Market = CDMA

COGSM4 Market = CDMA & AT&T

COGSM5 Market = CDMA & TMobile

Tracfone is still offering Free Shipping on phone or phone bundle orders of $19.99 or more on their web site.
And use promo code 23444 when ordering to save $3 on any phone or phone bundle order of $19.99 or more. You still have to choose your shipping method but the shipping will be credited on the very last page of the order process.

If you do not see a particular phone on one of these market pages then it is not available.

To get a Tracfone offer that is not advertised in your area.

• Choose the bundle or phone you want and note the market area that it is offered in.
  
• Select a zip code** from the Quick Summary (the next post on this thread) for the market area where the offer is available.
  
• Go to the Tracfone web site using Fat Cash 9% Rebate
  
• Enter the appropriate zip code in the space provided & confirm on the next page.
  
• Add the desired item to your cart.
  
• Edit the quantity if desired and proceed to checkout.

  The zip code you originally entered will be pre-filled in your shipping address. Change the zip code to match your shipping address.
  When you submit this page it will ask you to confirm the zip code change. Choose YES.
  Complete your checkout.

Be sure to confirm that the phone will work in your zip code prior to purchase.
There is plenty of help on this forum if you ask. It is always quicker and easier if you can provide the zip code when you inquire about phones or service for your area.

**Since Tracfone only shows you offerings based on certain market areas you have to use a zip code for that market, not your own. The use of this zip is only to make the offers available for purchase on the site, it will not affect the phone number of the phone.
You can find specific zip codes for the different market areas in the Quick Summary (next post) of this thread).

A lot of markets have changed from GSM4 to GSM5AT. If you are looking for a zip code to use to insure you get a phone with an At&t sim card here are my recommendations.
24874 is a COGSM4 market and definitely has no T-Mobile coverage, so any phone ordered for this zip should be a P4 model.

Use 24870 to see the CDMA offerings

Activation:
You can transfer your existing number or get a new number. Any new number will be assigned by a zip code that you provide at the time of activation.

Bundled Cards:
If the phone comes bundled with an airtime card or any other card such as dmfl or 1 year card, you are free to use that card on any phone, not just the one tha comes in the bundle with it. You can buy the bundle and use the card on your existing phone and then do whatever you want with the bundled phone.

COVERAGE MAPS FOR TRACFONE SERVICE PROVIDERS

GSM Carriers
TMobile Coverage Map
AT&T Coverage Map

CDMA Carriers
Verizon Coverage Map
Alltel Coverage Map
USCellular Coverage Map

Net10
Market Areas
CO Market
GSM4 Market
GSM5 Market
GSM5AT Market

Online & B&M Retailers:

WalMart
Tracfones at the Walmart.com

Amazon
Tracfones at Amazom.com

Radio Shack
Tracfones At RadioShack.com

Target
Tracfones at Target.com

FrugalFreak said: Can anyone confirm nokia 1100 available in any zip code? I couldn't find one. and how do you tell what zone you are in?

If you enter a zip code and want to know what market area you are in, look at the url in the address bar. You can see the "Market= " as part of the address. You can change that to equal any market you want.
http://www.tracfone-orders.com/bpdirect/tracfone/Start.do?action=view&market=GSM4........

The Nokia 1100 has not been offered by Tracfone for quite some time.

My market is coming up as GSM5AT which the op has listed as TMobile/AT&T. Does this mean the tracfone could possibly be only using TMobile towers? If that is the case, then am I better off just getting Tmobile prepaid with their 1000 minutes/1year for $100?

FrugalFreak said: I know I haven't seen any. I bought two motorola's and I still prefer the nokia. they are Impossible to come by.

thanks

Try eBay.

suppershopper said: My market is coming up as GSM5AT which the op has listed as TMobile/AT&T. Does this mean the tracfone could possibly be only using TMobile towers? If that is the case, then am I better off just getting Tmobile prepaid with their 1000 minutes/1year for $100?

It means Tracfones will use either AT&T or Tmo in that area. They always put their data capable phones (like the W370 and LG225) on AT&T. They might ship non-data phones with either an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM. Tracfone seems to prefer AT&T wherever possible, but they've been known to occasionaly use T-Mobile instead. If you strongly prefer one or the other, you can order the phone using a zip code that only offers that flavor SIM as posted in the 2nd post of this thread.

Dare2Dream said: I am looking for a DMFL card. There was a deal a few months back for cetain zip codes for a phone + DMFL card for ~ $15. Anyone know if there are any current zip codes still active for that deal?

Here are the links to the previous deal:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/774385

That deal, along with the 2fer deal, has not been available since about the end of March.
Right now the only deal Tracfone is offering with a separate DMFL card is the LG 3280 bundle for $49.99.

suppershopper said: My market is coming up as GSM5AT which the op has listed as TMobile/AT&T. Does this mean the tracfone could possibly be only using TMobile towers? If that is the case, then am I better off just getting Tmobile prepaid with their 1000 minutes/1year for $100?

This may be interest you. Free after rebate TMobile to Go phone.
Fatwallet Deal

jimates said:
GSM5AT market areas at one time were just GSM5, TMobile only. With AT&T's recent expansions the areas now have both providers. I am speculating that at some time in the future those areas will be GSM4, because Tracfone always prefers AT&T.

Hi jimates, great job starting this this thread!

I do wish to take issue with your statement about GSM5AT however. My zip code was originally GSM4, although T5 SIMs would also work if activated here. Stores still only sell P4 phone packages around here. But a few months ago, this zip was changed to GSM5AT. And some of the 2fers I ordered using my own zip code were fullfulled with retail T5 (not refurbished) phones. My guess is they have gotten a better deal on airtime from T-Mobile and are now more willing to activate on T-Mobile than they were in the past.

JimBones said:
It might not be an issue for you depending on your usage, but from what I understand, The minutes you add to your TMobile phone don't carry over. Once that year on the 1000/1Year card is over your unused minutes expire.

I'm just going to quote from the T-Mobile FAQ on that subject, see the last line especially --

When do T-Mobile Prepaid minutes expire?

Unused T-Mobile Prepaid minutes expire over a given amount of time. That time varies based on the dollar denomination of the last refill applied to your account and/or whether or not you have reached Gold Rewards status. For non-Gold reward customers, unused minutes will expire 90 days from the date you applied a $10, $25, or $50 refill to your account.

If you applied a $100 refill to your account or have already reached Gold Reward status, all unused minutes won't expire for one year from the date you last applied airtime to your account.

To help ensure that you never lose your unused minutes, T-Mobile will send you a text message when your account is within 5 days of expiring. That way, you'll have plenty of time to refill your account and carry forward any unused minutes to your new expiration date.

disposable said: .

has tacfone managed to find human beings to answer the phones that understand english in the last year or so?
I haven't had a problem with them understanding me. I do have much better luck with the female CSRs, and can understand them a little better.
When the men answer the phone they just sound like they would rather be somewhere else, doing something other than helping me.

JimBones said:
It might not be an issue for you depending on your usage, but from what I understand, The minutes you add to your TMobile phone don't carry over. Once that year on the 1000/1Year card is over your unused minutes expire. Assuming you have a Tracfone with "Double Minutes For Life" and you add the 400min/1year card (400 normal minutes + 400 DMFL + 200 Bonus minutes = 1000 minutes) to your phone, those minutes will last as long as your phone has airtime. ex. add a 60 minute card with 90 days of airtime to a phone after adding a year card and you'll now have 455 days before your minutes expire. Using that senario it is also more expensive to text, and possibly MMS.

I don't know what jimates meant by convenient, he knows more about these things than I do (I don't know alot), but I thought I'd put that out there.
You can activate your TMobile to Go and if you add a $100 card you immediately get Gold Rewards status. This will give you 1150 (1000 + 15%) minutes and 1 year of service. Anytime within that year you can add a $10 card and get more minutes and another 1 year of service starting from the date you add the $10 card. All unused minutes carry over to the new expiration date.
You can add a $10 card on the last day of service and your unused minutes, and the new minutes will carry over for 1 year.

The longer you keep the service the cheaper your average monthly cost is.
The first years cost would be: The phone & $100 card.
The second years cost would be: $10

I wish TMobile service was better in my area, I wouldn't be using Tracfone and Net10.

alohamora said:

Hi jimates, great job starting this this thread!

I do wish to take issue with your statement about GSM5AT however. My zip code was originally GSM4, although T5 SIMs would also work if activated here.
Stores still only sell P4 phone packages around here. But a few months ago, this zip was changed to GSM5AT.
And some of the 2fers I ordered using my own zip code were fullfilled with retail T5 (not refurbished) phones. My guess is they have gotten a better deal on airtime from T-Mobile and are now more willing to activate on T-Mobile than they were in the past.
although T5 SIMs would also work if activated here.
They would work but Tracfone prefers AT&T, that is why it was GSM4

Stores still only sell P4 phone packages around here.
That is because Tracfone prefers AT&T

But a few months ago, this zip was changed to GSM5AT. And some of the 2fers I ordered using my own zip code were fullfilled with retail T5 (not refurbished) phones.
All the 2fer deals were filled with phones that had TMobile sim cards, no matter what the zip code. The 2fer was only available in GSM5 and GSM5AT markets because they all had TMobile sims and could only be offered where TMobile service was available.

That is why I mentioned about the 2fer possibly being offered as an aid to reduce the inventory of c139s with TMobile sims. AT&T is steadily expanding service, and the need for the TMobile phones is far less than it was.

Your zip code could have changed for several reasons.
They could have expanded or combined your market area to include areas that were GSM5 before. We don't know what the geographical boundaries are for the market areas.

If you notice the only GSM phones offered in the GSM5 and COGSM5 areas are the C139 and the 2 new Motorola phones. AT&T is not available in those areas and therefore there is no web or MMS service in those areas. The nicer phones will work in those areas with the proper sim card, but you would not get the use of the features of the phones.

jimates said:
You can activate your TMobile to Go and if you add a $100 card you immediately get Gold Rewards status. This will give you 1150 (1000 + 15%) minutes and 1 year of service.

The website says that the 15% bonus is already included in the 1 year card. "A $100 refill value already includes the 15% more minutes bonus." It shows that in a chart as well.

jimatesYour zip code could have changed for severa said: l reasons.
They could have expanded or combined your market area to include areas that were GSM5 before. We don't know what the geographical boundaries are for the market areas.

There never were any GSM5 areas anywhere near here, this zip and all the surrounding areas used to be strictly GSM4.

I agree that they were probably reducing inventory of retail phones with tmobile SIMs with those 2fers.

Anything I order from Tracfone these days, I order with a GSM4 zip to be sure they don't send me a Tmobile SIM. (Tmobile may work, but the signal is weaker in some places I go.)

alohamora said: WingsOverVirginia said:

I am refering to T-Mobile service. A T-Mobile phone will use any Cingular, AT&T or T-Mobile tower for service without roaming. The T-Mobile phone will use whatever signal is the strongest. Apparently your Tracfone unit does not do the same. We have 3 T-Mobile branded handsets that are activated on T-Mobile ToGo service. It sounds like anyone would be better off just getting a T-Mobile phone and not bothering with Tracfone.

I also have T-Mobile ToGo and I really wish it worked that way, using whatever signal is strongest. I've tried multiple sims and multiple phones and I can't even force the ToGo phone on to AT&T as long as there is any native T-Mobile signal to be found.

Were your phones originally contract phones? I remember hearing once that contract phones could be forced onto a different carrier.
Nope, all ToGo phones most bought at Target clearance. The Nokia 2610 is the newest, picked up a few weeks ago. It doesn't matter if it is set to manual or automatic service select either way it chooses AT&T here at the house. It will switch over to T-Mobile only where the signal is strong like along major highways. It may have to do with geographic regions where the reciprical agreement is in effect, but I know it works this way on the East coast (DC, VA, NC) the Midwest (Chicago area) and Las Vegas (at least it did last summer when my son was out visiting my sister).

Tracfones At Radio Shack

W370 for $29.99
Ad came out today, good thru June 14th, while supplies last.
No mention of double minutes. If anyone confirms please post the results.

LG 3280 for $24.97 not available online

Kyocera K126 for $9.99 in stock online

The Dollar General here has the Motorola C139 and the Kyocera KY126 advertised on a promotional flyer I picked up for $15 each, and it also says there's a $5 rebate on each phone in their Book Of Mail-In Rebates......

jimates said:
Note: Since the C261 is only $29.99, how can they offer it with a FREE Double Minutes for Life Card for $39.99.

Both the phone and the bundle have the same promotional code applied to it so you may be able to get the phone and the double minute card for 29.99 instead of 39.99. I'm not sure how that all works though.

Never mind, I found it!

Thanks Jim.

Bassinbarth said:   Thank you for your help

Tracfone website is the only place you have a choice of carriers and it requires some knowledge of their markets. Tracfone venders normally have only one provider offered for them to sell. CDMA phones are only Verizon. The GSM phones "complete" part number indicates if it will be an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card included. Check back here if you have questions in the future.