Cricket was among the first pre-paid cell phone providers that struck a chord with a wide audience of consumers. Depending on your specific requirements, this cell phone provider can be a great bargain. It’s important, though, to be aware of the features that are, or are not, included in the selected plan because using add-ons that aren’t part of the plan can increase the cost markedly.
Unlimited Plans
Cricket’s pricing plans can be pretty attractive, but the key is to carefully select the plan with the features you need.
The company offers five unlimited plans so the question becomes, “What’s unlimited?” The most basic plan offers unlimited voice calls, including long distance, for $30.00 a month. No other features that we generally consider standard these days, such as voicemail or caller ID, are included.
The next step up adds text messaging but only SMS … no multimedia or instant messages. It also adds voicemail. To get an unlimited voice and text plan that compares to the higher rated cell phone providers, there’s a plan available for $40.00 per month. It adds MMS messaging as well as mobile web access. At this level, call waiting, 3-way calling and 411 directory assistance are included as well.
At $60.00 a month, this cell phone provider offers a plan that closely approximates the "unlimited everything" program offered by some carriers. We consider this plan the only one that qualifies for that designation because it includes 100 minutes of roaming. Other cell phone providers with this unlimited service have no roaming charges whereas Cricket charges $.25 a minute.
Cricket offers family plans for three, four or five lines of service for $99.00, $132.00 and $165.00, respectively. The plans include unlimited talk and SMS text messaging plus voicemail, caller ID, call waiting and 3-way calling. Mobile web can be added for $5.00 per month per line.
Pays As You Go
There are three distinct pay-as-you-go options that are known as PAYGo. The aptly named Basic plan gives unlimited local calling. Anything else, including long distance, messaging, web access and directory assistance is extra on a per-use basis. The plan costs $1.00 per day that is charged only on days that the service is used.
The More plan costs $2.00 a day when used and adds nationwide long distance. The most ambitious plan, known as All, costs $3.00 per day used and adds unlimited messaging, mobile web access and directory assistance.
Despite making progress, pre-paid cell phone services still don’t compare well to the national contract-based services. In a related matter, purchasing phones from the pre-paid services is relatively expensive because their prices aren’t subsidized. Cricket currently offers a dozen phones from the most basic to a couple that have pretty extensive feature sets. Smartphones are not yet offered.
Phone prices begin at $49.99 and range up to $129.99. Their most capable phone offers a 2.0MP camera, music player and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. It can be used to access the internet at 3G speed and has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Several of the phones offer tri-band functionality, a concession to the fact that parts of the network still require analog reception.
Like other pre-paid services, there are no credit checks associated with establishing service. Similarly, there’s no contract so customers are free to cancel the service at any time without penalty.
Beyond calling and messaging features, there are entertainment features like mobile music downloading and video features including sports, comedy and more. Games and other apps, some based on GPS technology, are also available. Phones can be customized with wallpapers, ringtones and ringback tones.
Probably the single most negative feature of Cricket cell phone provider is the potential for incurring roaming charges. Their network coverage has expanded significantly, but there are still substantial areas that are designated as roaming and making a call from those spots costs $.25 a minute. Though the company’s price plans are generally good, roaming charges can rack up quickly, negating the advantages. Cricket charges a $15.00 fee for activating a line of service.
This cell phone provider can be contacted by email or toll-free telephone line. Customers can also get in touch with them by dialing *611 on their Cricket cell phone. The website answers questions clearly and features a searchable FAQs section. There’s also a live chat function, but it’s only for sales support.
Cricket offers several plans that are very competitively priced if you take care to choose the features that you are actually likely to use. On the other hand, their network coverage is limited and roaming fees can add up quickly.
