Monthly Plans:  

Unlimited Plans

In our review of Boost Mobile, we discussed some of the pitfalls that can be associated with so called unlimited pricing plans. Cricket offers six distinct unlimited plans which makes for great flexibility and may increase the likelihood of finding a plan that’s just right for you. Nonetheless, the question becomes, “What is unlimited”?

Cricket’s most basic unlimited plan is just $30 per month but, predictably, its features are very limited. Specifically, it includes just unlimited local phone calls. If you need to make long distance calls on this plan you can add funds to a feature called Flex Bucket which allows for incurring charges on a periodic basis. Long distance is charged at $.08 per minute.

The remaining five monthly plans increase in price in $5 increments with each plan offering something more. At the $35 level, you get unlimited local and domestic long distance calling. For $40 a month, you get unlimited local and long distance calling plus unlimited text (SMS) and multimedia messaging (MMS). This includes messages that can include pictures as well as audio and video content. For $45 dollars per month, you get all that plus text messaging to Mexico.

The most notable addition gained by choosing the next plan level at $50 monthly is unlimited mobile web access. This plan is the one that most nearly resembles Boost Mobile’s unlimited monthly plan which is also $50. This plan also includes a wider calling area than lesser ones by adding Cricket’s Premium Extended Coverage and also 30 minutes of roaming time. While we appreciate these additions, we find Boost’s unlimited preferable because with it you simply don’t encounter roaming fees. With this plan, as with all of Cricket’s monthly plans, you can also expect to pay about $2 monthly in telecom taxes. Such taxes are included in Boost’s unlimited plan charge.

Cricket’s final monthly plan costs $60 and adds unlimited 411 Directory Assistance. That can be a huge savings if you use that service extensively. Further, this plan includes 200 minutes of roaming per month.

Usage Based Plans:  

Daily Plans

The flexibility demonstrated by Cricket’s variety of monthly plans continues with its three daily usage offerings called PAYGo. The plans differ from the category we’ve designated as pay-as-you-go because you pay a daily fee on days that you use your phone only but that fee covers the entire day for included services. Each plan offers a different set of features but you can change between plans whenever you choose.

The most basic of these plans is $1 per day that you use your phone. It offers unlimited local phone calls and long distance calls are billed at $.10 per minute. You can use the mobile web for an additional $1 per day and Directory Assistance calls also cost $1. Text messaging is not available with this plan. As with all Cricket plans, roaming is $.39 per minute unless you opt for a roaming package.

Cricket’s second PAYGo plan is $2 daily and adds unlimited domestic long distance and messaging. Messaging in this case includes text (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS) and international texting. As with the $1 daily plan, accessing the mobile web is $1 a day and 411 Directory Assistance costs $1 per use.

The most inclusive of Cricket’s PAYGo plans runs $3 per day. In addition to the features of the lesser plans, this one includes unlimited use of the mobile web and 411 Directory Assistance.