How to Add Talk Minutes to your Tracfone - Talk Add-On Card

Tracfone Offers Talk Add on Card - Is it a Good Deal?

Analysis of the new talk add-on card by TracfoneReviewer.

Tracfone talk add-on card

Ever wish you could add just extra talk minutes to your phone? Well now you can with Tracfone introducing a talk add-on card!

The new card adds extra talk minutes but no additional text/data or service days. With Tracfone smartphones, airtime is split into talk, text and data buckets and consumers have long asked for a talk add-on card to add just additional talk minutes.

Tracfone already offers both a Text Only Card and the Data Only Card and you can follow the links to see more details and a cost breakdown.

How Many Talk Minutes do you get from the Add-on Card?

Here is where things get a little interesting. With the Text and Data add-on cards, they are only available for smartphones. But Tracfone offers a talk add-on card for both basic phones and smartphones. However, the basic phone talk add on is just 100 minutes while the smartphone add-on is 500 talk minutes.

Basic Phones - 100 Additional Minutes - $10
Smartphones - 500 Additional Talk Minutes - $10

We haven't tested if the basic phone card will triple, but it seems likely that it will, so that would be 300 talk minutes for $10 which is still not as much as the smartphone add-on amount.

Is the Talk Add-on Card a Good Deal?

Let's look at the cost breakdown of the smartphone talk add-on:

• Smartphone talk add-on is 2 Cents per Minute. (500 Min/$10)

At 2 Cents per minute the talk add-on card lines up with the other add-on cards and is a pretty good value. It also makes it easy to breakdown the cost of the other smartphone cards which we have done below:

Tracfone Smartphone Card Cost Breakdown

What the table above shows is that certain smartphone cards are a better 'value' than others, specifically the $20 smartphone card. We also see that certain cards are not as good of a value, such as the $45 smartphone card and $125 smartphone card. However, it all really depends on how much talk, text and data you use.

To determine which cards are the best value, we broke up the value of talk, text, data and service days from each of the cards based on the cost of the add-on cards ($10 for 500 talk, $10 for 1000 MB data, $5 for 1000 texts and $5 for 30 service days) and then added the those numbers together to get the 'actual value' of the cards.

Note: Tracfone seems to have removed their service day add-on card which gave 365 service days for $50. We're not sure if they have removed this for good, or if they will be releasing it again, with perhaps an adjusted price.

With the $20 smartphone card, you are essentially getting $26 worth of airtime for $20.

Overall we consider the talk add-on toe be a good deal, especially for those who just need additional calling minutes. We also hope to see Tracfone promo codes for it in the near future like we already have for the text and data cards which make those an even better deal.

Where to Buy the Talk Add-on Card

Currently the talk add-on card is only available on the Tracfone website in the add-on section. You will need to select if you are using a basic phone or smartphone, or enter your phone number before seeing the card selections.

Get the Talk add-on from the Tracfone website

That concludes our guide to the new Talk add-on from Tracfone. If you have any additional thoughts or questions, leave a comment below.

If you're shopping for a smartphone, be sure to check out our List of the Best Tracfone Smartphones in 2019, which includes some of best current smartphones available from Tracfone. Additionally, our list of the Latest Tracfone Smartphones has all of the most recent releases to browse as well.

Keep up with the latest Tracfone news, info, deals and tips by joining over 2500 others who Follow us on Facebook! It is also a great place to ask questions!

You can also Bring Your Own Phone to Tracfone, including devices like the Moto G7, iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy S10.

Finally, don't miss our Latest list of Deals and Discounts on Tracfone cell phones, but be careful, you might find a deal too good to pass up!

Thanks for visiting!

Tracfone Deals and Sales - June 2019

List of Tracfone Deals and Sales for June 2019

Welcome to TracfoneReviewer where we share the latest news, reviews and promo codes!

Tracfone Deals and Sales June 2019

Shopping for a new Tracfone device can be difficult with many options available from a variety of different retailers. It can be challenging to find the lowest price or even know if you are getting a good deal.

We are here to help! We are often monitoring various deals and each month we gather the best prices on popular Tracfone smartphones and provide the updated deals to our readers below. Some of these deals include airtime bundles, and others just the phone.

Prices and deals can change often, sometimes going up or down. We've included both Tracfone smartphone deals and several unlocked phones that can be used with Tracfone BYOP.

Keep up with the newest phones in our Latest list of Tracfone Smartphones (2019).

Now let's get tot he deals.

Tracfone Deals and Sales List - June 2019

Alcatel MyFlip A405 Phone 
The ZTE Flip is a basic phone with 4G connectivity and CDMA service. It is probably best suited as a backup phone or for those who don't want to use a smartphone. With this deal you get a Flip phone plus $15 airtime card for just $9.

Get the ZTE Flip on eBay with $15 airtime card for $29

LG Rebel 4
The Rebel 4 is a small, budget friendly smartphone with a 5" touchscreen, 16 GB internal storage, 2 GB RAM and runs Android 8.1 Oreo.  It is capable of 4G LTE speeds and has an 8 MP camera.The Rebel is smaller than most phones which makes it a popular choice for some users who prefer that. Learn more about this smartphone in our LG Rebel 4 Review.

This deal from Amazon includes a $40 airtime card (pre-loaded on the phone) making the cost of the phone just $19!

Find the LG Rebel with $40 airtime card on Amazon for $59

Samsung Galaxy J7 Crown
The J7 Crown comes with a 5.5" touchscreen, octa-core processor and runs Android 8.0 Oreo. It also has 16 GB Storage and 2 GB RAM. It has been a popular choice for many Tracfone users but is also a little more expensive than many of the other prepaid devices from Tracfone. Now there are several deals on the Galaxy Crown including airtime bundles. Take a look at our full review for further details about the Crown.

See the Samsung Galaxy Crown on Amazon for $117
Find the Samsung Galaxy Crown on eBay with 1500 Talk/Text/Data for $129
Get the Samsung Galaxy Crown with airtime bundle on QVC for $139

Alcatel TCL LX
With a 5.4" touchscreen, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage, the TCL LX is one of the cheapest smartphones from Tracfone that runs Android 8.1 Oreo. While the quality and reliability of this phone might not be quite at the same level as more expensive devices, it can make for a great backup or secondary phone.

Get the Alcatel TCL LX from Walmart, Target or Bestbuy for $29

Moto E5

Tracfone Moto E5

A low cost phone with a large screen, the Moto E5 comes with a 5.7" touchscreen, 16 GB storage and 2 GB RAM to go with the 1.4 Ghz quad-core processor. It runs on CDMA networks, has Android 8.0 Oreo and a surprisingly long battery life thanks to a 4,000 mAh battery. Get all the features and specs for the Moto E5 in our review.

Get the Moto E5 on Amazon for $79
Find the Moto E5 on HSN for $99 with airtime bundle

Moto G6
The Tracfone Moto G6 has a large, 5.7" screen, octa-core processor, 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage. It brings a number of higher end features and specs to a budget device and is available fro less than $200. We saw some really great discounts on the G6 around the holidays, but these deals are still quite good. For more on the Moto G6 visit our review.

Get the Moto G6 on QVC with airtime bundle for $159 (limited time deal)
See the Moto G6 from Walmart for $149
Get the Moto G6 on eBay with airtime bundle for $169

Unlocked Smartphone Deals for Tracfone BYOP

Moto X (4th Gen)
While the Moto X was released a little while back, it still boasts performance on par with the Moto G6, or even a little better in some areas. It features a 5.2" touchscreen, 3 GB RAM, 32 GB storage, Octa-core processor and Android 8.0 (upgradable to Android 9). It also has dual rear cameras (12 MP main shooter) and is water resistant with an IP68 rating. This deal from amazon is for prime members only and the phone comes with amazon Alexa.

Get the Moto X (4th Gen) from Amazon for $119

Moto G7
The latest in the Moto G lineup, the G7 features a large, 6.2" touchscreen, 64 GB storage, 4 GB RAM, and runs Android 9.0 Pie. It was released at the beginning of March 2019 and is unlocked for use with either GSM or CDMA service on Tracfone BYOP. Take a look at our Full Moto G7 Review to learn more about this new device.

Available from Amazon for $269 ($30 off)
Available from BHphoto for $269 ($30 off)

Also consider the Moto G7 Play, now just $179 on Amazon

BLU Vivo XL4

BLU VIVO XL4
Looking for a very large screen at a low price? The Vivo XL4 might be a good option with a huge, 6.2" touchscreen, 32 GB storage and 3 GB RAM, this phone packs a lot of features in at a low price. It also comes with dual rear cameras, Android 8.0 Oreo and is compatible with GSM networks.

Get the BLU Vivo XL4 on Amazon for $139

Moto G6
One of the best budget smartphones available, the G6 has the same specs as the Tracfone version, but the unlocked Moto G6 is compatible with either CDMA or GSM networks. Along with a 5.7" screen, 32 GB storage, 3 GB RAM and dual rear cameras, it runs runs Android 8.0 Oreo and will likely be upgraded to Android Pie when that is available.

Get the Moto G6 unlocked from Amazon for $159
Or get an Amazon Renewed unlocked Moto G6 on Amazon for $130

That concludes our deals and sales list for May 2019. We hope these help you get the best price on a new smartphone!

Leave a comment below with any thoughts or questions and also join us on Facebook to connect with our growing community and get the latest info.

Take a look at our recent post about Tracfone Closing their 3G CDMA network and how it may affect you.

If you're new to Tracfone, start with our Beginners Guide which shares helpful information about how it all works.

And finally don't miss out on our Tracfone Promo Code list with many different codes to get free minutes when adding airtime!

Thanks for visiting!

Tracfone Promo Codes for June 2019

Tracfone Promo Codes - June 2019

Gathered and shared by the TracfoneReviewer team.

Tracfone Promo Codes - June 2019

It is summer time and the sun is out as well as new Tracfone Promo Codes for June 2019!

Each month we gather and share the latest codes for our readers to use and get additional airtime for free.

To get the bonus minutes, simply select the promo code that matches the Tracfone airtime card you want to use and include the code when adding the minutes.

Some of these codes may be one time use, or can only be used with certain deices. We have codes for both the regular airtime cards and smartphone only cards listed below! If you are looking for a new phone, stop by our Latest List of Tracfone Smartphones to see what's new.

And we also have many more codes on our full Tracfone Promo Code page.

Let's get to the codes!

Tracfone Promo Code List - June 2019

Regular Airtime Cards

60 Minute Card use code 12745 and get 60 bonus minutes (Working for some)

120 Minute Card enter 73677 for 40 extra minutes

200 Minute Card add code 17441 and receive 50 free minutes

450 Minute Card (no new codes at this time)

1 Year/400 Minute Card add 16756 for 300 extra free minutes

$15 off the 1 Year/400 Minute Card with code 41369 (online only)


Smartphone Only Airtime Cards

41865 - 100 bonus Talk - $15 Smartphone Only Card - June 2019

70397 - 200 bonus Talk - $35 Smartphone Only Card - June 2019

66975 - 500 bonus Data - 1 GB Data Only Card - June 2019

16311 - 1000 bonus Texts - 1000 Text Only Card - Working for some

14223 - 500 bonus MB Data - 1 GB Data Card - Working for some

38783 - 1000 bonus Texts - 1000 Text Only Card - Working for some

These are the latest codes to use when adding a Tracfone airtime card. We hope these codes work for you! Leave a comment below and let us know which code you used and how it worked.

If you're new to Tracfone, start with our Beginners Guide which will cover some of the basics of how it all works.

Learn about the 3G Network Shutdown by Tracfone and how it may affect you in our recent post.

Also see the latest deals, discounts and sales on Tracfone devices and unlocked phones!

And finally, join us on Facebook with a growing community of helpful readers and all the latest news and information.

Thanks for visiting!

Tracfone Closing 3G CDMA Network- Some Phones Won't Work by End of 2019

Tracfone CDMA Phones Must be 4G VoLTE by end of 2019

The latest news and information from TracfoneReviewer.

Why Tracfone is Making Users Get New Phones

Starting a few months ago, some Tracfone users received messages from Tracfone that their CDMA devices won't work with Tracfone by the end of 2019. For a CDMA phone to work it must have VoLTE enabled in order to make calls.

What does this mean for you and why is it happening? We've got those answers for you plus additional information on phones that are VoLTE capable.

Why is Tracfone Shutting Down 3G and 2G CDMA Networks?
Many users are asking why Tracfone is shutting down their network and forcing them to get a new phone.

The answer is, Tracfone uses Verizon's networks, and Verizon is shutting down their 2G and 3G networks which will affect any Tracfone CDMA devices using these networks.

Verizon has been planning this closure for several years and planning accordingly by including VoLTE with the phones they sell. But Tracfone doesn't seem to have planned it out so well, with only some of their more recent phone offerings including VolTE so many users will have to get a new phone to maintain service coverage.

Why do you need a new phone to get service? The answer is VoLTE capability.

What is VoLTE and Why Do I Need It?
The term VoLTE simply stands for Voice over LTE (with 4G LTE meaning 4th Generation Long Term Evolution) which means phone calls use the LTE data networks rather than the older voice networks.

In the past (and with many of Tracfone's CDMA phones), smartphones would use the LTE networks for data, while using the 2G or 3G networks for voice calls.  Only phones that are VoLTE capable can make voice calls on the 4G LTE network. Thus, with Verizon closing 2G and 3G networks, only VoLTE capable phones will be able to make calls.

Some may be asking why Verizon needs to close their 2G and 3G networks? The reasoning is that they will be able to repurpose these bands for higher speed 4G LTE and possibly 5G in the future.

Do I Need to Upgrade my Tracfone CDMA Smartphone?
If you received a message from Tracfone that your phone is not compatible after 2019, then you will likely need to buy a new phone.

Check out the Latest Tracfone Smartphones available.

However, in some cases it seems that the VoLTE capability can be 'turned on' for an account/SIM card. Information is still difficult to nail down, and how or why this works is also a bit murkey, but some users have reported several different methods for getting VoLTE on their phone.

This only is working on somewhat newer phones, like the Samsung Galaxy J3 Sky, Sky Pro, and Luna among others. It may be worth trying before going out to buy a new phone.

To try and enable VoLTE turn off your phone, remove the SIM card and remove the battery (if possible) and wait for 20 minutes. Then reinstall the battery and SIM, and turn the phone on. To check if the phone has VoLTE, make a call and look in the top bar to see if the phone switches from 4G LTE coverage to 4G or 3G. If the phone switches out of 4G LTE, it is not using VoLTE.

Additionally, some users reported transferring service from a non VoLTE enabled device to a VoLTE capable device, and then transferring back and keeping the VoLTE.

Tracfone didn't activate VoLTE on the phones they were selling until more recently, but many are capable, they just need to be activated.

What Phones are Compatible?
Many of the more recent CDMA smartphones offered by Tracfone are compatible with VoLTE such as the Moto G6, the LG Rebel 4, Samsung Galaxy J7 Crown and J3 Orbit. A number of slightly older devices may also be compatible, like the J3 Luna Pro or J7 Sky Pro, but they may not have VoLTE enabled.

For unlocked devices, almost all recently released phones are VoLTE compatible. Here is a list of compatible phones that is from 2017 but includes which older devices (such as the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5) have VoLTE.

For those who might want to dig deeper there is a lengthy thread on HowardForums on this topic.

Leave a comment if you have questions, thoughts or additional information. We will continue to update this post as more details emerge.

Join us over on Facebook with a growing community to stay up on all the latest news and information.

If you are new to Tracfone start with our Beginners Guide or take a look at 6 Ways to Check your Tracfone Airtime.

Also don't miss our list of the best Deals, Discounts and Sales on Tracfone devices.

Thanks for visiting!

How to Buy Only Texts for your Tracfone Smartphone

How Texting Works with Tracfone and How to Add More

How to Buy Texts for Tracfone

For many of us, texting is our biggest drain of minutes on our Tracfone smartphone. And up until now, the only way to add more texts was by getting a card for more calling and data as well.

With Tracfone smartphones, each text you send or receive deducts from your total amount of texts. When you buy prepaid airtime cards, they allow you to make calls, send texts and surf the web on data. Tracfone sells a variety of prepaid cards (for both regular devices and smartphones), and each card adds more texts, data and calling minutes at the same time in different amounts.

With airtime split for smartphones into Talk, Text and Data buckets,, you can run out of data or texts and have to buy more calling minutes to refill your data and texts, even if you don't want any more calling minutes.

But Tracfone now offers a prepaid card you can purchase to add 1000 extra texts for $5. It is also possible to buy extra Data for your Tracfone as well and you can follow the link to learn more.

It is very convenient to be able to just buy additional texts, especially as Tracfone offers more and more smartphones. And remember that these data and text specific cards only work with smartphones.

Let's break down how the text card works, and where to get it.

What is the Text Only Card and What do you Get?

There are three kinds of prepaid cards you can buy from Tracfone to use with your smartphone:

• Regular Airtime Cards - available for all phones
• Smartphone Only Airtime Cards - only available with smartphones
• Add-on Cards - only available with smartphones

The regular airtime cards (with varying amounts from 60 minutes to 450 minutes) are generally not the best deal, especially for heavy data or text users as they don't give you as many texts/data for the price. However, some phones with triple minutes help make these cards a more reasonable deal.

Text Refill Card available at Target

Smartphone Only cards have specific amounts of talk/text/data and generally give more text/data than talk time because most users tend to use more texts and data. The smartphone only cards range in price from $15 to $125.

Finally, Tracfone also offers add on cards which, unlike the other two kinds of cards, only add one type of airtime (either talk, text, data or service days).

Here are the current Tracfone Add On Cards:

• Talk - 500 Talk Minutes for $10
• Text - 1000 Texts for $5
• Data - ! GB Data for $10
• Service Days - 1 Year of Service for $50 (Currently unavailable, Tracfone may have removed this)

At first glance, 1000 texts for $5 looks like a good deal, but is it? Let's break it down.

Comparing the Cost Per Text for Airtime and Text Cards

Is it cheaper to buy an Airtime card or a Text card to refill your Texts?

If you buy the 60 Minute Airtime card, you will get 60 texts, which is tripled to 180 on some smartphones (you also get 180 calling minutes, and 180 mb of data, plus 90 days of service) for $20. This works out to just over 1.4 cents per text after factoring out the value of the talk, data and service days you also get.

If you get the $25 Smartphone Only Card you get 500 minutes, 1000 texts, 500 mb data and 60 service days. This works out to 0.6 cents per text, which is a little better than the 60 minute card.

And what does the 1000 texts for $5 come to per text? 0.5  cents per text, which is the best deal.

Tracfone Text Card 1000

As you can clearly see, if you only need text messages for your phone, the special text card is the best deal. But if you need additional calling, data or service days, some of the smartphone only cards are also a good deal.

We recently created a Full Comparison of Tracfone Airtime Cards which looks at which airtime card is the best deal, and includes information on text and data only cards.

So what should you do if you need just a few calling and data minutes, plus service days, but go through texts quickly? Try buying some of the lower cost airtime cards that include plenty of service days, like the 60 minute card which as 90 service days, and then buy additional text add on cards as needed.

Where to Buy the 1000 Texts Card

The 1000 Texts Card is available as an add-on from the Tracfone website. The cards can also be found in many retail stores including Target and Walmart, and also online from many sources such as Amazon.

Get Bonus Texts when adding the Text Only Card! Don't forget that there are often promo codes for extra texts (500 to 1000) when adding the 100 text card! Visit our Tracfone Promo Code page to see the codes!

We hope this analysis is help for you if you're comparing airtime cards. Drop us a comment below if you have questions, or additional insight to share.

If you are new to Tracfone, start with our Beginners Guide!

Be sure to take a look at our Tracfone BYOP page, which has information about using unlocked phones with Tracfone, such as the new Moto G7 which we reviewed recently.

Find the lowest prices on new phones with our Tracfone Deals and Sales List which includes both Tracfone devices and unlocked phones.

Finally, join us on Facebook with a growing community of helpful people and send us a message if you have specific questions!

Thanks for visiting!