Tracfone Data-Only Card and How to Reduce Data Use

Guide to Tracfone Data Cards and How to Buy Data for your Smartphone

Welcome to the TracfoneReviewer blog! This post will share specifics on how data works on smartphones with Tracfone.

How Data Works and How to Save on Data

Tracfone is a prepaid cell phone service provider that offers both phones and airtime cards. On their smartphone devices, you also get data when adding an airtime card which you can use to surf the web when not connected to WiFi.

Data is very useful on smartphones, but how does the data work on Tracfone smartphones, how can you get more, and what can you do with the data you have?

We are going to cover these questions and more in this post sharing all the details about how Tracfone Data works on smartphones.

Tracfone offers a number of different smartphones and you can see all the newest devices in our List of the Latest Smartphones from Tracfone.

Or you might be interested in the Tracfone BYOP program, which allows users to bring their own smartphone. Follow the link to learn more, and see a list of the possibilities.

Both the smartphones offered by Tracfone, and the BYOP devices, use data in the same way. So let's get started looking at how data works on these phones.

What is Data on Tracfone Smartphones?

Data is the term generally used to describe the amount (usually in megabytes) you can download or upload on your smartphone via the cell phone network. So data is basically information you download or upload from the internet. This can include many different activities, like checking email, posting photos on Facebook, reading webpages, watching videos, or texting photos.

Data is consumed based on the amount of megabytes you download or upload. So if you download a 20 MB image, that will use 20 MB of your data. If you visit a webpage that takes 1 MB to load, you will use 1 MB of data. (further down we will share more on estimating how much different online activities will use up your data.)

On older, non-smartphone devices, data was used at a rate determined by the amount of time you were on a website, but this is not the case for smartphones which is a nice improvement.

As you can see, data works similarly to your calling minutes, in that you are charged based on how much you use. But calling minutes are based on time, rather than megabytes. (For example, if you make a 20 minute call, you will be deducted (about) 20 minutes of talk time.)

On Tracfone Smartphones and BYOP devices, airtime is split into three pools, Talk, Text and Data. Learn more about How Airtime Works with Tracfone Smartphones in our recent post.

How Can you Buy More Data for your Tracfone Device?

There are two ways to get more data for your smartphone:

Airtime Cards - You can add both Regular Airtime Cards or Smartphone Only Cards and get a certain amount of data along with talk, text and service days.
Data Only Card - You get only Data, at 1 GB for $10 (Visit Tracfone's add on page here)

For most situations you will probably want to add an Airtime card to your phone to increase all your 'buckets' of talk/text/data.

But sometimes you may only want to add data, in which case the data only cards are useful. Let's take a closer look at Data cards to better understand how to use them.

What Are Data Only Cards?

As mentioned above, the Data only card increase the amount of data for your smartphone, without adding any additional texts or talk minutes.

This is similar to the Text only cards we recently discussed.

There are some important things to be aware of the make the Data only cards unique.

First, they can only be used with smartphones, including the Android devices offered by Tracfone, and all phones offered through the BYOP program.

Second, like the Text only card, Data only cards do not triple, so you get the amount listed on the card (1 GB).

Tracfone's price of $10 per 1 GB is quite expensive compared to the average price of cell phone providers which is somewhere under $5 per GB depending on sources. 

Tracfone has not changed their price, while the average cost of data has gone down.

Data Amounts for Tracfone Airtime Cards (Which is the Best Deal)

Tracfone offers a number of different airtime cards that include various amounts of data. Below are the list of airtime card options available.

Smartphone Airtime Cards:

• $15 - 30 service days - 500 minutes - 500 texts - 500MB data
• $25 - 60 service days - 500 minutes - 1000 texts - 500MB data
• $35 - 60 service days - 750 minutes - 1000 texts - 1GB data
• $45 - 90 service days - 750 minutes - 1000 texts - 1.5GB data
• $50 - 90 service days - 750 minutes - 1500 texts - 2GB data
• $125 - 365 service days - 1500 minutes - 1500 texts - 1.5GB data

Unlimited Airtime Cards (discount available for 3, 6, or 12 month plans):

• $15 - 30 service days - unlimited talk/text - 0 data
• $20 - 30 service days - unlimited talk/text - 2GB data
• $25 - 30 service days - unlimited talk/text - 3GB data
• $30 - 30 service days - unlimited talk/text - 5GB data
• $40 - 30 service days - unlimited talk/text - 10GB data
• $199 - 365 service days - unlimited talk/text - 24GB data

There are a lot of airtime card options available from Tracfone that include data. From the list above, note that the smartphone airtime cards offer 30, 60, 90 or 365 service days depending on which card you buy. Ideally, purchasing the card that includes the talk, text and data you expect to use in that service day period is the best way to go, but Tracfone also includes carryover for unused talk, text or data.

The unlimited cards are all 30 service days, except for the $199 card which includes 365 service days. These cards are a better option for those that use a lot of talk, text and data and these cards also include data carryover.

The best deal are the two 365 day airtime card options as they come out to $10.42 per month for the $125 card and $16.58 for the $199 unlimited card. The $199 unlimited card includes enough data for 2GB per month (24GB total) and you can use as much or as little throughout the year.

Anyone using more than 5GB data per month would likely save money by finding an alternative to Tracfone that includes unlimited data.

Where to Buy Tracfone Data Cards

Tracfone Data cards are available form a variety of sources, as is the case for Tracfone Airtime cards. You can find Data cards on the Tracfone website under Airtime.

You can also find the Tracfone Data cards in many retail stores, and even online through other retailers. We have found (affiliate link)Data cards on eBay in various amounts.

Now let's cover one more question that we see asked quite often.

How Much Can you Do Online with 300 MB of Data?

A common question we see is, what can you do online with a certain amount of data? This is a very good question, because many people tend to estimate how many airtime minutes they will need, and then buy the airtime card that suits their needs best. But if you're unfamiliar with how much data is used by smartphones, it makes it hard to estimate.

It is a little hard to give a straight answer to this question, it all depends on what you do online  Take a look at this image (provided by Tracfone) to help give you a better idea:

Estimated usage for 300 MB of data with Tracfone

From this table we see you can visit about 245 webpages with 300 MB of data, or send/receive about 4000 emails. Hopefully this information will help you gain a better understanding of how data is used with Tracfone, and where your data is going.

If you notice, doing certain things online, like streaming music, or even more so, streaming video, will use your data quickly, while visiting webpages or sending emails, especially those with few images, will use less of your data.

Another good resource for estimating your data usage is the Data Calculator on Verizon's website. Enter your estimated activities, and it will tell you about how much data you will use in a month.

Remember, that if you want to stop using data, you can go into the settings on your device, select data, and turn it off. Using WiFi networks, like at your home or work, does not deduct from your data.

Tips for Reducing Data Use

Here are some helpful tips to reduce the amount of data you use.

• Keep track of your data use and set data use warnings to help
• Turn off background data (learn more here)
• Download/upload large files over WiFi as much as possible
• If you use Google Maps often in a certain area, download the map of that area over WiFi. Here is some helpful information about using Google Maps without using data.
• Download songs/podcasts over WiFi instead of streaming them.
• Set your Apps to only update over WiFi.
• Download Images/Videos only when using WiFi

As you can see, the best way to reduce data usage is to avoid using it for large downloads or uploads, which will quickly drain your data. Using free WiFi whenever possible will go a long way in extending your data.

Here is a helpful article on what online activities use data, and some other basic details about data usage from an AT&T Forum.

We hope you found this information helpful, and please leave a comment with any questions, or if you have something to add!

Learn the basics of how Tracfone works with our Beginners Guide to Tracfone.

Find us on Facebook and join over 4000 followers who get the latest news and updates.

Take a look at one of our other popular posts, the Over 30 Great Android Apps to use with your Smartphone.

And check our recent post on 7 Ways to Reduce Your Airtime Usage with Tracfone including some more tips for making your data last longer.

Thanks for visiting!

Originally published 8/2015 and Updated 8/2020

How Do Minutes Work on Tracfone Smartphones?

How Airtime Cards and Adding Minutes Works on Tracfone Android Smartphones

Updated on 2/24. TracfoneReviewer is committed to sharing the best and most accurate information for our readers.

How Minutes Work with Tracfone Smartphones

Over the years, Tracfone has switched over to mainly offering smartphones, both Android and Apple devices. And with smartphones, adding airtime works a little differently, plus Tracfone offers a variety of smartphone-only airtime cards.

Tracfone still has some basic devices, mostly flip phones, and they still offer basic cell phone airtime cards of 60, 120, 200 minute etc. But most users have already transitioned to a smartphone, and we'll cover all the information on adding airtime, which cards are best, and how to check your balance.

A popular feature in the past was. 'Triple Minutes for Life' but Tracfone started phasing that out in 2017, and now none of their smartphones offer it, and smartphone only cards do not get affected by it anyway.  Tracfone has made Changes to Triple Minutes for Life and you can learn more by following the link.

Let's start by looking at smartphone only cards.

How Smartphone Only Cards are Different than Regular Airtime Cards

Tracfone now offers three types of airtime cards - 'regular' cards 'smartphone only' cards and 'smartphone unlimited' cards.

Regular Airtime Card - Airtime values of 60, 120, 200 etc. and most cards come with 90 days of service. Can be added to only basic phones and can double or triple.

Smartphone Only Card - Each card comes with a specific amount of Talk/Text/Data such as 500 talk minutes, 1000 texts and 500 MB data on the $25 smartphone card. They also come with a certain number of service days, usually 30, 60 or 90 days. These cards can only be added to smartphones and can not double or triple. Cards range from $15 to $199.

Smartphone Unlimited Card - Each card comes with unlimited talk/text, a certain amount of data (1-10GB depending on card) and 30 service days (with one exception, the $199 unlimited card comes with 365 service days). These cards can only be used with smartphones and they do not double or triple. Cost ranges from $15 to $199. 

So the main differences between these cards is that smartphone cards come with more airtime, do not triple, and can only be used with smartphones.

When adding a smartphone only card you will get exactly the amounts listed on the card (unless you also use a promo code!).

Learn more about smartphone cards vs regular cards with our Guide to the Best Deal on Tracfone Minutes.

Now that we've covered smartphone only cards, we will look at some important differences for how regular airtime cards work with smartphones.

How Tracfone Minutes are Added to Android Smartphones

With Smartphones (which includes both those from Tracfone, and BYOP devices), the way minutes from regular airtime cards are credited to your account is a bit different than how things worked for older 'dumb' phones.

For basic phones, when you add a 60 minute card, you get it tripled to 180 minutes which you could then use for talk, text and surfing the web.

For smartphones, Talk, Text and Data are split up when you add the minutes. So if you add the $25 smartphone card, you get 500 talk minutes, 1000 texts, and 500 mb data, plus 60 service days.

So to make it clear:

• Basic phones use one 'pool' for minutes.
• Smartphones use three separate 'pools' for talk, text and data.

Once the airtime is split into these different pools, you can't transfer it from one 'pool' to another.

For most people an Android phone is a great deal because a lot more airtime comes with each card for a fairly similar price to the basic airtime cards. Plus, for those that opt for the unlimited cards, it becomes more economical for those who talk and text a lot.

Related post - 6 Key Differences between Android and non-Android Tracfone Devices

One drawback for users who have smartphones but use their device very little, is that they cannot purchase the basic airtime cards, which offer the most service days (but least number of talk/text/data).

We've done a Comparison of Smartphone Airtime Cards vs. Regular Airtime Cards and found some very interesting results, so take a look if you want to find what card is the best deal.

The text refill card is an easy way to reload your phone if you get low on texts. And at only $5 for 1000 texts, that's just half a penny per text, so a very good deal. Read our guide on How to Add Texts to your Tracfone Device for further details.

If you are a heavy texter but want an Android phone, look into downloading apps that text for free. Simply visit the Google Play Store and search for 'free texting apps'.

See all the newest devices from Tracfone with our Latest List of Tracfone Smartphones.

For those who don't want to switch to this new minutes system, phones like the LG 840G we mentioned above, the LG 306G, Moto EX431G, and Samsung S425G still use the one pool system for minutes (and all of these phones have Triple Minutes).

If you have further questions on how minutes work, feel free to leave a comment below. Now, we want to go over one more important point:

How Triple Minutes for Life Works on Smartphones from Tracfone (And BYOP)

We've noticed a number of readers who have questions about how Triple Minutes for Life works with the smartphones, and especially the new smartphone airtime cards.

There have been some recent changes to Triple Minutes for Life from Tracfone, and we've outlined them in our post, Tracfone Changes Triple Minutes for Life.

Tracfone Smartphones released after April 2017 may not include Triple Minutes for Life, where as older smartphones will still have triple minutes.

Newer SIM card kits also do not include Triple Minutes for Life for BYOP phones.

This is disappointing to many, but the Smartphone only airtime cards do not triple anyway, and are generally a better deal for most users.

How to Check Your Minutes Balance on Android Phones

Tracfone airtime for Androids

This is a question many are asking, because there is no automatic location on Tracfone smartphones for accessing your current minutes balance like there is on non-Android phones.

We've created a full guide with 4 ways to Check your Airtime on a Tracfone Smartphone or you can continue reading below.

But there is an easy way to check your balance. Simply sign into your account at Tracfone.com (or create one of you don't already have one) and go to your account page. You should see your phone listed there, and one of the options will be to check your current balance. Click this and after a few seconds you should see what your remaining balance looks like.

You can do this either on a computer, or from your phone. Additionally, there are two more options for checking your balance:

Enter the following URL into your browser from your phone or computer and replace the numbers at the end with your phone number: https://www.tracfone.com/direct/CheckBalance?input_phone=1234567890

Or simply download the Tracfone App which allows you to see your service end date and balance.

That concludes this guide to how minutes work on Android phones. We hope you found this useful, and leave a comment with questions or thoughts.

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Be aware that Tracfone Promo Codes don't work on Android phones, so this is also a small downside of the new smartphones.

Check out the latest and greatest sales, deals and discounts on Tracfone devices and minutes for some huge savings we've found around the internet!

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Tracfone Smartphone Deals and Bundles - February 2024

 Best Tracfone Sales, Deals and Discounts for February 2024

We all want the lowest prices and best deals and to save money, and that is especially true when buying an expensive new smartphone. Plus, there are so many different places to buy Tracfone devices from these days, how do you know where to find the best deal?

We are here to help! With the list of best prices on recent Tracfone smartphones and even unlocked devices! 

Prices, bundles and deals change often online and every 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. (The best value usually includes airtime bundles!).

Prices and availability change quickly, and we update this list as often as we can. If you are looking for a new phone, also check out our List of the Latest Tracfone Smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, for example, has just been released.

We've included new smartphones just released on Tracfone last month!

Best Deals on Tracfone Smartphones - Updated for February 2024

These are the lowest prices from around the web on some of the latest and greatest smartphones from Tracfone.

(New) Samsung Galaxy A15 5G - $169

6.5" Super AMOLED screen, 128GB internal storage, 4GB RAM, triple rear camera and 5G

Walmart

Google Pixel 6a - $219 w/ airtime bundle

6.1" screen, 128GB internal storage, 6GB RAM, Tensor processor, dual 12MP cameras and 5G

QVC with airtime bundle ($200 value) $239 | HSN with airtime bundle ($200 value) $219

Moto G Power 5G (2023) - $79

6.5" full HD screen, 4GB RAM/128 GB internal storage, 5G network access, great battery life. (Read our full review of the Moto G Power 5G)

QVC w/ airtime bundle ($79)

Target (Discount available for new activations)

Amazon (on sale for $99)

Samsung Galaxy A03s - $49

6.5" touchscreen, 3 GB RAM/32 GB storage,  (read our full Galaxy A03s Review)

Amazon | Target 

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G - $119 (sale ended)

6.6" full HD screen, 4GB RAM/64GB storage, 5G network access, NFC, newly released (Read our full review of the Galaxy A14 5G)

HSN with Airtime Bundle 

QVC with Airtime Bundle 

Samsung Galaxy A13 5G - $59 w/ airtime bundle
6.5" touchscreen, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 5G network compatible 
HSN with airtime bundle | QVC with airtime bundle

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G - $307

6.4" Super AMOLED touchscreen, 6 GB RAM/128 GB storage (Read our review of the A54 5G)

QVC with airtime bundle ($200 value) | Amazon (device only)

Moto G Play 2023 - $59

6.5" touchscreen, 3GB RAM/32GB storage, newly released (read our full review of the Moto G Play 2023)

QVC w/ airtime bundle

Moto G Stylus 2023 - $119

6.5" screen, 4GB RAM/64GB storage, Android 13, newly released

(affiliate link)eBay (with airtime bundle)

Moto G Stylus (2022) - $125

6.8" touchscreen, 4 GB RAM/128 GB storage, (Read our full review of the Stylus)

(affiliate link)Amazon

Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) - $145 w/ airtime bundle

6.8" touchscreen, 4 GB RAM/128, 5G network compatible, Snapdragon 695 processor

QVC with airtime bundle (limited time deal)

Deals on Unlocked Smartphones (For Tracfone BYOP)

Moto G Power 5G (2023) (Unlocked) - $199 ($100 off)

6.5" screen, 6 GB RAM/256 GB storage, 5G network compatible

(affiliate link)Amazon

That concludes our deals and sales list and 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.

We just shared our thoughts on whether Alcatel, TCL and ZTE phones from Tracfone are any good, and some of the information we share might be surprising.

All the phones in our list above are VoLTE capable according to Tracfone, but you may want to take a look at updates to our post about Tracfone Closing their 3G CDMA network and how it may affect you.

Keep up with the latest in 5G network access with Tracfone including 5G Coverage maps! And a list of Tracfone 5G phones.

If you're new to Tracfone, start with our Beginners Guide which shares helpful information about how it all works or we just created, The 10 Most Common Tracfone Questions Answered.

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!