How to Get a Cell Phone Fast - Tracfone Burn Phones

Get a Tracfone Burner Phone (And Why You Might Want It)

Welcome to TracfoneReviewer, we share news, reviews and more about Tracfone prepaid phones!

Tracfone Burn Phones

Perhaps you lost your phone and need a quick replacement, or maybe you just need a cell phone for a short visit in the country, or you could need a backup phone for nefarious activities... No matter what the reason, sometimes it would be nice to be able to get a cell phone fast and cheap - so here is how to do that!

Burn phones are simple, cheap cell phones that are inexpensive to buy, and easy to set up and use. It's called a burn phone because after you use it, you can just 'burn it' (but don't actually light it on fire). Tracfone is a cell phone company that sells prepaid cell phones with a range of prices, including some very cheap options.

Burner Phone - A prepaid cellular phone, replaced frequently (weekly) (monthly) to avoid leaving a trail and getting caught up in illegal activities - UrbanDictionary 

So lets look at some reasons why a burn phone might be useful to you, and some options from Tracfone.

Why You Might Need a Burn Phone

Most people think about criminals when they think about someone who might need a burn phone but really, anyone who wants to maintain their privacy could benefit from a burn phone, Buying and selling online is a good example, where someone might not want to include their personal number in an ad listing on sites like craigslist.

Anyone using online dating apps could also benefit from a burner phone, so that if things don't work out, you don't have some random person with your phone number.

Additionally, a burn phone might be a good option for making emergency calls. The FCC requires all phones to be able to call 911 even if you aren't connected to a carrier or don't have a SIM card. So keeping a phone handy for such a possibility could be a good idea for many people.

Finally, many older flip phones have much longer battery life compared to modern smartphones, some lasting a week or more. For those who may be spending extended time away from charging access, a burn phone could be an inexpensive way to maintain contact with the world.

Let's look at some potential phones from Tracfone.

Tracfone Prepaid Burn Phone Options - Best Cheap Phones

Here are some options from Tracfone for inexpensive cell phones that can be purchased and used without much expense.

Flip Phone Options for Burn Phones:

• Tracfone ALCATEL MYFLIP - basic flip phone using CDMA networks
• Available online at Amazon/eBay and in store at DollarGeneral/Walmart/Target
• Tracfone Alcatel AS206G - basic flip phone using GSM networks
• Available online at Amazon/eBay and in store at Walmart
• LG 440G - basic flip phone using GSM networks
• Available form Amazon 
• Other flip phone options - Tracfone offers a variety of other options through many different retailers like Amazon, eBay, Target and Walmart so browse through some of those sites or go into the stores to see what they currently have in stock.

Smartphone Options for Burn Phones:
Smartphones can also be a great option for a burn phone, as there are many cheap phones available now. Just be aware of how you are planning to use the phone - if you wan't to remain truly anonymous you should avoid signing into any accounts on the phone etc.

• LG Rebel 2 - Android 6.0 with both GSM and CDMA options available
• Available online at Amazon/eBay and some stores
• LG Rebel 3 - Android 7.0 with 4G capability on CDMA networks
• Available online at Amazon/eBay and some stores
• ZTE Blade T2  - Android 8.1 with 4G LTE on CDMA networks
• Available online at Tracfone/Amazon/eBay and in stores at Walmart/Target
• Alcatel TCL LX - Android 8.1 with 4G LTE on CDMA networks
• Available online at Tracfone/Amazon/eBay and in stores at Walmart/Target
• ZTE ZFive - Android 7.1 with 4G LTE on CDMA networks
• Available online at Tracfone/Amazon/eBay and in stores at Walmart/Target
• Many more smartphone options in stores and online

Additionally, buying an unlocked phone and activating a SIM card in it could be a good option as well. When you are done with that SIM, simply deactivate it, and activate another SIM card with a new number.

If you are in need of a phone in a hurry, and don't care too much what it is, look for Tracfone cell phones in most big retail stores and find the cheapest option they have. Usually Walmart or Target will have a Tracfone for less than $20, which should work as a burn phone.

NOTE - Verizon is shutting down their 3G network at the end of 2020 and some older CDMA phones may be affected. Learn more about how Tracfone CDMA users will be affected by the closure. All of the phones listed above should be compatible with VoLTE and work in 2021.

After finding a burn phone, time to get it set up to use it.

How to Start Using your Tracfone Burn Phone

Setting up a Tracfone prepaid cell phone is very easy. You only need the cell phone package to start with, and a prepaid card if you want to make calls or text (which you can find in Walmart, Target Etc.). You will also need internet access, or another phone.

What you Need to Activate a Tracfone:

1. Tracfone Cell Phone (Or unlocked device with SIM kit)
2. Airtime Card
3. Computer or phone

Open the plastic package the phone came in, and follow the simple steps on the activation card. This includes charging the cell phone and activating the phone at tracfone.com, or by calling customer service. Activation usually takes an hour or less, and then you are ready to start using your phone!

If you add an airtime card, be sure to also use a Tracfone promo code to get extra airtime for free!

Tracfone prepaid cell phones usually come with 20 minutes and 30 days of service. So you might not need to buy extra airtime initially until you need more minutes Smartphones may require an airtime card to activate.

That concludes our look into burner phones and how to get a cell phone fast from Tracfone. We hope this was helpful and leave a comment with your thoughts or questions.

If you are looking for more cell phone options visit our Cell Phone Reviews page or see what's new with our Latest List of Tracfone Smartphones (2020).

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Learn how to buy only talk minutes, only data or only texts with our how to guides for each one that also looks how how good of a deal each of these add-on cards are.

Finally, if you are new to Tracfone start with our Beginners Guide which contains all the basics of how it all works and what you need to know.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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Tracfone Promo Codes for May 2019

Tracfone Promo Codes - May 2019

Gathered and shared by TracfoneReviewer

Tracfone Promo Codes May 2019

Spring is in full swing, flowers are blooming, and we've got new Tracfone Promo Codes to share with you!

Listed below are the latest promotional codes from Tracfone that we gather and share each month for our readers to use and get additional airtime for free.

With these codes you can get 40 to 300 extra minutes, plus bonus data or texts for some of the cards. We have promo codes for both regular airtime cards and smartphone only cards. The list below is just the freshest codes for May, but we have many more options on our main Tracfone Promo Code page.

Some of these codes only work for certain devices, or may be one time use. To get the bonus minutes, simply enter the code at the appropriate time when adding an airtime card to your phone.This can be done online, on your phone, or over the phone.

If you are looking for a new phone to add airtime to, take a look at the Latest List of Tracfone Smartphones (2019) to see what phones are available or consider an unlocked phone like the Moto G7 we recently reviewed.

Now let's get tot he list of codes.

Tracfone Promo Codes - May 2019

Regular Airtime Cards

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

120 Minute Card enter 10106 for 30 extra minutes

200 Minute Card add code 37227 and receive 40 free minutes

450 Minute Card use code 26642 to get 50 bonus minutes

1 Year/400 Minute Card add 54654 for 300 extra free minutes

$15 off the 1 Year/400 Minute Card with code 70362 (online only)


Smartphone Only Airtime Cards

15397 - 100 bonus Data - $25 Smartphone Only Card - May 2019

16311 - 1000 bonus Texts - 1000 Text Only Card - May 2019

14223 - 500 bonus MB Data - 1 GB Data Card - Working May 2019

38783 - 1000 bonus Texts - 1000 Text Only Card - Working May 2019

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.

Find cheap phones and low prices in our Tracfone Deals, Discounts and Sales post including both Tracfone smartphones and unlocked devices.

Join us on Facebook with a growing community of over 3000 and plenty of helpful advice from other members.

And don't miss out our recently updated guide to Checking your Tracfone Airtime Balance which includes six different ways to do that.

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