Starting early this morning, Straight Talk (part of Tracfone), is offering a “Black Friday Plan” offering. The plan is their standard $45/month Talk, Text & Data plan, but discounted to $30/month. That rate is then locked in for one year, as part of the offering.
The plan is available in nearly all Straight Talk markets, with the exception of a few CDMA-only markets where Straight Talk does not have sufficient GSM network coverage.
However, the plan does have some stiff restrictions. It is only available on a few feature phones (which vary by market). The terms of this Black Friday Plan also require that you not change phones (except for warranty replacements). That bars the plan from being used on any smartphone, including Straight Talk’s Android and Symbian plans that operate on their MVNO Sprint and AT&T networks, respectively.
In addition, you are required to sign up for auto-pay, and any missed payments will automatically hike the rate to the standard $45/month tier. However, all the phones offered are at the $29.99 price-point, which includes the first month of service.
$30/month is the lowest cellular-only unlimited plan that we’ve seen to-date, vaporware aside.
Undeniably the best unlimited option for any person happy to use a feature phone. Recently Ive been wondering how long Tracfone can sustain this unlimited everything plan, whilst the networks they get it from pull in their unlimited reigns. Even more surprisingly is that this offer seems to be reliant on AT&T – the one carrier crying the loudest over it’s need for more spectrum…maybe tracfone have one over AT&T!?
Personally, I don”t believe the restrictions are that steep; generally, most people who are happy not owning smart phones, don’t change their phones every couple of months anyway, and at $30, expecting subscribers not to miss a payment, is not all that much to ask! It’s the ideal plan for older teens and young adults who make use of their phones extensively, but are trying to maintain a budget of some sort. Who would have thought Tracfone could have bettered one of the lowest (and last remaining) unlimited everything plans?
Somepin Jumpin: No way hozay dude. Not for teens, well, at least not for my teens. $30 might be very affordable, but the personality defficiencies that will result from any teen trying to make the most out of an unlimited everything plan, is too much for me to even start considering. Unless you’re wanting a cellphone to become a proverbial nanny, then this tracfone offer is good for adults that wanna make a living with their phone.
[…] Straight Talk Offers ‘Black Friday’ Plan – $30/unlimited for 12 Months […]
i think straight talk is the most good i heared about save money or what do you think about this ?
I hope straight talk puts out some great offers on phones. I’m tired of sprint and will be ending my contract November 29th!
I have called Straight Talk to ask about this plan and they didn’t have any information about it when when checking their website. The lady in Technical Support then asked her manager and told me to call Walmart. I spoke with someone in Electronics at Walmart and she couldn’t find any information on this either. HOW and WHERE can we find out about this offering and sign up for it?
Carol, this article is dated November 2011. This plan was not offered in 2012 and we don’t expect it will be offered this year either.