No-contract cell phone plans for seniors

Two routes, compared

Where the money actually goes

• The monthly plan. Tiered by minutes, texts and data. A phone used for calls and a few texts needs the smallest tier, and most households are sold a larger one.
• Activation fee. A one-off charge on many senior-branded services. It is frequently waived if you activate online or simply ask.
• The handset. Bought outright on nearly every prepaid and senior plan. There is no two-year subsidy anymore, so the phone price is a real line item.
• Add-on services. Urgent response, nurse advice lines and device setup help are usually separate monthly charges, not included in the base plan.
• Taxes and fees. Advertised prices rarely include them. Ask for the all-in monthly figure.

Questions to ask before activating

1. Is the phone locked to your service, and what does it cost to unlock it later?
2. Is there an activation fee, and will you waive it?
3. What is the all-in monthly total including taxes and fees?
4. Can we keep the existing phone number? Porting is a legal right, but start it before canceling the old service.
5. Is there a cancellation fee, and what happens if the person moves into a care home?
6. Which network does the service run on, and is the coverage good at this address? Ask for the carrier behind it, not just the brand.
7. Does the plan include any emergency or urgent response feature, and is that a monitored service or just a dialer?
8. Is there a discount for paying annually, and does it lock you in?

Never cancel the old service before the number has successfully transferred. Canceling first releases the number and it can be lost permanently.

When a senior-branded service is worth the premium

The premium buys three things: a simplified phone that cannot easily be put into a strange state, support staff who are used to explaining things slowly and more than once, and in some plans an urgent response button that reaches a trained operator.

For a household where nobody local can provide technical help, that support line is a genuine product rather than a markup. The alternative is an adult child on the phone at nine in the evening trying to describe a settings menu they cannot see.

Where there is a family member nearby who can set up a phone and troubleshoot it, the same money goes further on an unlocked phone and a cheap prepaid plan - with the difference spent on something else.

The urgent response button, and what it is not

Several senior phone plans include an urgent response button that connects to an operator. It is a useful feature and it is not equivalent to a medical alert system.

The difference is that the phone has to be on the person. A phone left on the kitchen counter helps nobody after a fall in the hallway, whereas a pendant or wristband is worn continuously. Phone-based buttons also depend on the phone being charged.

If falls are the actual concern, read our medical alert roundup and our guide to what a medical alert system costs. A phone button is a reasonable supplement and a poor substitute.

Keeping the bill honest after you sign up

• Check the first two bills line by line. Add-ons activated during the sales call show up here.
• Review the data allowance after three months. Most simple-phone users need the smallest tier available.
• Set up paperless billing on an email a family member can also see, so a problem is spotted early.
• Turn off any premium text services, which are a common source of small recurring charges.
• Re-check the plan annually. Carriers introduce cheaper tiers and rarely move existing customers onto them.

Discount programs worth asking about

Before settling on any plan, spend ten minutes on the programs that reduce the bill, because none of them are advertised at the point of sale. The federal Lifeline program provides a monthly discount on phone or internet service for households on a low income or enrolled in certain assistance programs, including Medicaid and SNAP. It is applied through participating carriers, limited to one benefit per household, and applied for directly rather than through a sales line.

Some carriers also run age-based plans with a reduced rate for customers over a certain age, typically with a modest allowance of minutes and texts. These are rarely offered unprompted. Ask whether there is a senior or simple plan that does not appear on the main pricing page.

Membership organizations are the third route. Discounts for AARP members, veterans and current or retired public service workers exist across several carriers, and they usually require nothing more than saying so during activation.

Finally, check whether the household is paying twice. A great many older adults keep a landline they no longer use alongside a cell phone, or carry a data allowance on a phone that never leaves the house. Cutting one of those usually saves more each month than any discount program adds.