Can you pause prepaid phone service to avoid missing a payment?

While it’s something you hope never happens, there may be times when you find it impossible to make a payment for your prepaid phone service on time. On the other hand, maybe you’re going out of the country and wondering how long you can go before you risk losing your account and number or if you can somehow pause your service. So, can you safely miss a payment? The answer is often yes, but there are some things you should be aware of.

Every US-based prepaid provider will suspend your account the moment a payment is missed, meaning you’ll immediately lose the ability to call, text, or use data. The good news is that most carriers give you a grace period to renew your service before your number is permanently lost. However, the length of this grace period varies by provider, and some offer additional options to help you avoid missing a payment in the first place.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common suspension windows before a carrier cancels your account, as well as alternative options such as pausing or parking your account.

A quick look at the suspension windows for all the biggest carriers

While this isn’t a comprehensive list, I took a closer look at some of the most popular prepaid providers out there to figure out each company’s policies around missing a payment. Here’s how long you can go without a payment before risking the permanent loss of your phone line:

• Tello: 5 days
• US Mobile: 30 days
• Visible: 60 days
• Metro by T-Mobile: 60 days
• Mint Mobile: 60 days
• Google Fi: 60 days
• Total Wireless: 60 days
• Cricket: 60 days
• Verizon Prepaid: 60 days
• AT&T Prepaid: 60 days
• T-Mobile Prepaid: 90 days

As you can see, most carriers give you 60 days from your missed payment date to resolve your account before your number is permanently lost. As long as you act within this window, you won’t risk losing access to your phone line. T-Mobile is the most generous, with a 90-day policy, while US Mobile offers the shortest grace period at just 30 days — at least outside of Tello, which has a crazy short 5-day window.

Can you port out to another carrier if your prepaid service is currently inactive?

Typically, no. In the past, several carriers on this list would allow people to port out inactive numbers that didn’t have outstanding balances, including US Mobile. This policy has fallen out of favor, likely as a way to prevent fraud. The good news is I was able to successfully verify that there is still one option out there: Tello.

Tello only gives you five days to make a decision, but it does let you port out, even if you no longer technically have service. Every other prepaid carrier I researched will immediately set your account status to inactive when you miss a payment, meaning you typically won’t be able to port out your number until you renew service.

Tello will turn off service after the due date but gives you five days to make a payment, change your plan, or port out to another provider before the plan is fully inactive. It also offers the option to park your number for $3 per month, which I’ll discuss later. If you take no action within those five days, you may still have a brief chance to renew your service, but typically, your number will be permanently lost within a week after the grace period ends. In other words, we don’t recommend changing it.

Are there any reactivation fees with the prepaid carriers above?

Most prepaid providers don’t charge reactivation fees for missed payments. In fact, I wasn’t able to find a single provider that levies such a fee, other than Cricket Wireless. It charges $5 for single-line accounts and $15 for multi-line accounts.

If you’re traveling long-term, there are three carriers that stand out if you’re looking for something easy to set aside and come back to. You might want to consider switching to these plans going forward. Let’s start with the best option: Google Fi.

Google’s in-house phone service allows you to pause your plan before your next billing cycle while keeping your account in good standing. While paused, you won’t be able to use your phone number, but Google will hold it for free for up to three months at a time, with a total pause limit of 180 days per year.

Next, we have Tello. I already mentioned it also allows you to pause your account. Unlike Google Fi, pausing isn’t free, as you’ll have to switch to its parked plan for $3 a month. Once you’re ready to resume service, you can easily switch back to a standard plan.

Last but not least, US Mobile has a Snooze plan for existing customers that costs $2.98 per month and lets you keep your number while pausing service. This works pretty much the same as Tello’s parking plan.

Unfortunately, the rest of the carriers on the list don’t offer an official pause feature. While you can generally skip payment for about a month without losing your number (except with Tello), I don’t recommend it if you have any other option.

If you’ve already missed your payment, your options are limited. However, if you still have time before your billing cycle ends, parking your number could be a great solution. Parking your number is a great option if you’re either struggling financially and can’t afford your full plan rate or traveling for an extended period and don’t want to waste money on a plan you won’t be using.

Just like website domain parking, number parking means you pay a provider to hold your number, but you won’t get services like talk, text, or data. I personally recommend Number Barn if you’re looking for something cheap, as you’ll pay just $2 per month. As I previously mentioned, there’s also Tello’s $3-per-month parking plan, which is available even if you’re coming from another prepaid provider. Unlike Number Barn, Tello also offers an option to resume full phone service later if you decide to reactivate directly with them.

What if you’re a frequent traveler and need to keep your number for months or more? In that case, we’d recommend Google Voice, as you may end up paying less in the long run.

While not exactly a parking service, Google Voice lets you port your number for a one-time $20 fee. While this is more expensive upfront than the $2 to $3 a month parking services charge you, the key difference is you don’t have to pay monthly fees to keep your number. Even better, you can still use the line for calls and messages via a computer or mobile app as long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi.

Unlike free Google Voice numbers, a ported number is protected and remains active as long as your Google account isn’t abandoned for two years. After that, the account goes inactive, and you could risk losing your Google Voice number permanently.