Yeah its definitely cheaper. My mom and I use our phones a lot and have actual plans, but my dad didnt have a phone because he rarely uses it. We got him a pay as you go plan and its perfect because he can use it to call us if he needs to, but doesnt pay extra for all the time he doesn't use it. so if you're planning on using it just for emergencies, or only when necessary, then get pay as you go. If you find yourself calling too much, you can always switch to a basic plan. hope this helps

My father has a similar need for a cell phone that he carries only for emergencies.

I found that the best plan for him is with Virgin Mobile. I got him the "Marbl" phone for $20, and add $15 minutes to his account every 3 months. With these pre-paid plans, you have to add money every so often to keep the account active, even if your balance is still above zero. The least I can add is $20 every 3 months, but if you sign up for automatic top-up with a credit card, you get a $5 discount on the $20, so net is $15 per 3 months. Each call is 18 cents per minute, but since my father rarely uses the phone, this high rate doesn't matter.

My father is happy with the service. The phone is basic but works fine, has good reception and sound quality. Battery life is not great, so he has to charge it twice a week. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, and in his area, coverage is good.

I looked at other pre-paid providers like Tracfone, Boost, T-Mobile pre-paid and AT&T pre-paid, and also looked at adding my father to my AT&T plan, but in the end Virgin Mobile came out the cheapest.

There are 2 sites that have very good details on all the pre-paid plans available:

http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

and

http://www.prepaidreviews.com/ (click on the companies listed on the left)