One thing to consider, is that on the $50 a month plan you have a roaming PRL, which means that even if you aren't in a cricket area, you have coverage, which is the main reason why I am on that plan (the unlimited premium directory 411 is a bonus). I need a phone to always work but I don't want to pay 100+ a month for it. For the most part I am in a cricket area, but when I am driving between cities, between Vegas to San Diego, or LA, or Utah, or wherever I go, I know that it works.
On any plan under $50 a month, unless you pay that extra 5 bucks for roaming minutes, your phone's PRL is one that it will just goto out of service. So I pay the extra few bucks as a kind of insurance, to know that if I am in the middle of no where, it will most likely work. Unless sprint or verizon aren't there, but by then I will be pretty much screwed anyways.
Cricket is the most inexpensive reliable wireless services there is today. There is boost which is 50 a month, but it isn't reliable, and then there is metropcs which is hit and miss.
So to answer the thread pay the extra 5 for voicemail

. But go the extra bit, have that insurance to know that it works, and it helps cricket out to
