Rubia, the two year old phone your friend gave you, the card expired a year ago. As for the phone itself.. if she didn't buy a transformer to charge the battery in the states, chances are the phone itself is ok, but you'll have to buy a new battery for it. I killed a phone that way. I went several months without charging it, when I got to spain it did charge again after a couple of hours of blinking out... but then I left again, didn't charge it, and this time.. not so lucky. The phone I had at the time was pretty crappy at the time, and it was better to just buy a new phone- so that's what I did.
The phone you had from last summer: here's the scoop. As long as there was still money on the card, its good for one year. After not putting any additional money on the card after 9 months it will not allow you to make any calls- although you'll still be able to receive them. They give you 3 more months after the 9 to put additional funds on the card to 'recharge' it and you'll be able to make calls also- your phone will be fine. However, if the 12 months expire and you haven't put any more funds on it- say goodbye to the number- it won't work anymore- back to purchasing a new card! (which I also had to do! as after one of my trips I didn't have any money at all on it, and it forces it to expire within the 9 month limit!
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