emergency phone plan? (extra older iphone with no SIM)

i was helping a friend with an older ATT phone currently with no SIM card. he would like to get a low volume low cost emergency phone for text and a very occasional/emergency phone use.

we went to best buy and there was a att kit that appeared to require $25/30 monthly fees requiring online credit card sign up and a /possible/ 2 cents a minute plan (?) or some other kind of plan. there were also "go" phones but these also seemed to require monthly fees and online signup. then there appeared to be a "top off" card for some dollar amount but at that point no one new what the top off card was buying or how long it lasted.

guys at the store wanted to be helpful but weren't very knowledgeable. one of them suggested signing up with t mobile.

anyone able to break this down for me so i can steer him on the right direction. ideally using the iphone (which is used for GPS) with some kind of fee per text or phone call or some kind of minute plan would be ideal.

thanks
nuglet's Avatar
Check the walmart option. he can prepay.
Or Best Buy well, any tech store really or even target..sorry i think whole foods isn't in the mix