Virgin Mobile announced new pre-paid plans today that it says are aimed at helping Americans save money during the current economic crunch. “There is no reason for consumers to lock themselves into the restrictive terms of a postpaid contract plan to get real value," said Dan Schulman, chief executive officer, Virgin Mobile USA, "especially at a time when many people need greater control over their spending and use of credit. We're closing the gap between those features traditionally offered by postpaid carriers and the value available from our plans without annual contracts."

Virgin has added features to its pre-paid plans with offerings that offer 500 night and weekend minutes starting at $24.99 and unlimited night and weekend minutes starting at $49.99. Virgin says that it is the only national provider offering night and weekend minutes starting at 7pm.

Other providers night and weekend minutes start at 9pm. Virgin also says that it is offering recurring monthly plans with discounted Messaging Packs for email, IM, text and picture messaging at $10 a month. The new offerings also add roll over minutes and 5-cent minutes to the service.

Via Virgin Mobile