I just recently went around in circles for a time trying to add funds to my Top Up card and thence to my Chippie account to extend the expiration date of my SXM phone number. Here's what the problem is. First, it is not possible to use a charge card to add money to a Chippie account, but you can extend the expiration date for your phone number for free, here:

http://buychippieonline.com/

Click on "Buy Credit" tab under the Chippie logo, then click on link "Check Phone # Expiration Date." Either enter your phone number to see current expiration date or go direct to the link down the page to extend the expiration date for free!

The expiration date will be extended for only 60 days, so you MUST extend it again prior to that expiration or else you will be locked out from that option. Again, the option will no longer work after 60 days.

Now, suppose you have missed that 60-day deadline, you can transfer funds from Top Up. And that will extend the expiration, even if your Chippie already had a positive balance. (The phone number will expire, they claim, even if you have a positive balance in your Chippie account.) That's the purpose of transferring $1.00 from Top Up to Chippie--even though Chippie already is funded.

However, if you've missed the free option, and if you need to add funds to your Top Up account, it cannot be done with a credit card. You have to send a money order to Top Up in Florida. (They will not accept personal checks.) They will then add funds to your Top Up card and you can use it to extend your expiration date.

As long as you can remember to extend your expiration when you are not on the island, the only reason to use Top Up is when you are on the on the island to add funds to your Chippie account. As I recall, the Top Up machine at the UTS office accepted only cash, though.

Finally, based on how everything else works on our beloved island, does anyone know if phone numbers really do expire? Seems to me with the rebuild following Irma they should have more than enough capacity to hang onto numbers indefinitely, and flush only after 2-3 years of inactivity. So is the so-called expiration date actually enforced? Does anyone have any recent experience?

I dunno and am not taking any chances myself.