Rita, I think the Select is when you buy a monthly plan, the Flex is the pay-as-you-go option. We do the Flex as we just want to pay for the service for the few days while we are there. I learned this past trip that you do have to have some form of activity every six months to keep a phone or mifi device active, which is not a big deal, imo.

A lending library is actually a fantastic idea! Not sure exactly how it would work logistically, but I bet we could figure it all out.