So does the new Verizon model still have an advantage for shared family plan?
We have 4 smartphones (plus one ancient flip phone my mom keeps for emergencies). Both kids need new phones. Currently we have 2 “out of contract” (older than 2 years), on going out of contract in a few weeks. The other two contracts go through May 2016 and Nov 2016. There is slight inconvenience to staying together and swapping funds. (There was also a bit of juggling over who got a new phone. We try to keep a “spare” out of contract plan available in case a phone dies). Maybe now is the time to send the kids off on their own.
I’m pretty confused about Verizon. A friend said that he has 3 lines on a family plan with 6mg of data shared. 2 of the lines are smartphones and one is a flipphone. He pays $87, I believe. I asked all the Verizon folks and they couldn’t get me any plans that were anywhere near that price.
I am still curious about Verizon because they have the best coverage but hate the various different prices I get, depending on whom I talk to–ARGH!
Our plan is 10mg of shared data…4 smart phones. It runs around $250 month which includes the monthly fee plus 4 phone costs. DH gets his phone and the plan payed for by his company, so it costs us $135 out of pocket.
@colorado_mom - I had to double check your post to make sure it wasn’t written by my DH as that is our exact situation! I just changed our plan at Verizon on Friday and definitely saved money! Here are the details:
Our plan before cost just over $300/month for four smart phones (3 with 2 g data and 1 with 4 g data) and 1’old flip phone for my MIL for emergencies. The four smart phones also have insurance on them for $10/each which is included in the total above. I also researched whether it would be cheaper for DS to go on his own plan rather than reimbursing us for his phone now that he is off on his own. It would cost him more on his own.
The new charges are $20/phone for the three that are off contract and $40/phone for the two that are still on contract. When those go off contract (February and October 2016 I think), they will automatically reduce to $20/month also. We went with the 6 g plan for $45/month and told DS to limit himself to 3 g a month. (Since he’s moved into his apartment he’s been using less data anyway). So our total with the phone line charges, data and insurance is $225 before taxes and fees - about $60 a month in savings!
The only glitch is we’re now paying $20/month for MIL’s phone rather than the &10/month we had been paying. I’m now looking into Ting.com as they have a $6/month plan for cell phones with no use that goes to $9/month if up to 200 minutes are used.
Luckily none of us need new phones right now. The difference with the new Verizon plan is that you pay full price for the phones. It was explained to me that if you have an upgrade available you can purchase a phone and pay it off monthly on your bill over 24 months (about $35/month for an iPhone 6 I think). You only pay the taxes up front and you can put money down (or maybe trade in - not sure) to reduce monthly cost. If you don’t have an upgrade available (or insurance) you’d have to pay the full cost of the phone at the time of purchase.
Hope this helps! I know I’m looking forward to the extra savings! It will be about $100/month once all the phones are off contract. Now I just need to help DS figure out whether he wants to keep the insurance on his phone or not but since he’s paying for it that’s his choice. And while his data was cut from 4 to 3 (by me) he will also be saving some money. I plan on charging him the difference between what I would have paid for a 3 g plan without his phone and what I ended up with including his phone.
Make sure and check to see if your employer has a discount with Verizon. When they went with the new plans I switched us with the 1 gig plan with 3 smart phones(no contract) for $30 a month. Then I figured out that because of DH’s employee discount any data plan over $30 has a discount… So we moved up to the 3 Gig plan for $32.
Why did I need to move up the data plan? Because we had our high school freshman on a $99 phone using Total wireless with 2.5 gig for $35 a month. Verizon has a promotion going on right now where if you trade in a smart phone from a different carrier they give you a $300 credit. So I traded in his $99 phone got a $300 credit. Picked the cheapest smart phone they had for $144 and after taxes & a case ended up ahead about $140. Plus now instead of paying $35 a month for him I pay $20. The key is to use the credit they give you to buy the phone up front so you do not end up under a contract for the new phone.
Also as far a insurance on cell phones , if you have a Well Fargo credit card and use it to pay your cell phone bill then your cell phone is now covered for damages. So you do not need Verizon’s insurance plan. Well fargo may not be the only one doing this so I would check and see if whatever credit card you have also does this…
In short the new plan plus not having to pay insurance coverage really worked out for us. We went from paying $210($175 + 35) to less than $120…
@himom - Most likely your friend has an employee discount.
H and I mainly use phones for email,talk, text and directions. We default to wireless at home. We use Consumer Cellular which is on AT&T network. We own our droid based smart phones ( Motorola G ) $100 each at Target.
No contract phone plan lets you increase/ decrease what you use monthly so you never pay for too much.
We have settled in at $54 month after taxes and fees. Works for us.
@akmom124, I’m testing out Ting. I got my son an inexpensive Blu phone from Amazon and a Ting account. After the first month when I learned to cap his data access and taught him to use wifi, the costs have been around $16-25 (he texts). I believe, but check, that if you buy a Sprint compatible CDMA phone, Ting will roam on Verizon.
I have Verizon. jusy a couple of days ago I got an email from Verizon that if I downloaded the go90 app, I’d get 2gb of data free (to be used by the end of January). It’s a nice little bonus for those with small data plans.
My daughter had a phone through Republic Wireless. It’s a great deal IMO for those who don’t need data but want a smartphone. You have to get the Motorola phone through them (they enable it to use free wifi whenever available for calling and texting g and that isn’t standard) so that part is pricier than buying the phone elsewhere but my daughter has unlimited calling and texting for only $10 + tax a month. Unlimited texting is invaluable for a teenager IMO. She only has internet access when connected to wifi, but that is all she needs (they do have data plans as well but it’s pricey for someone who doesn’t really need it)
The phones are nice. She has had hers for a year and still loves it. She has one problem recently (it turned out a google app update causes a problem) and it was easy to resolve using the Republic Wireless help system. We strongly recommend it especially for those who don’t need a data plan. It’s a much better deal for unlimited texting than we could find anywhere else.
