ERD50
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I think it was sometime last year that the T-Mobile Gold Plan went Legacy. DW and I are 'grandfathered' in though.
As a recap, the Gold Plan was great for people who use only a few minutes per month on average, and rarely use data. Once you put $100 on, it only took $10 to keep the plan active for an entire year, and unused minutes rolled over. Each call/text deduct $0.10 per minute/text.
I rarely use my phone (have VOIP at home), so I've only been adding $10/year for several years, and still have minutes to spare from the original $100 (1000 minutes). DW started using hers more for texting (she had a Samsung low-end smartphone, I just upgraded her to a Moto G), so I have added $100/year the past 2 years for hers, so still < $10/month average.
The Gold Plan also allowed you to buy data on a day-by-day basis for $3/day. Since we rarely ever use data, that was a nice backup plan, if we needed it. Turns out we never really did need it, we could find a wi-fi spot (or one of our kids with full data plans was with us) - but of course it could be convenient to have ready access to data.
Well, I just called to verify, and since Gold Plan has gone 'legacy' there is no switching to a data-by-the-day plan. So I was considering that when DW's phone needs a refill, maybe switching to Cricket (mentioned in some threads recently).
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans
Cricket uses AT&T/GSM towers (so our unlocked smartphones on T-Mobile will work on it). You get unlimited talk/text/data (hi-speed capped at 2.5 GB, then low speed) for $35/month, so that sounds pretty good, but really more than we need.
But the newer T-Mobile plan also looks good for low-minute users (and has a data option) - basically the same per min/text rates as the old Gold Plan, but locks you into spending a minimum of $3/month to stay active. Since DW uses over $3/month, really no difference. As long as I have excess minutes that rollover, and my usage does not increase, I'll stay at Legacy and add my $10/year.
Pay As You Go Phone Plans | Best Daily Prepaid Phone Plans | T-Mobile
$3/month gives you 30 minutes/texts combines, then $0.10/minute/text above that. DW's average of ~ 80 min/texts would run ~ $8/month. And with this newer plan you can buy data for $5/day (.5GB), or $10/week (1GB). So even if she used data two weeks every month (extremely unlikely), and averaged 80 minutes/texts per month, that's $28/month (plus a few $ taxes/fees?). And odds are we would not use data anywhere near that often, so savings over Cricket would be closer to $20/month, $240/year.
Again, this only makes sense for people who don't use the phone that much and/or are near wi-fi for the times they do want to use data. Maybe at some point I'll give in and get a plan like Cricket, as I'm sure we would find the full data access handy once we got it, but we seem to get by fine w/o it. I had planned to turn it on the last time we were in the city, but the hotel included wi-fi, and we were set.
But if you are a low-minute user, and only occasional data user, and T-Mobile provides good service in your area, it's an option to consider.
-ERD50
As a recap, the Gold Plan was great for people who use only a few minutes per month on average, and rarely use data. Once you put $100 on, it only took $10 to keep the plan active for an entire year, and unused minutes rolled over. Each call/text deduct $0.10 per minute/text.
I rarely use my phone (have VOIP at home), so I've only been adding $10/year for several years, and still have minutes to spare from the original $100 (1000 minutes). DW started using hers more for texting (she had a Samsung low-end smartphone, I just upgraded her to a Moto G), so I have added $100/year the past 2 years for hers, so still < $10/month average.
The Gold Plan also allowed you to buy data on a day-by-day basis for $3/day. Since we rarely ever use data, that was a nice backup plan, if we needed it. Turns out we never really did need it, we could find a wi-fi spot (or one of our kids with full data plans was with us) - but of course it could be convenient to have ready access to data.
Well, I just called to verify, and since Gold Plan has gone 'legacy' there is no switching to a data-by-the-day plan. So I was considering that when DW's phone needs a refill, maybe switching to Cricket (mentioned in some threads recently).
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans
Cricket uses AT&T/GSM towers (so our unlocked smartphones on T-Mobile will work on it). You get unlimited talk/text/data (hi-speed capped at 2.5 GB, then low speed) for $35/month, so that sounds pretty good, but really more than we need.
But the newer T-Mobile plan also looks good for low-minute users (and has a data option) - basically the same per min/text rates as the old Gold Plan, but locks you into spending a minimum of $3/month to stay active. Since DW uses over $3/month, really no difference. As long as I have excess minutes that rollover, and my usage does not increase, I'll stay at Legacy and add my $10/year.
Pay As You Go Phone Plans | Best Daily Prepaid Phone Plans | T-Mobile
$3/month gives you 30 minutes/texts combines, then $0.10/minute/text above that. DW's average of ~ 80 min/texts would run ~ $8/month. And with this newer plan you can buy data for $5/day (.5GB), or $10/week (1GB). So even if she used data two weeks every month (extremely unlikely), and averaged 80 minutes/texts per month, that's $28/month (plus a few $ taxes/fees?). And odds are we would not use data anywhere near that often, so savings over Cricket would be closer to $20/month, $240/year.
Again, this only makes sense for people who don't use the phone that much and/or are near wi-fi for the times they do want to use data. Maybe at some point I'll give in and get a plan like Cricket, as I'm sure we would find the full data access handy once we got it, but we seem to get by fine w/o it. I had planned to turn it on the last time we were in the city, but the hotel included wi-fi, and we were set.
But if you are a low-minute user, and only occasional data user, and T-Mobile provides good service in your area, it's an option to consider.
-ERD50