2020 cell phone plans

[papaof2]

If you plan to change carriers, do ask your neighbors about the coverage in your area. One daughter mentioned that AT&T coverage was lousy at an in-law's house. The coverage maps are rarely detailed enough to see how good the coverage is on your block so ask locally.

 

[AaronGoodman]

Google Fi

Does anyone use Google FI? I’m interested in that plan or learning about other providers that would allow my phone to work with minimum hassle while traveling all around the world.

We have use Google Fi since 2016 and love it. We have been in the Western States and usually, if a signal for any phone is available, our phones work. Their pricing structure is competitive.
Aaron

 

[Markola]

We have use Google Fi since 2016 and love it. We have been in the Western States and usually, if a signal for any phone is available, our phones work. Their pricing structure is competitive.

Aaron

Thanks for that review. Have you used it while traveling internationally and, if so, was it reliable? More expensive?

 

[AaronGoodman]

Sorry, I haven't travelled internationally with it, however, that is their strongest selling point and was from inception.

 

[Aerides]

I don't think Google Fi charges any more when travelling. We've used it abroad just fine, and have been on it for years. Wouldn't consider anything else these days.

 

[SoReady]

We use Google Fi for traveling as well. And only for travelling. It works fantastically. I have a Pixel phone so not sure if that helps or not.

When I'm back in the states I switch to our Verizon family plan. Then when I travel switch to Google Fi. It is all done within the phone, no need to call anyone or go into a store. IIRC Google Fi does require you to get on their plan every 6 months or something, don't recall the exact length. I haven't been in the states long enough to find out. The current environment may require me to look into it, as I don't think I'm leaving the borders anytime soon.

 

[gauss]

^ Interesting strategy. I didn't realize that you could turn on the Google FI only when you are travelling abroad. Thanks.

 

[SoReady]

Yes. My pixel 3 has an e-sim.The other physical sim is the Verizon, so essentially the phone has 2 sims. just toggle them back and forth through some settings.

 

[Markola]

Yes. My pixel 3 has an e-sim.The other physical sim is the Verizon, so essentially the phone has 2 sims. just toggle them back and forth through some settings.

So do you do GoogleFi pay as you go and a regular Verizon contract, or is VZ pay as you go too?

 

[SoReady]

I only pay as you go on the Google Fi, when we are traveling international. The Verizon is a monthly bill for a family plan. So I suppose I'm paying for a service I'm not using when we are traveling international, but not a big deal. When I return from international travel I "pause" the Google Fi and switch the service back to Verizon. Google Fi does not continue charging when it is paused. I now remember that Google Fi will automatically start up after X months, which I think is 6. When that happens I will need to just pause it again.

 

[fosterscik]

I've been planning to switch to T Mobile for a few months. I couldn't do it when I wanted to as I was in the middle of a refi and wasn't supposed to have any new credit checks.

So, now is the time. I would like to get the Magenta Unlimited Plan for 55+ which would save us over $100 a month from our current Verizon plan. But our son and daughter (both adult) are on our plan. So we plan to switched to the regular Magenta Unlimited Plan with them paying (split between them) the extra amount it costs us over the 55+ plan (still cheaper for them than having their own individual plans).

Then, of course, Covid-19. Is it possible to switch service (we will be bringing iPhones to them that are currently on Verizon) just doing it by phone since can't really go in to a store right now?

Remember that only one person on a 55+ plan needs to be over 55. My wife and I both have a 55+ plan with Tmobile and we each have one of our kids as the extra line. So 4 of us for $120/month total (we have the old guaranteed rate). You would pay $140

 

[Jerry1]

I was looking for a new phone. I’m a Sprint customer and phone deals usually involve being a new customer, switching carriers. So I went to Verizon. I was looking for the plan I recalled them to have for seniors. What I found is interesting. They have a plan for 55+ but now it’s only available in Florida. You have to have a Florida billing address. In disbelief, I looked further and found in the FAQ’s that customers that had the plan before they restricted it to only Florida were grandfathered to stay it it. So, they did offer a discount plan for seniors, but they don’t anymore unless you live in Florida.

 

[geeky_grrl]

Thanks for that review. Have you used it while traveling internationally and, if so, was it reliable? More expensive?

I've used Google FI quite a bit internationally. I've used it in about 10 countries and the only one I had any trouble in was Hungary (and I blame my phone at the time since my sister had FI there as well and her phone worked fine). Generally when I've crossed borders it's reconfigured to be on the local network with a couple of minutes. Data rates are the same internationally. I rarely make voice calls so I can't rate that reliability but data and text have worked well for me.

 

[pb4uski]

I was looking for a new phone. I’m a Sprint customer and phone deals usually involve being a new customer, switching carriers. So I went to Verizon. I was looking for the plan I recalled them to have for seniors. What I found is interesting. They have a plan for 55+ but now it’s only available in Florida. You have to have a Florida billing address. In disbelief, I looked further and found in the FAQ’s that customers that had the plan before they restricted it to only Florida were grandfathered to stay it it. So, they did offer a discount plan for seniors, but they don’t anymore unless you live in Florida.

We have bought unlocked phones that can be used with any GSM or CDMA carrier for our last couple phones. We previously had Motorola G4 ($215) and G4 ($160) Play and last summer upgraded to Motorola Moto G7 Play ($170 each).

We have found these smartphones to be durable and work well for our relatively modest smartphone needs. IOE there is no need to spend $500-$1,000 on a smartphone.

Our AT&T MVNO plan through airvoicewireless includes unlimited talk and text, 1.5GB of high-speed data and 1.5GB of lower-speed data for $18/month on autopay.

 

[gauss]

I was looking for a new phone. I’m a Sprint customer and phone deals usually involve being a new customer, switching carriers. So I went to Verizon. I was looking for the plan I recalled them to have for seniors. What I found is interesting. They have a plan for 55+ but now it’s only available in Florida. You have to have a Florida billing address. In disbelief, I looked further and found in the FAQ’s that customers that had the plan before they restricted it to only Florida were grandfathered to stay it it. So, they did offer a discount plan for seniors, but they don’t anymore unless you live in Florida.

I think T-Mobile has been running a campaign openly mocking them for this policy.

 

[Sojourner]

AT&T and T-Mo are both now offering $15/mo. prepaid plans with 2GB of data. Plus unspecified taxes and fees. Cheapest I've seen for a mainline service.

https://www.att.com/buy/wireless/prepaid/plans
https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/plan-detail/t-mobile-connect

I was quite interested in switching to this plan, but when I called AT&T to sort out the details, discovered a couple things that were deal breakers.

1) You can't switch to the 2GB $15 plan if you're on a multi-line account. Only available to single line accounts, so can't be combined with multi-line discounts.
2) The rep I talked to said it was a short term promo that would likely expire within a few months. People who switch to this plan now will NOT be grandfathered in when they stop offering it to new customers.

IMHO, not worth the trouble of switching from multi-line to single line (and then back again) just to save $10-15/month for a few months.

 

[pb4uski]

I was quite interested in switching to this plan, but when I called AT&T to sort out the details, discovered a couple things that were deal breakers.

1) You can't switch to the 2GB $15 plan if you're on a multi-line account. Only available to single line accounts, so can't be combined with multi-line discounts.
2) The rep I talked to said it was a short term promo that would likely expire within a few months. People who switch to this plan now will NOT be grandfathered in when they stop offering it to new customers.

IMHO, not worth the trouble of switching from multi-line to single line (and then back again) just to save $10-15/month for a few months.

On the first part, at $15/month I don't see where the lack of a multi-line discount is a dealbreaker.... $30 for 2 lines or $45 for 3 lines is still a pretty good deal.

On the second part, it sounds like if someone signs up for $15/month it sounds like the $15/month promo price will increase substantially sometime in the next few months... that would be a bait and switch type deal killer for me.

I did have a mild interest in this but I think I'll just stay with my $18/month airvoicewireless plan.

 

[GTFan]

Multi-line AT&T discounts only make sense if you're using DirecTV or AT&T Now assuming they even apply to those bundles. They don't matter if single lines are cheaper as you said.

And whether the prepaid plan stays the same price is irrelevant to me given how easy it is to port over to another plan that's just as good if not better. Cell phone service w/data is only getting cheaper over time, not more expensive.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

We are split in my house, 4 phones on 3 different companies:
2 on Republic for 1G per month at $200/yr
1 on Mint for 8G per month at $20/mo
1 on ATT for 8G per month at $300/yr

 

[Markola]

Finally found something different than Verizon unlimited, for which we were paying $194.04/month for 3 lines (I know, I know but I have now repented.). We switched to Verizon’s Visible service, which is unlimited talk, hotspot and LTE data on the Verizon network. There are no storefronts or contracts and all service is done through their app and online chat. So far, so good. I’ve recruited two nieces to complete our party of 4, making each of our lines $25/month. Everyone has their own account and bill, though I chose to auto pay for 3 of the 4 through my PayPal acct. The switchover from Verizon was seamless and fast and I never had to talk with a human.

Visible has no international coverage when we travel but, for that, I think I’ll set up a separate Google FI account and buy two of their Google FI phones. Apparently, one can turn a Google FI account off and keep it dormant, then activate it for as long as needed when traveling internationally.

 

[EastWest Gal]

For anyone who has Comcast / Xfinity for home internet and doesn't need unlimited Data, the xfinity mobile plan is one of the best there is.
No per device charge up to 5 devices. All data is shared, so you can put your spouse / kids / parents etc on this plan under your household account.
$12/GB pay as you go / roundup / no rollover
or
$30 for 3GB or $60 / 10GB + $12 per GB / roundup / no rollover

Unlimited data is more normal reseller industry pricing.

No charge for texts and calls

To get this pricing you have to use comcast / xfinity for home internet.

Thanks! We've been shopping for cheaper cell phone plans and this fits the bill.

 

[cathy63]

Finally found something different than Verizon unlimited, for which we were paying $194.04/month for 3 lines (I know, I know but I have now repented.). We switched to Verizon’s Visible service, which is unlimited talk, hotspot and LTE data on the Verizon network. There are no storefronts or contracts and all service is done through their app and online chat. So far, so good. I’ve recruited two nieces to complete our party of 4, making each of our lines $25/month. Everyone has their own account and bill, though I chose to auto pay for 3 of the 4 through my PayPal acct. The switchover from Verizon was seamless and fast and I never had to talk with a human.

Visible has no international coverage when we travel but, for that, I think I’ll set up a separate Google FI account and buy two of their Google FI phones. Apparently, one can turn a Google FI account off and keep it dormant, then activate it for as long as needed when traveling internationally.

You probably don't need to buy Google Fi phones. Your Verizon phones should work on the networks Google uses.

 

[camfused]

@Markola, you can pause Google Fi plans for up to 3 months, so about 4 times a year you need to re-pause them again. That sounds like a bit of a hassle.

 

[Katsmeow]

I think T-Mobile has been running a campaign openly mocking them for this policy.

T Mobile has a great video about how ridiculous most carriers plans are for "seniors." The biggest thing is that they often severely limit data and try to sell people on phones that are "simple" to use.

I think that part of what goes on is what is meant by seniors. The typical "senior" plan is done more for people like my late mother. She didn't understand smart phones and didn't use data. Someone like her might want that kind of simple plan with limited data.

On the other hand your typical people in their 60s and even 70s now just use regular smartphones and understand data.

We recently switched to T Mobile from Verizon. It is ending up saving us significantly.

 

[lordjust]

Does anyone use Google FI? I’m interested in that plan or learning about other providers that would allow my phone to work with minimum hassle while traveling all around the world.

I use it.. I have traveled with it to south and central america. Not sure what you mean by providers as i believe google piggy backs on top of tmobile and sprint (now merged). I have only had a few issues and i chose them just because i travel.