Verizon Family SharePlans

[MDE]

Does anyone happen to know if Verizon will go any lower than 700 minutes on a Family SharePlan? I'm adding my fiancee and 700 minutes is overkill for us.

 

[JS80]

stop wasting money switch to sprint

 

[AstroManLuca]

Probably the only way would be to buy a grandfathered older plan from someone. They probably used to have plans with fewer minutes, and those plans can keep going as long as the account holder keeps them active. But I doubt that's worth it.

Do you use mobile data or text messages, or just airtime minutes? Sprint has cheaper data and texting plans, but for just voice minutes, it doesn't matter which postpaid provider you use. They're all about the same.

If you really only need voice, and only a small amount of it, you'd be better off going for a prepaid service. You could probably get by with $30-$50 a month total for two phones, depending on how much you use. Also remember that 450 minutes through a big provider like Verizon goes a lot farther than 450 minutes on prepaid, because Verizon gives you free nights and weekends, free calls to other Verizon phones, etc. Prepaid plans generally don't give you any of that.

 

[rudeguy]

stop wasting money switch to sprint

everyone says this but their family plans are out there. Their minimum plan for unlmited data is $130. I can't swing that. My bill for Tmo with unlimted text, web and more minutes than I could possbly use is $125/month OTD. I'd love to switch to Sprint but its not worth an extra $30/month. Plus they don't have hardly any Android phones.

 

[AstroManLuca]

everyone says this but their family plans are out there. Their minimum plan for unlmited data is $130. I can't swing that. My bill for Tmo with unlimted text, web and more minutes than I could possbly use is $125/month OTD. I'd love to switch to Sprint but its not worth an extra $30/month. Plus they don't have hardly any Android phones.

Your post has completely baffled me.

Sprint is $130/mo, and you can't afford it, but T-Mobile is $125/mo and you can afford that no problem? How does that lead to a $30/mo difference? I guess the $125 figure from T-Mobile is after taxes and the $130 from Sprint is before taxes, but even then, taxes only add a little bit. Certainly not enough to raise the final price to $155.

Also, JS80 was comparing Sprint to Verizon, since the OP mentioned Verizon. Sprint is cheaper than Verizon if you're getting data. Of course, so is T-Mobile.

Sprint's $130/mo for 2 lines includes unlimited text and data and 1500 shared minutes, which is enough for most people. T-Mobile probably has something comparable (and I know Tmo is cheaper if you're not under contract).

You can also get discounts with Sprint for being a credit union member, or by doing the EPRP online discount. EPRP gets you 1600 shared minutes and unlimited text and data for 2 lines for $110/mo before taxes.

And again, this is assuming you need data. OP hasn't even specified whether he needs it or not, which makes it difficult to figure out what plan fits him best.

 

[rudeguy]

Your post has completely baffled me.

Sprint is $130/mo, and you can't afford it, but T-Mobile is $125/mo and you can afford that no problem? How does that lead to a $30/mo difference? I guess the $125 figure from T-Mobile is after taxes and the $130 from Sprint is before taxes, but even then, taxes only add a little bit. Certainly not enough to raise the final price to $155.

Also, JS80 was comparing Sprint to Verizon, since the OP mentioned Verizon. Sprint is cheaper than Verizon if you're getting data. Of course, so is T-Mobile.

Sprint's $130/mo for 2 lines includes unlimited text and data and 1500 shared minutes, which is enough for most people. T-Mobile probably has something comparable (and I know Tmo is cheaper if you're not under contract).

You can also get discounts with Sprint for being a credit union member, or by doing the EPRP online discount. EPRP gets you 1600 shared minutes and unlimited text and data for 2 lines for $110/mo before taxes.

And again, this is assuming you need data. OP hasn't even specified whether he needs it or not, which makes it difficult to figure out what plan fits him best.

we're a bunch of tech nerds, so I always figure that people want data.

And yes, Sprint is $130 before taxes, Tmo is $125 after taxes with no contract. Tmo also offers corporate discounts but I don't have any of those.

My point was simply that everyone always says that Sprint is the cheapest but Tmo is 99% of the time. Now you don't want Tmo if you go off the beaten path a lot, but that's a whole different discussion.

 

[MDE]

stop wasting money switch to sprint

Sure, as soon as you pay my ETF. I'm happy with Verizon's service, both the actual phone service and customer service, so as soon as I start hearing wonderful stories about Sprint's customer service and they get a phone I actually want, then sure, I may consider them.



Anyway, Verizon only shows a 450 minute single-line plan on their website but I called and got a 300 minute plan. I have a Droid, so the data plan is required but the second lins doesn't necessarily need data, but texting is pretty much required. From the website the 700 minute talk and text plan seems like the best choice, just would like less minutes.

 

[AstroManLuca]

True, T-Mobile and Sprint are both pretty cheap, and T-Mobile gets extra points for giving you a discount if you're out of contract.

Anyone can get Sprint's EPRP, though. All the carriers offer corporate discounts, but EPRP is a significant discount and it's available to anyone. Probably puts them in line with T-Mobile's Even More Plus pricing without the need to buy an unsubsidized phone. And Sprint has better coverage.

Biggest issue with Sprint is bad phone selection. The only decent smartphones they have are the HTC Hero, Samsung Moment, and Palm Pre, all of which came out last year and didn't exactly shake things up even then. At least Sprint will get the EVO this summer.

EDIT: In your case, MDE, it sounds like all you can do is hope they offer you a lower end family plan in the same way they gave you your 300-minute plan. I don't think there's a way around it.

One thing Verizon does is they let you configure each line separately, so you can have data on one line but don't need to pay for it on a second line if you don't want to. Then again they charge so much for data that you basically pay the same for 1 data line and 1 voice line as you do for 2 data lines on other carriers.

As for texting, you could get unlimited texting for all lines ($30) but if you're not super heavy users you could get the $5 or $10 plans on each line. $5 gets you 250 a month, and $10 gets you 500 + unlimited texting between Verizon users. I found the $10 plan was more than enough for me.

Lastly, Sprint's customer service... for whatever reason, a lot of people have complained about it. I've never had a problem. But then again, I've never really needed to call in with an issue. I've only had them since February.

 

[notposting]

Verizon has a 550 minute Family Plan for $59.99 as well it's called the Loyalty plan. Have to ask CS for it though. Add $5 to each line for 250 msgs. Then $30 for the data. Around $100. Though the taxes and BS will add up. We have the ACII 500 minute family plan for $59.99 plus text and data on my line and it's around $110 when all is said and done.

The Sprint EPRP data family plan is a pretty great deal, though again that's the price without taxes and made up fees.

 

[JS80]

Sure, as soon as you pay my ETF. I'm happy with Verizon's service, both the actual phone service and customer service, so as soon as I start hearing wonderful stories about Sprint's customer service and they get a phone I actually want, then sure, I may consider them.



Anyway, Verizon only shows a 450 minute single-line plan on their website but I called and got a 300 minute plan. I have a Droid, so the data plan is required but the second lins doesn't necessarily need data, but texting is pretty much required. From the website the 700 minute talk and text plan seems like the best choice, just would like less minutes.

Verizon is such a rip off you still come out ahead after a few months after paying the ETF. Maybe quicker if you have a good phone you can sell on CL.

 

[murphy55d]

Yep...the Loyalty 550 plan. We have 3 lines and that's what we have. You have to request it though like notposting said, it isn't advertised.

 

[MDE]

Verizon is such a rip off you still come out ahead after a few months after paying the ETF. Maybe quicker if you have a good phone you can sell on CL.

I get that you're trying to "help" me, but that's not an option as I've already explained before. Stop threadcrapping/threadjacking.

Thanks for the info about the Loyalty 550 plan, I'm going to call them jup tonight and see what I can get.

 

[sourceninja]

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking at tmobile vs verizon. I'd consider sprint, but I need to make phone calls and sprint can't do that in my area.

 

[rudeguy]

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking at tmobile vs verizon. I'd consider sprint, but I need to make phone calls and sprint can't do that in my area.

I can't reco Tmo enough. GREAT customer service, awesome phones, awesome prices...just not too good of coverage in outerlying areas.

 

[randomlinh]

Sprint's $130/mo for 2 lines includes unlimited text and data and 1500 shared minutes, which is enough for most people. T-Mobile probably has something comparable (and I know Tmo is cheaper if you're not under contract).

You can also get discounts with Sprint for being a credit union member, or by doing the EPRP online discount. EPRP gets you 1600 shared minutes and unlimited text and data for 2 lines for $110/mo before taxes.

If you're on the family data everything plan, don't forget your minutes become almost unlimited so long as you keep landline calls down. Anymobile FTW! Though, this has no relation to the OP since it seems he wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.

 

[JS80]

I get that you're trying to "help" me, but that's not an option as I've already explained before. Stop threadcrapping/threadjacking.

Thanks for the info about the Loyalty 550 plan, I'm going to call them jup tonight and see what I can get.

Enjoy your Sony Bravia

 

[AstroManLuca]

Enjoy your Sony Bravia

your weird

 

[JS80]

your weird

At least I'm not a moran. Sometimes.

 

[murphy55d]

moran?

 

[JS80]

moran?

 

[MDE]

Enjoy your Sony Bravia

I didn't know Verizon offered that plan...

 

[USAFdude02]

Verizon does offer a 500-minute plan. My wife and I were on it for a while. It is about $10/month cheaper than the 700 minute plan. You have to call into customer service to get it.

 

[rh71]

Also on the 550-minute "Nationwide Family Share 550" which you guys are calling Loyalty. I had to switch to it from a 500 minute plan since we added a 5th line and they didn't offer the 500 anymore. I get the corp discount so just paying $100 for 5 lines (1 w/ texting) after everything. I don't think we even use 300 minutes a month with the in-calling free minutes anyway.