NFBR: New Verizon Plans

[hz80408]

Did you see/hear the announcement yesterday about the start of shared data plans on June 28th? finance.yahoo.com/news/verizon-ditch-phone-plans-shared-120639203.html
Any thoughts?

I'm due for a new phone (a have a non-smart/dumb phone right now) and was hoping to wait out until iphone 5 in the fall; but with the changes, it looks like it may be cheaper on a monthly bill basis to get the 4s iphone before June 28th. Anyone else in this boat?

This is what I've figured out (I'm still on a family plan with 4 phones; 1 of which is a smart phone): My parents pay $30/month for one 2GB data package right now. If I got a phone before June 28, based on chatting with the Verizon help woman it'd be the same, $30/month for 3GB; so $60 total/month for 4GB for both us.

It says certain customers will have the option to stay as is or to switch to new plan. If my sister kept her package and I got a phone after June 28th, then it looks like I'd be forced to pay $50/month for just 1 GB; so total we'd pay $80total/month for 3GB of service....

Otherwise, if we both switched to the new plan it's $60/month for 2 GB of service or $70/month for 4GB of service;

so either way, it looks like for a shared family, it's actually cheaper to switch now if we're only going to have 2 phones using data? Do you agree?

[letyourselfgo]

Switch now.

[hz80408]

Jun 13, 2012 8:56:33 GMT -5 letyourselfgo said:

Switch now.

Seriously? Do my thoughts make sense?

[Deleted]

I read that yesterday and looked at our plan and tried to figure everything out. I think it's going to end up costing more for us with the new plan.

DH can get a new phone on the 23rd, so we're going to jump on it. If only to get 2 more years of grandfathered unlimited data.

[futurepivko]

H and I are headed to Verizon by the end of the month (long story he was on his family's plan, I'm on an individual, and he's FINALLY getting on a plan with me) so we will get it all figured out.

[letyourselfgo]

Jun 13, 2012 8:57:42 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Jun 13, 2012 8:56:33 GMT -5 letyourselfgo said:

Switch now.

Seriously? Do my thoughts make sense?

They do to me. If you two switch before the 28th, then you'll save $30 AND not have to pay out of pocket for a Smartphone for you.
At least, if I read the press release on all of this correctly. You didn't mention if your man has one already.

[janegold]

I am in the same boat. We currently have the old unlimited data plan (that they got rid of) and I also desperately need a new phone and wanted to hold out for the new iPhone in the fall. But if I upgrade my phone after June 28th, they won't let us keep unlimited data.

My coworker and I did some math yesterday and figured out that the shared data plans could actually SAVE money overall, but this would be the case for someone paying for the entire cell plan (voice, text and data). It sounds like you only pay for your data portion of your family's plan, in which case yes - you might be disadvantaged.

I am leaning towards switching before June 28th, as I really like the unlimited data. I don't use it too much, but H uses it a lot and together we used just over 4GB last month.

[hz80408]

Future- Go before the 28th just in case to know your options!

Letyourself go - H and I are both still on our parents family plans. At this point we're planning on staying on them. My dad gets a government discount and H's mom gets a teacher discount. We send them monthly checks to pay for our portion of the phones. I'm planning on going into Verizon this wknd and hope they'll be "allowed" to talk about it since they weren't an online chat yesterday.

One more thing, that Letyourselfgo mentioned and I didn't think about, can you still get the 2yr pricing under the new data plan? I assumed you would commit to a 2-yr contract with the data (instead of current voice/text/data)?

[Deleted]

Jun 13, 2012 9:31:17 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

One more thing, that Letyourselfgo mentioned and I didn't think about, can you still get the 2yr pricing under the new data plan? I assumed you would commit to a 2-yr contract with the data (instead of current voice/text/data)?

The way I read it was that you could opt out of the new plans, but you'd have to pay full price for the phone. If you went with the new plans, you got the discounted price. But - i'm not entirely sure if that's right.

[mortomo]

Jun 13, 2012 9:31:17 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Future- Go before the 28th just in case to know your options!

Letyourself go - H and I are both still on our parents family plans. At this point we're planning on staying on them. My dad gets a government discount and H's mom gets a teacher discount. We send them monthly checks to pay for our portion of the phones. I'm planning on going into Verizon this wknd and hope they'll be "allowed" to talk about it since they weren't an online chat yesterday.

One more thing, that Letyourselfgo mentioned and I didn't think about, can you still get the 2yr pricing under the new data plan? I assumed you would commit to a 2-yr contract with the data (instead of current voice/text/data)?

I think that if you know the password (or whatever they call it) for the account, they will talk to you about it. My FI had to go in to talk about his phone and he had to provide that info before they could give him any details or do anything with his phone. The account is in my name.

[letyourselfgo]

Jun 13, 2012 9:31:17 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Future- Go before the 28th just in case to know your options!

Letyourself go - H and I are both still on our parents family plans. At this point we're planning on staying on them. My dad gets a government discount and H's mom gets a teacher discount. We send them monthly checks to pay for our portion of the phones. I'm planning on going into Verizon this wknd and hope they'll be "allowed" to talk about it since they weren't an online chat yesterday.

Okay....I get it.

One more thing, that Letyourselfgo mentioned and I didn't think about, can you still get the 2yr pricing under the new data plan? I assumed you would commit to a 2-yr contract with the data (instead of current voice/text/data)?

Several people at Verizon swore up and down to me that I'd get to keep my unlimited data package, as long as I paid full-price for a phone when my contract is up next January. Maybe it could be the same for the poster who also has unlimited data.

Personal Experience: I am also on a family plan with my Mom and Brother and send Mom a check every month, but I only have 400 mins and 250 texts. I work around that by having a Google Voice number and having that number listed in my Friends and Family list and having all calls from that come in as that number. These data caps would never work for me because I tether and I'm online almost constantly. So, Verizon isn't on my good side right now.

[mrssavy42112]

My DH and I are totally screwed. I still have 1y left on my contract under my parent's family plan. I intended on waiting until it ended to jump on my husband's plan, which is up in 1.5y. So, we have about 1 year before anything will happen to us. But then we'll be forced to take a new plan that, according to my math, will be about >$40 per month.

[janegold]

Jun 13, 2012 9:40:15 GMT -5 letyourselfgo said:

Several people at Verizon swore up and down to me that I'd get to keep my unlimited data package, as long as I paid full-price for a phone when my contract is up next January. Maybe it could be the same for the poster who also has unlimited data.

Yes, this was my understanding too. But I don't want to pay full price for new phones forever! That's the entire benefit of upgrading a phone with the same provider!

Ugh...messed up the quoting.

[letyourselfgo]

I know. Especially because I want an Iphone when that time comes, and I'm not looking forward to paying $600 or whatever for it. But.....having unlimited data won out with that battle.

[mrssavy42112]

When I heard about this change a few weeks ago I read an article that said if you go over 5GB a month in data, then the cost of buying the phone full price is actually cheaper than the increase in the monthly plan. But, if you use less than 5GB, it's not. I know I usually am about 2-3GB, but my DH is 2GB also, so that puts us on the cusp.

[sunshine608]

Jun 13, 2012 10:02:15 GMT -5 letyourselfgo said:

I know. Especially because I want an Iphone when that time comes, and I'm not looking forward to paying $600 or whatever for it. But.....having unlimited data won out with that battle.

I'm in the same boat. I was looking a the pay as you go iphone option but didn't want to pony up the money. It looks like now I'll probably do it either to keep unlimited data or to just leave the cell phone contract disaster behind.

H just plans to buy his phones of ebay, but I wonder if this will affect that segment of the market as well.

I'm starting to feel like cell phone companies are the devil.

[hz80408]

Aw letyourself- that sucks! And same for you Mrssavy! We're similiar somewhat, in that essentially if I get a new phone before Juen 28th, that locks me into another 2 yr contract under my parents plan. Hopefully during those 2 years, my ILs won't kick H off their plan.

One more thing on the discount/contract price: If you get a phone after 28th, and sign up for one of the data plans (which look like they start at $90/month for one smart phone-unlimited text/talk and 1 GB of data/mo), then you can still get the phone for the 2yr contract price? Agreed or no?

Shit, I'm probably just best off getting iphone 4S this wknd, (right?) I was hoping to wait for iphone 5 or at a minimum get iphone 4S cheaper when 5 comes out, but this annoncement put a bump in the road.

[hz80408]

Jun 13, 2012 9:40:15 GMT -5 mortomo said:

Jun 13, 2012 9:31:17 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Future- Go before the 28th just in case to know your options!

Letyourself go - H and I are both still on our parents family plans. At this point we're planning on staying on them. My dad gets a government discount and H's mom gets a teacher discount. We send them monthly checks to pay for our portion of the phones. I'm planning on going into Verizon this wknd and hope they'll be "allowed" to talk about it since they weren't an online chat yesterday.

One more thing, that Letyourselfgo mentioned and I didn't think about, can you still get the 2yr pricing under the new data plan? I assumed you would commit to a 2-yr contract with the data (instead of current voice/text/data)?

I think that if you know the password (or whatever they call it) for the account, they will talk to you about it. My FI had to go in to talk about his phone and he had to provide that info before they could give him any details or do anything with his phone. The account is in my name.

I was logged into our account; the rep just said they were unable to confirm anything at that time. Boo them!

[jamlsull]

I might be the one of the few this change will benefit. Right now for my iphone & DH's reg. phone (with extra texts) we pay about $135. He wants a smart phone too, so that'd put us at $165 with his data plan added on.

The new plan looks like it'd be, 2 smart phones $80 + data ($50 or $60) so $130 or $140 per month. Better pricing for 2 smart phones.

Now those are the lowest data plan which I know alot of people need more of. I have wifi at home & work so I barely go over 1GB a month. I think it'll benefit us!