Verizon Family Plan

[cvjw]

I am thinking about signing up for the Verizon Family Plan for mobile service. We have prepaid cell phones now, but DS (13) says he is the only person in middle school that doesn't have a nice phone. We have put him off as long as we can, and are reluctantly giving up prepaid for a monthly service. The Verizon family plan seems to be $119 for 4 lines with unlimited texting and 700 minutes. Does anyone have this plan? I am very concerned with how many junk fees (taxes, surcharges, etc) that are going to be added on to that $119. Any information would be appreciated, we are in metro Atlanta, if that helps.

 

[ceecee]

DD tried that as well....she has a Tracfone for emergency use only. No need to be texting all day. I took my GS troop on a one day outing and a few texted all day in the middle of our activities, lunch, etc. I finally took them away, it was so out of hand. I pay $100.00 a year for our phone (camera phone) includes 600-800 minutes which is enough if you use the cell for emergency, I am so tried of people talking on their phones all day. A girl was on a date when we went out last weekend and got at least 4 calls and spent most of the meal talking! We even seen it last week at WDW, this lady had to call everyone she knew and let them know she was there!

 

[cmac609]

I am thinking about signing up for the Verizon Family Plan for mobile service. We have prepaid cell phones now, but DS (13) says he is the only person in middle school that doesn't have a nice phone. We have put him off as long as we can, and are reluctantly giving up prepaid for a monthly service. The Verizon family plan seems to be $119 for 4 lines with unlimited texting and 700 minutes. Does anyone have this plan? I am very concerned with how many junk fees (taxes, surcharges, etc) that are going to be added on to that $119. Any information would be appreciated, we are in metro Atlanta, if that helps.

Hi,

We have the Verizon Family Plan now for almost 10 years now. We only have 2 lines, 700 minutes, and unlimited texting for around $95.00 (includes taxes & Fees). Additional lines are $9.99 plus tax a month. Did they quote you for the Nationwide Family Plan? That is their new plan. We have their older plan that they are trying to phase out. I know the new plan is a little more.

Did you go online verizon.com and check their plans out for you??



I know Verizon has

 

[rhiansmom]

We have a Verizon Family Plan... a much greater one then the one you are looking at but check with your employers and see if they participate in a discount program with Verizon. I save 20% each month, 25% of accessories and can upgrade sooner then usual.

 

[delmar411]

we have that plan for just 2 phones, no texting (which is $5 per phone per month I believe). Total is $81.xx each month.

monthly access is $69.99 the rest is taxes and fees so just over $10 more for that.

 

[wheelcap]

We've had the exact plan you're talking about for several years -- except that we added a line last summer for my 14yr-old who was going into high school. For how much texting we all do, it's quite a deal. Each add'l line is 9.99 plus about $3 in taxes/fees; but $12.99 for the comfort of knowing we can get in touch with each other ALL THE TIME is worth it. Our lives are quite hectic, and these phones are our life saver!!

Another thing to keep in mind is the service. Verizon has the "can you hear me now" commercials, and now the ones with the whole 'network' of people following you around -- and they're true!! We get perfect service everywhere we go - even places where nobody else can find a signal, we connect!!

 

[WeLuvDiznee]

Another Verizon family here, for almost 10 years now. I won't switch for anything. I have never had any problems with a connection anywhere,ever.We have 900 mins,unlimited text,and other extras. we also can call up to 10 people outside of our network free.love verizon!

 

[WeLuvDiznee]

OH! ps-if you belong to BJ's, you can like 4 free phones-LG phones! with a 2 year contract!

 

[8esther8]

I just signed up for this about 6 weeks ago. You can have 3 people, instead of 4, if you'd rather. Check it out on the website. You can also change your plan as often as you'd like with no charge, no problem; even a downgrade, which I have already done. So many people have Verizon, that I am finding that I don't need as many minutes as I thought. Also be aware that they charge those taxes, about $10. for me (each state is different) FOR EACH PHONE. So that $10. per additional line is actually $20. per line. FYI.

 

[dvcbnd]

We have the Verizon Family Plan w/ three phones & unlimited texting. Our bill w/taxes and fees comes to about $130 and change. We do receive a 20% disct. and live in the NYC area.

 

[Jsme]

I am an Alltel customer. Verizon bought Alltel a while back and by July 11 we will be Verizon. Altel was cheaper. 3 of the 4 phones we have has a contact renewable in April. My phone which is the primary is due in July. I will be switching to the Verizon plan then. I wonder how this will affect my 3 other contracts that we currently have under my family plan with Alltel. I have no choice but to renew with Verizon. Alltel was cheaper for me. Verizon is a bit more expensive. Oh well what can you do?

 

[karen l]

We've had the family plan for a years years now & haven't had any problems.
Service has been great - much better than our old provider. It's around $105 a month for three phones.

 

[Kitzka]

I am an Alltel customer. Verizon bought Alltel a while back and by July 11 we will be Verizon. Altel was cheaper. 3 of the 4 phones we have has a contact renewable in April. My phone which is the primary is due in July. I will be switching to the Verizon plan then. I wonder how this will affect my 3 other contracts that we currently have under my family plan with Alltel. I have no choice but to renew with Verizon. Alltel was cheaper for me. Verizon is a bit more expensive. Oh well what can you do?

I think if you did not care about updating your phones you could stay with the terms of your Alltel contract. the contract does not automaticlly renew when the old one is up. you just go month to month.

lara

 

[cvjw]

Thanks so much for all the replies!

 

[flakypuff]

Another Verizon family here, for almost 10 years now. I won't switch for anything. I have never had any problems with a connection anywhere,ever.We have 900 mins,unlimited text,and other extras. we also can call up to 10 people outside of our network free.love verizon!

We have the old plan..I even added 2 phone lines with unlimited text and my 13 yearold still went over...boy was I upset today when I saw he went over by 600 WOW I went to the website and tried to add restrictions so he wont go over and it cost another 5.00 a month to do that.
Needless to say he will not be using his phone for a while
I want to change plans so I am happy the op started this thread. WELUVDIZNEE the plan you are on sound like the one I want. Can you please tell me what you pay a month. Also when you say UNLIMITED text does that mean to anyone or just people who have Verizon..this is where my son had the problem. He thought Unlimited was to anyone who had a phone

 

[Jsme]

I think if you did not care about updating your phones you could stay with the terms of your Alltel contract. the contract does not automaticlly renew when the old one is up. you just go month to month.

lara

Lara, you are exactly correct. If I did not want to upgrade my phone I could stay with Alltel until the other phones run their contract. However, I do not like my MotoQ phone and have been waiting 2 years to get rid of the sucker. lol I can upgrade the exact date that the conversion is completed. Verizon has some great selling points and I have had Verizon before. Only changed 8 years ago due to DH's work phone going to Alltel. I just like the fact that Alltel is a tad cheaper. I can get the same place without the smart phone (which I am doing away with) with Alltel for $99. and it it $139 with Verizon.

Over all I am looking forward to going to Verizon but it will be interesting to see what happens since my phone has come up for upgrade and the other 3 on my family plan with Alltel have not and will not for 20 months. It might be that they get to stay on Alltel and I have to go to Verizon which will make my plan go up more than I am paying now for the Smart phone National Family My Circle Plan we have for 4 phones.

Either way I will have to make a choice of staying with my MotoQ phone and with Alltel plan for another 20 months or biting the bullet and paying more for a new plan with Verizon and still have the family with Alltel. Whether I want a new phone will be the deciding factor.

 

[JB2K]

Why not get VZW cell phones for everyone except the 13-year old?

As for the youngster, get him/her a Verizon prepaid phone (so they can call Mom/Dad for free) -- once they show responsibility (keeping your bills low), perhaps then you could add them to the family plan...

 

[AristocatFan]

We have Verizon with 4 cell phones and unlimited texting. We pay $139 a month.

 

[chabs]

We have 4 lines (1400 minutes) with no texting (pay .20 per text) and it costs us about $140/month including taxes and fees. I'm thinking about downgrading to the 700 minutes and adding unlimited texting since my kids are getting older and want to text. If you want unlimited texting-it's $5 per line or $30 for all 4 phones (figure that one out). If you only have the 700 minute plan-you will not get the free unlimited minutes to the top 10 people that you call the most.

As for hidden fees-every time you add a line there will be a $25 start up fee added to your first bill for each line. I am not sure how that works with new customers though.

If you are looking for a great deal on the newer phones-watch the Best Buy ads. They are an authorized Verizon dealer and I just upgraded my phone and added the 4th line there a couple of weeks ago. They had the new LG Env3's on sale for $50 when you upgraded your phone (2 year contract price) and FREE if you started a new account or added a line to your existing account. These phones are $79.99 right now at Verizon and they do not price match. So I paid $50 for what Verizon would have charged me $140. And they had GREAT customer service-which is more than I can say for our local Verizon stores.

Also-check out the Verizon website and pick out a couple of phones that you like before you go to the store to buy. You can check out the ratings that other people give the phone so that you don't get stuck with a lemon. I try to stay away from all things Motorola-I've had a bad track record with them.

 

[Corryn]

Hello all

I have to add to this thread because Verizon offers something that I, as a parent, think is just the best!!!
There is an option, I think it's $5 a month per line (kids' lines) where you can LIMIT THEIR TEXTING AND PHONE CALLS!!

Now that school is out, I have to refinagle it, but during the school year, I set up my girls' phones so they cannot receive texts after 9:30 p.m. and texting resumes at 05:00 a.m.
IT IS AWESOME
Just the fact that my two teenaged daughters DIDN'T like it proved it was working!
I set it up so Sunday nights through Thursday nights they couldn't receive or send texts and the only phones they could dial out to were me and my husband's cell phone. Friday and Saturday nights they are able to text all night long - which I don't agree with, but I don't want to totally smash their spirit....
The reason I got it was because for three months straight, I wound up with $500 - $600 Verizon Wireless Bills
I took the phones away at night, I took the phones away for the weekends, I did everything I could do.... that is, until I got that wonderful flyer in the mail letting me know there was the option to limit their cell phone use.

There is no way around it, the kids cannot access it, it is done via the computer and I am the only one with the password

BTW, we get something like 2400 minutes with unlimited texting, the restrictions on the phone and my bill is $220 per month. DH uses the phone a lot for work, so I had to up the minutes.