Cell phone plans -- what am I missing?

[JOCAmom]

I have a basic pay as you go phone. What I would really love is a pay as you go blackberry or pay as you go iphone with GPS. I wish someone would do that.

Here's a link to what Boost Mobile offers. I haven't compared plans to see what it available so I don't know if it's a good deal for the Blackberry or not.

http://plans.boostmobile.com/blackberry.aspx

 

[Pin Wizard]

Count me as one who is paying about $130 or $140 a month for two lines. And it was worse when I had Sprint!! My contract is up with AT&T in the beginning of May, and I have no idea who to switch to. Both Sprint and AT&T had me start out with one dollar amount at the beginning. As months went by, the charges increased. Why? Their claim...taxes. Ha! Does anyone have a company/plan that CONSISTENTLY bills the same amount monthly as long as you're within your minutes, etc.?

Sprint is offering unlimited text, unlimited web, unlimited data, unlimited mobile to mobile calling (doesn't matter the carrier as long as you go cell phone to cell phone), 450 minutes for cell to landline, sprint tv, nfl live, nascar, gps, annual phone upgrades, etc, etc, etc for $69.99 a month.

However, there are even cheaper plans where the second phone is only $10 per month additional. For instance, the unlimited family data plan is unlimited text, unlimited cell to cell talking, 1500 minutes of cell to landline. For both lines, it is only $99.00 per month. If you want to add lines 3-5, it is only $10.00 per line.

I can't imagine paying $150.00 for 2 lines of service.

There is an insurance option for lost and damaged phones. In Sprint, you get the same phone discount as new subscribers once a year.

 

[diznygirl]

So where do I go to get these plans?

I hadn't really thought about going to a contract because the idea of being locked in bothers me, so we just walked in to Best Buy and of course the display was there, and my son says -- I have $100 to spend, and here's a phone that costs $100, not understanding the whole contract piece.

As far as minutes -- I think I really do need unlimited. We don't have a landline, and I use my cell a lot for work. For example, it's not uncommon for me to talk to someone for a few hours while we work through something together on google docs. So, if we do any kind of family plan, we'll need unlimited. That isn't to say that DS needs unlimited, I'm not sure how much he'll really use it -- I know I'll probably want him to call each day when he gets home, and then before and after he walks the dog, but I guess if we had a family plan those calls would be free anyway?

As for my other question -- what happens if someone loses a phone while they're locked into a plan -- do they have to pay the "full" price (I imagine the prices they list for the phones are super inflated and noone pays them) or is there some cheap way to get a replacement phone.

Couldn't you use Skype for this instead of your phone? Just a thought.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I have to give AT&T credit because they actually do give credit for things like that. With us it was DS on the internet! Holy cow! The first bill with him on there was about $200 over the normal bill. I called AT&T to see why the jump, and they told me what it was. I told them to cut off the internet from his phone, because I wasn't planning on this becoming a routine. At that point, they gave me a credit for the full amount of the internet portion! That $200 came off the bill! Unfortunately, when they cut off his service, mine went with it. Grrrrrrrrr...they need to find a way to provide service on one phone but not the other!!

I just got 3 new phones and a new plan. I switched from Verizon to AT&T.
My DS (27yo) lives 35 minutes away from us and already had the iPHONE. He told us to jump on his plan, it would be cheaper for us as well as him. He currently was paying $89.00 per month for that whole data package that comes w/owning an iPHONE.

So DH & I got ourselves the "REVEAL" (lovely phone) and my younger DS got himself the "GO" phone as he is going to be camping in New Mexico from April-August and just wanted a really basic phone, nothing fancy for his travels.

The Reveal's were $69.00 with a $50.00 mail in rebate. So those ended up costing me $19.00 each. Has the Qwerty keyboard.

So the 4 phones, with unlimited texting, 1400 monthly minutes and 10 free family and friends lines = $169.00 per month!!!

So before jumping on older DS' plan, with our 3 basic boring phones with Verizon was costing me $141.00 per month. Only younger DS had texting, DH & I did not. $28.00 more a month but my plan now covers 4 phones and all with unlimited texting.


***Funny story, older DS was at work on Thursday. He texted me around 2pm to say he has just finally gotten cell service back as the last 2 hours he had no cell service. I decided to call AT&T and inquire about what that might have been. AT&T rep asked DS' work location and indeed 3 TOWERS were down effecting service in his area. The rep gave me a $25.00 credit to my bill!!!

 

[Silent1CB]

here's a link to what boost mobile offers. I haven't compared plans to see what it available so i don't know if it's a good deal for the blackberry or not.

http://plans.boostmobile.com/blackberry.aspx

thanks.

upon closer inspection, their coverage maps has tons of areas not covered where I live. Its something I'll keep an eye on however.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

Count me as one who is paying about $130 or $140 a month for two lines. And it was worse when I had Sprint!! My contract is up with AT&T in the beginning of May, and I have no idea who to switch to. Both Sprint and AT&T had me start out with one dollar amount at the beginning. As months went by, the charges increased. Why? Their claim...taxes. Ha! Does anyone have a company/plan that CONSISTENTLY bills the same amount monthly as long as you're within your minutes, etc.?

Sprint...you should go back to them...my bill was the exact same for several years straight until a few months ago when it...*gasp* went down a few dollars...I've always paid the price I was paying at the beginning, unless I change my plan of course (or in this case where it has gone down a few dollars). I've had Sprint for probably 8 or 9 years now and still love them.
I've thought about switching before, but whenever I've priced out plans with other providers for what I recieve now at Sprint, it's always priced about between $10-$20 more per month with the other providers for the exact same stuff I get with Sprint...no thanks. I'll stay where I'm at.

 

[lulubelle]

We pay $130 a month for two lines. We have Verizon. Seems ridiculous to me. DD has a new Droid (or whatever it's called) with unlimited text, internet and media. I have none of the aforementioned perks. We use about 700-900 minutes per month. The 700 minute plan is $20 cheaper and the next level is 1200 minutes. So that's what we have even though we never come close to the max. It sounds like from reading this entire thread that Sprint may offer a better deal for our situaton, no?

 

[JOCAmom]

thanks.

upon closer inspection, their coverage maps has tons of areas not covered where I live. Its something I'll keep an eye on however.

That stinks. We are lucky that their coverage is pretty good here. Hopefully soon, they'll add more coverage.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I will have to think about that even though I shudder at the thought! They were not friendly a few years back. I went from Sprint to Ntelos for 2 years, then to AT&T for what is now almost 2 years. I can get a company discount through work but only with AT&T or Verizon. However, that whopping $5 a month discount isn't saving me all that much...I don't think.

Sprint...you should go back to them...my bill was the exact same for several years straight until a few months ago when it...*gasp* went down a few dollars...I've always paid the price I was paying at the beginning, unless I change my plan of course (or in this case where it has gone down a few dollars). I've had Sprint for probably 8 or 9 years now and still love them.
I've thought about switching before, but whenever I've priced out plans with other providers for what I recieve now at Sprint, it's always priced about between $10-$20 more per month with the other providers for the exact same stuff I get with Sprint...no thanks. I'll stay where I'm at.

 

[golfgal]

If you use your phone for work so much, can you get them to pay for your part of the phone? If not, you should be writing off the costs on your taxes.

For unlimited talk minutes I think your plans sounds about right. All of the commercials say you pay for the first 2 phones and at $69.99 plus all the taxes and surcharges that will be $150/month. Your son won't use very many talking minutes at all. Is there a plan with 4000/minutes that is less expensive then the unlimited? It might be more on your phone but his phone will only be $10/month.

As for the phone itself, chances are he can get a QWERTY phone for free or close to it when you add him to your plan. Check online as well as in the store because some times the online plans are better then what you can get in the store. Also, check to see if your company has a discount with your cell provider, that can save you a LOT of money and you often get better deals on new phones.

Since you don't have a land line now, I would be getting your son a cell phone now vs waiting. I would be uncomfortable not having access to a phone.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have to give AT&T credit because they actually do give credit for things like that. With us it was DS on the internet! Holy cow! The first bill with him on there was about $200 over the normal bill. I called AT&T to see why the jump, and they told me what it was. I told them to cut off the internet from his phone, because I wasn't planning on this becoming a routine. At that point, they gave me a credit for the full amount of the internet portion! That $200 came off the bill! Unfortunately, when they cut off his service, mine went with it. Grrrrrrrrr...they need to find a way to provide service on one phone but not the other!!

We have Verizon, and only 2 of the 5 of us have the data package, $10 a month each. Ds11 owes me $30 because of data (he doesn't have a package) because he downloaded free apps (he didn't realize that the downloading would cost $).

 

[aprilgail2]

I have to give AT&T credit because they actually do give credit for things like that. With us it was DS on the internet! Holy cow! The first bill with him on there was about $200 over the normal bill. I called AT&T to see why the jump, and they told me what it was. I told them to cut off the internet from his phone, because I wasn't planning on this becoming a routine. At that point, they gave me a credit for the full amount of the internet portion! That $200 came off the bill! Unfortunately, when they cut off his service, mine went with it. Grrrrrrrrr...they need to find a way to provide service on one phone but not the other!!

I have AT&T and I have internet service on my phone but not on the other 3 phones on my plan. You don't need to have it on every one.
I pay 64.00 for my phone -1400 minutes
then I pay 9.99 for each of the other phones
30.00 for unlimited texting on all 4 phones and
10.00 for internet on my phone.

So its 134.00 plus taxes for all 4 lines, unlimited texting and internet on one phone. I do get 20% off just my phone line and only the basic service, not texting etc because they off that discount to railroad workers. But even with that I can't believe that some are paying 140 for just TWO lines!!
I am actually thinking of dropping down to 700 minutes a month because my 10 year old just uses hers for texting, my brother uses like 3 minutes a day and my mom just carries it aroudn in her pocketbook and uses it twice a year LOL...I am the only one that actually talks on it! I have 6,000 rolled over minutes so I am really paying for mnutes I don't use. The 700 minute plan with railroad discount is about 48.00 a month

 

[Pembo]

Do you have a Best Buy near you? Our Best Buy has a cell phone center in the store. They were very helpful in comparing plans and phones with us. They do NOT work on commission so their only goal was customer satisfaction. Might be worth the visit just to get some planning ideas.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Since you don't have a land line now, I would be getting your son a cell phone now vs waiting. I would be uncomfortable not having access to a phone.

At this point he's almost never home alone. If he is, then I leave the cell phone with him, and I only do it when I'm someplace where he can reach me (e.g. at work, or with a friend whose number I can give him). Next year that will chance which is why we're getting the phone.