Non-Contract Phone Plan

SilverEternity

My two-year contract with Verizon recently expired and I'm researching non-contract options. I don't necessarily have a problem with getting a two-year contract, I'm primarily looking into this because I don't believe the services I use are worth the price Verizon charges. Thus I am looking for suggestions/personal experience going the non-contract/pre-paid route. For the coverage area I need, I live on the west side of Michigan and travel within the US a few times a year. Any suggestions/anecdotes would be appreciated.


More information/ranting: My husband and I share a plan with 400 minutes (the minimum amount according to Verizon three months ago). Verizon requires that we each pay for data since we have smart phones. We both have the minimum plan they offered since we primarily use data on WiFi (this is $30/each per month). I have something around a 200 text allowance for $5/month, my husband has unlimited texts. He pays for insurance on his phone; I do not. He gets a company discount of 10-15% on our bill, but for the two of us the bill ends up being between $160-$200/month. In looking at re-upping my contract, it seems even with their new "Share Everything" plans we would be looking at a bill of $160+/month

I've had Verizon service since I was 16 and almost cancelled about three years ago (prior to joining plans with my husband). When I threatened to cancel, Verizon offered to lop off data (which they previously said I must have) and offered me an "unpublished" lower minute plan. When I joined plans, these savings went away. I could go through with threatening to cancel again, but since I'm pretty fed up with Verizon I would just like to switch.

As far as my phone needs go, I use the "phone" function minimally (at the top end, possibly 300 minutes per month, averaging <120 minutes per month). I don't have a home number and use Google Voice for approximately 50% of my calls at home. I would be happy with around 100-200 texts per month and 1GB of data. I enjoy the ability to use my phone as GPS a few times a year, to occasionally look something up when I'm out and in a debate with friends, or to check my e-mail, but in the two years I've had data coverage I've always been well under 1GB of use.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

darqness

My wife and I switched to Virgin Mobile last year and I love it. We were originally on an unlimited texting, data, and 600 minutes or so plan with ATT and were paying $180.00 a month. Now it's $90.00 a month for two iPhones with unlimited data, texting, and 1200 minutes with autopay. We pretty much have had no issues with service coverage and I work out in the middle of nowhere during the day.

The only catch? You pay up-front for the phones. We shelled out $1000 for our iPhones and just plan on using them for several years. There are fully usable Android phones for fairly cheap as well.

Enigmas

You can use your Google Voice number from your Virgin Mobile phone, but it'll still eat the minutes from your monthly plan. I was quite surprised to learn this, but it's still the only phone service that gives me the value I think the service is worth.

Sir Carcass

darqness wrote: »

My wife and I switched to Virgin Mobile last year and I love it. We were originally on an unlimited texting, data, and 600 minutes or so plan with ATT and were paying $180.00 a month. Now it's $90.00 a month for two iPhones with unlimited data, texting, and 1200 minutes with autopay. We pretty much have had no issues with service coverage and I work out in the middle of nowhere during the day.

The only catch? You pay up-front for the phones. We shelled out $1000 for our iPhones and just plan on using them for several years. There are fully usable Android phones for fairly cheap as well.

My wife and I use VM as well. It does have the upfront cost and a rather small selection of phones (the android phones range from around $200 to about $350 for a Galaxy S III), but the plan we use is $35 per month for unlimited data, text, and 300 minutes. It uses the Sprint network, so your coverage will depend on that.

Essee

Another vote for Virgin Mobile! They're cheap, are as good as any other Sprint provider for coverage, and seem to have good customer service (but I've barely ever needed it in the over 10 years I've been with them). If you didn't want smartphone plans, you could actually get away with having a super-cheap non-smartphone for a minimum of $80 PER YEAR, so only $6.33/month (depending on your usage-- you can just add money when you need it). They have things like text addons for those plans as well, if you calculate things out and that would save you money. And people have already mentioned their minimum smartphone plan (which is also extremely cheap compared to every other provider) which would get you unlimited data and texting with enough minutes for you. They're really just the best deal.

SilverEternity

Thanks for the suggestions. It seems based on this that Virgin Mobile is the way to go. I bought someone a pre-paid VM phone once which was quite easy and it seems like it gets decent coverage.