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How are you going to keep your Verizon unlimited data plan?

S

stu00a

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2011
57
5
I still have my Verizon unlimited data plan grandfathered in when I purchased iPhone 5 at full price.

I know I could just buy one at full price and keep the same plan, but I also have my upgrade available on my line and one other line.

I could just buy phone at contract discounted price and activate it then deactivate and then activate on my line pretend that I bought a phone from someone else. I don't know if this method still works or not.

So, how do you plan to keep your Verizon unlimited data plan?
 
stu00a said:
I could just buy phone at contract discounted price and activate it then deactivate and then activate on my line pretend that I bought a phone from someone else. I don't know if this method still works or not.
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i don't know what this means.

couldn't you just transfer your upgrade from the unlimited data line to the non-unlimited data line? as far as i know, the unlimited data line gets its contract extended two years and the other line gets the upgrade. you can just swap out sim cards when the new phone comes. verizon recently changed their policy on this in that it requires you to have a data plan on the line you give the upgrade to for the length of the contract. if that's not a big deal to you, then i think this is your best bet.
 
siurpeeman said:
couldn't you just transfer your upgrade from the unlimited data line to the non-unlimited data line? as far as i know, the unlimited data line gets its contract extended two years and the other line gets the upgrade. you can just swap out sim cards when the new phone comes. verizon recently changed their policy on this in that it requires you to have a data plan on the line you give the upgrade to for the length of the contract. if that's not a big deal to you, then i think this is your best bet.
Click to expand...

I could buy one for full retail and one for contract rate and sell the full retail one after certain period to meet the minimum length of the contract.
 
cnotes2019 said:
Do the best buy method if you only have one line
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more details about the method being referred to can be found here. still, though, does anybody know the longterm consequences of using this method? couldn't verizon just see a that you upgraded and require you to change your data plan?
 
siurpeeman said:
more details about the method being referred to can be found here. still, though, does anybody know the longterm consequences of using this method? couldn't verizon just see a that you upgraded and require you to change your data plan?
Click to expand...



They never have before so don't see any reason they would now. But with verizon anything can happen when it's time for the i6 and note 4 launch
 
I've always just bought it for full price on the Verizon website, which seems to be the safest route, but it's certainly not the cheapest (my 5s last year was about 800 dollars.) I'm interested in this Best Buy method, but the link made it seem pretty complex and I'm not entirely sure of its reliability.

I want the iPhone 6, but at the same time, is it worth it to even buy at full price with the word about Verizon throttling unlimited data customers in October? I'm mulling it over, because I do use a lot of data (about 11GB monthly), but I would think twice about doing this until we learn more about this throttling and how it'll affect us. It seems like this throttling is a larger step towards elimination of the grandfathering.
 
That Best Buy loophole sounds like it could be closed any time and because you have to agree to a 2GB data plan while on the website, you wouldn't know it didn't work until you had already given up your unlimited. So it depends on your personal level of risk taking I suppose. Getting your unlimited back after doing something like that probably would not be possible without paying a premium via eBay, etc.

We just pay full retail to keep the unlimited data on our two lines. I don't have other lines to do upgrade swapping with, and I value it too much to risk trying to get it renewed with a "loophole".

If Verizon does start to throttle their unlimited plans, that might change my math and have me give up the plan and go to tiered data. Just depends on how draconian they end up being.
 
I bought my 5s last year paid full price. Kept my unlimited data plan. Simple as that whats the confusion? If you use your upgrade then you'll loose unlimited data. It's still cheaper to buy @ full price then to loose unlimited data.
 
fieldsphotos said:
That Best Buy loophole sounds like it could be closed any time and because you have to agree to a 2GB data plan while on the website, you wouldn't know it didn't work until you had already given up your unlimited. So it depends on your personal level of risk taking I suppose. Getting your unlimited back after doing something like that probably would not be possible without paying a premium via eBay, etc.



We just pay full retail to keep the unlimited data on our two lines. I don't have other lines to do upgrade swapping with, and I value it too much to risk trying to get it renewed with a "loophole".



If Verizon does start to throttle their unlimited plans, that might change my math and have me give up the plan and go to tiered data. Just depends on how draconian they end up being.
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That's always been there. The warning to switch to 2gb but the point is not to let it implement itself by using the SIM card that came with the phone. Use your old sim. Plus it has already been successful for others recently over at AC and possibly even slick deals. Not sure about SD though. Furthermore that change in requiring the 2gb data for two years is only for basic phone lines if you upgrade them to smartphones. It remains supposedly even after trying to switch back to basic.
 
If Verizon starts throttling in Oct and data speeds are painfully slow, then I may give it up so I can get the new device. It was great while it lasted, I knew this day would come.

If the throttling is tolerable, I'll probably wait until the 6 is jailbroken and then buy it with an upgrade available on a different line. I've gotta get off this "S" model cycle.
 
I buy my phones at full price, in part, to keep unlimited. However, the main reason is this: I'm on an old family loyalty plan. Getting a subsidized phone = a new family plan that is about $60 more per month than I'm paying now. Getting a subsidized phone saves me money on the front end, but that $60 extra a month is $1440 over the 2 year contract. Sure, I could go to Sprint or T-Mobile for a cheaper plan but I need to stay with Verizon for the coverage.
 
unlimited

hello all quick question if i have a family plan with 3 iphones on it and they all have unlimited data on them if i upgrade on phone and loose the unlimited data and go to a 2gb plan will the other 2 iphones loose their unlimited data?

thanks
 
firefighterk said:
hello all quick question if i have a family plan with 3 iphones on it and they all have unlimited data on them if i upgrade on phone and loose the unlimited data and go to a 2gb plan will the other 2 iphones loose their unlimited data?



thanks
Click to expand...


No they won't. But if you do the bb method you won't lose your UDP in the first place.
 
I'll be keeping my unlimited data... There's a little known trick to keeping it, and it's not the Best Buy method, or using a dummy line to upgrade.

Basically, I order the phone online, where it's ordered from really doesn't matter. Choose whatever data package you like when you're upgrading - it doesn't matter.

Then, when you get the phone, don't turn it on! Take the new sim card out of the phone and cut it up/burn it/incinerate it. Treat the new sim card as poison, because as soon as you activate the iPhone with that new sim card, THAT is when the data change takes place.

This loophole definitely works, as I've done it personally for friends/family/other people online for 2 years now. I know it all sounds risky, so be skeptical if you'd like, but I know that it works.
 
markyr17 said:
I'll be keeping my unlimited data... There's a little known trick to keeping it, and it's not the Best Buy method, or using a dummy line to upgrade.



Basically, I order the phone online, where it's ordered from really doesn't matter. Choose whatever data package you like when you're upgrading - it doesn't matter.



Then, when you get the phone, don't turn it on! Take the new sim card out of the phone and cut it up/burn it/incinerate it. Treat the new sim card as poison, because as soon as you activate the iPhone with that new sim card, THAT is when the data change takes place.



This loophole definitely works, as I've done it personally for friends/family/other people online for 2 years now. I know it all sounds risky, so be skeptical if you'd like, but I know that it works.
Click to expand...


That is the bb method which also works with Costco and amazon...
 
So in theory if I get the iphone 6 from an apple store and don't turn it on there and take the SIM card out and put my original SIM card in it how would it switch me to a basic data plan
 
firefighterk said:
Can you pre order a new phone from bb
Click to expand...

Best Buy usually has wonky Pre-Order systems for iPhones. They make you buy a $50 GC that that's supposed to "guarantee" you an iPhone. I remember in past years other members here saying it did NOT guarantee them an iPhone on launch day.

----------
firefighterk said:
So in theory if I get the iphone 6 from an apple store and don't turn it on there and take the SIM card out and put my original SIM card in it how would it switch me to a basic data plan
Click to expand...

In theory, yes... But I don't think Apple, or any other retail store for that matter, will allow you to purchase an iPhone on upgrade, and then leave the store without activating it.
 
I guess it depends on the person. Last year my local store was great. Even the verizon rep that was there. Not only did they let me keep it off the verizon rep gave me a new SIM card while I was their to active it.
 
EDIT: QUESTION SELF ANSWERED
I went a little farther on Best Buy's site and it does let me transfer upgrades! Now I just need someone to confirm if I can pre-order the 6 on the 19th as easily as with Verizon or Apple. Anyone have experience?

Has anyone ever done the BB method using an upgrade from a non smartphone line?

My situation:
2 iphones with unlimited data
2 dumbphones @ $10/mo each

2 upgrades available now, 1 iphone and 1 dumbphone

I'd like to upgrade both iPhones to the 6 (at 2 year contract price) during pre-order and keep unlimited.

From the Best Buy site, it looks like you get the upgrade price by entering the phone number of the line eligible for the upgrade. So if I did this I would being doing it once with an iphone number and once with a dumbphone number. Yes I can transfer upgrades on the Verizon site but I don't see this option on the BB site. If I got the new phones and put the two old iPhone sims in the new ones does anyone know if I may have a new data plan added to my dumbphone line that I used to upgrade?

This is pissing me off. The last two years I'd do the dumbphone switch method with a Verizon employee happy to help. Now Verizon corporate has me seriously considering leaving them for ATT.
 
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