Getting an iPad Air 3 - best strategy for data deals?

[lightmyway]

I have an iPad Air w/LTE that I bought at a screaming deal off of eBay a year ago ($320 for 32GB!), and I love it. I use T-Mobile's 200mb/month free plan, so I use it sparingly. I wanted to know what incentives the carriers have offered in the past for iPads, when they've offered them, and if it would make sense for me to wait until they offer a deal on the new iPad rather than me just buying one at launch.

I don't want a monthly data plan necessarily - some months I travel for work and would love multiple gigs of data, while other times T-Mobile's 200mb suits me just fine. This was my first LTE iPad, because I usually can't justify the $130 premium. Any help?

 

[Number-Six]

Is Personal Hotspot from an iPhone not an option?

I have the same iPad you do, I changed carriers for my Phone in November and did not bother re-activating the LTE on the iPad because if needed I just share the data from the iPhone.

I won't be buying another LTE iPad, unless I decide to get rid of my cellular phone (which is not likely)

 

[turbineseaplane]

Keep your eye on RingPlus for deals.

I run an LTE iPad with them (Sprint network) and if you time it right you can get very good deals. I essentially get 1.7gb free per month as long as I keep a balance of $20 in the account (it never expires) for overages.

Then if I want more in a given month, you can buy more for $8+tax/GB which I've done in travel heavy months.
[doublepost=1455832461][/doublepost]

I often wonder how much more money the carriers could be making off tablet plans if they'd have no minimum, give away a touch more than 200mb for free (maybe 500mb) and have really good per GB pricing, perhaps that gets cheaper the more you buy.

200mb/month was just a bit too low for me to have the TMo SIM card be the one I kept in my iPad.

Ultimately that's what they are all trying to do - Be "the one you use a little bit" so that they are also the one you use for "a lot of data" those times you need it (and then pay for it).


Ringplus doesn't get me to pay every month, but in my travel heavy months they *are* getting $40-70 out of me...and in exchange I'm getting a healthy amount of free usage every single month (that consequently, I don't really even use so it's not costing them much really)

 

[lightmyway]

Is Personal Hotspot from an iPhone not an option?

I have the same iPad you do, I changed carriers for my Phone in November and did not bother re-activating the LTE on the iPad because if needed I just share the data from the iPhone.

I won't be buying another LTE iPad, unless I decide to get rid of my cellular phone (which is not likely)

I have a grandfathered unlimited AT&T data plan for iPhone - it was my understanding that I can't use Personal Hotspot with it.

 

[lightmyway]

Keep your eye on RingPlus for deals.

I run an LTE iPad with them (Sprint network) and if you time it right you can get very good deals. I essentially get 1.7gb free per month as long as I keep a balance of $20 in the account (it never expires) for overages.

When you say "time it right," do you mean special promotions they email out to customers? Or just some kind of timing with their regular plans? This looks like a good solution, thank you.

 

[turbineseaplane]

When you say "time it right," do you mean special promotions they email out to customers? Or just some kind of timing with their regular plans? This looks like a good solution, thank you.

They just seem to be constantly offering new plans options at odd times.
Usually they are limited on sign up time, so you do want to make sure you have a Sprint SIM card ready to go (if you don't have one you can ask for one at an Apple store - free) so you can activate when a deal pops up.

Use PrePaidPhoneNews.com or @YesWap on Twitter to track it...

 

[Badrottie]

I have a grandfathered unlimited AT&T data plan for iPhone - it was my understanding that I can't use Personal Hotspot with it.

I have grandfathered unlimited data plan and when I upgraded my iPhone 6 Plus AT&T offered me free tablet with 6GB mobile share with my Air 2