Verizon 55 Plus Plan

[djsamuel]

If you are 55 years old and older and a Florida resident, Verizon just announced their 55 Plus Plan. If you have two lines, you get unlimited data, talk, and text, no throttling, in the US, Mexico and Canada for $40 per line a month. I just converted our Verizon plan to this and saved a good bit, plus we have unlimited data now.

Verizon 55 Plus Plan Web Page

[MrWizard]

My current VZW account, cost me about $135 month
Old 550 minute plan , old unlimited data (now $49 per month) $20 dw phone, $5 250 text plan, taxes etc..

[Bill_Satellite]

So I stopped by the T-Mobile store to get the full run down on the new $70/month plan. It turns out it is the exact same plan as the $60/month, they just raised the price $10. It's now $70 for 2 phones with unlimited data ON THE PHONES. If you want to use the hotspot, that is $10/month extra per phone and it's 3G at best. For an additional $25/month on one phone you get true unlimited 4G speed and no data limits. You can add the $25 plan to both or $10 on one and $25 on the other. One or both would then be used as a hotspot to power your computers and other devices.
Even at $70 plus $50 for unlimited unlimited the cost is lower than Verizon's Beyond Unlimited plan which is still highly limited.

[djsamuel]

Keithk3628 wrote:
Well Thanks to djsamuel,

I went by BJ's club this evening and switched over from ATT, to the Verizon 55 plus plan, will save us over $60 a month. Thanks for the heads up.

BUT, if you are thinking of this Verizon plan you might want to hurry, the young man at BJ's said tomorrow is the last day to sign up for it, I don't know if it is over only at BJ's or Verizon wide but if it is on your radar tomorrow is last day.

And he waived all fees for switching and we left with zero dollars out of pocket and 2 $150 master card gift cards coming, and there is some kind of military discount too but I didn't catch what that does, will have to ask the wife.

And now on top of the savings I can hotspot from our phones now for no more dollars, this worked out great, Thanks again djsamuel,

Keith

Glad it worked for you! We're enjoying not watching our data. 🙂

I get the military discount as well, I think it is 15% as someone else mentioned here.

[Dutch_12078]

Keithk3628 wrote:
Dutch

Thanks for that, I am learning these things as I go and of course because of you guys, this forum is the best.

Next time I will be a little farther ahead, but if this switch does indeed save us the $700 a year I will be a happy camper and believe the 3 days of aggravation was worth it.

Keith

For that kind of savings, yep, the aggravation should be worth it, Keith! 😉

[Keithk3628]

Dutch

Thanks for that, I am learning these things as I go and of course because of you guys, this forum is the best.

Next time I will be a little farther ahead, but if this switch does indeed save us the $700 a year I will be a happy camper and believe the 3 days of aggravation was worth it.

Keith

[Dutch_12078]

MrWizard wrote:
Keith
VZW amd ATT use different technology,
ATT phones don't work on Verizon !
what do you mean by 'unlock'
do you mean 'porting' your phone number over to Verizon ?

there are some phones that work on ALL systems
but the 'carrier' has to approve

Do you have a 'world' phone that works on all systems ?
just put in the correct sim card

The Verizon/Sprint CDMA vs AT&T/T-Mobile GSM voice compatibility problems of old are pretty much history now. Modern SIM equipped smart phones can usually be switched from carrier to carrier just by swapping SIM's unless the phone is coded ("locked") to only activate on a specific carrier. Once the phone is unlocked as allowed by FCC regulations, it will technically work on the other carriers networks, although there may limitations if the specific phone model does not support all the bands (frequencies) that the other carrier uses. If you already have an active account on the other carrier's system, you can simply remove the SIM from your current device and install it in the new like device. No notification is needed.

[Keithk3628]

MrWizard

Don't know what they locked or unlocked, but AT&T stated in they're emails "unlock", and finally Saturday they did unlock the phones, when at the Verizon retailer last Wednesday the rep changed out the sim cards and of course from there on we were waiting on AT&T. He called AT&T twice while we were there and in the end stated AT&T said the phones will switch in a hour or two or 24 hours as a last resort.

Of course 3 days and multiple calls later AT&T disappointed us, each rep said something a little different, and each one said within 24 hours they will work. The last day I asked the rep if speaking with a manager could help, and he said if we did that and the manager went back into the procedure we could count on 3 more days.

In the end the old Phones (Apple iPhones) are now working and the DW is happy again, and I learned a little something. Next time I shop for new wireless I need to make sure the phones are unlocked. A couple days before this all started I was on the AT&T site and noticed the unlock feature in my profile but didn't know what that was about so I didn't change anything.

Guess you were correct in we have "world" phones, and the new sim cards was all that was needed change from AT&T to Verizon. I am going to find the statements from the two carriers interesting in a couple weeks, and thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate your expertise.

After a couple weeks and the statements come in I am going to try the hot spot thing to make sure the rep was right and that will make our longer trips a little easier.

Again Thanks, Keith

[MrWizard]

Keith
VZW amd ATT use different technology,
ATT phones don't work on Verizon !
what do you mean by 'unlock'
do you mean 'porting' your phone number over to Verizon ?

there are some phones that work on ALL systems
but the 'carrier' has to approve

Do you have a 'world' phone that works on all systems ?
just put in the correct sim card

[Dutch_12078]

We have both AT&T and Verizon unlimited data hotspot services, and Tracfone/Verizon for our cellphone voice service. On the east coast, our AT&T data service has worked well about 90% of the time, with Verizon filling in the as needed. Where AT&T has been significantly stronger than Verizon, we use our VOIP service via WiFi from our cell phones to make and receive calls.

[Keithk3628]

Alan_Hepburn wrote:

Keithk3628 wrote:
...and there is some kind of military discount too but I didn't catch what that does, will have to ask the wife.
Keith

Verizon's military discount is 15% - all you need to do is show some ID (VA card, DD214, etc.)

Alan

Thanks for that info, Yes the tech took a copy of my retired ID card, will be very happy if AT&T ever unlocks our phones, signed up for the Verizon 55 plan on Wednesday and AT&T has yet to unlock our phones, a phone call to them each day finally yesterday they believe the phones will unlock Sunday.

Hint for anyone changing carriers from AT&T, get your phones unlocked before attempting the switch, AT&T has left a real bad taste in our mouths, over 25 years with them since phone in a 12 lb bag and they treat us like this. And I did give them the opportunity to reduce our bill first before changing to Verizon.

Keith

[Cummins12V98]

Bottom line for me is COVERAGE!!! Verizon is by far the best and while in construction I had every carrier out there.

I have the Truly Unlimited Plan it's $110 per month with unlimited text, data and calls Mexico, Canada and USA.

Each devise, phone tablet MiFi etc are all $20 per mo. The Data "MAY" slow at 22-23G depending on area usage. MiFi "WILL" slow to 3G at 15G's.

Wife uses her phone to stream NETFLIX and I use mine for the Mac Computer. Combined we use up to 100G's per mo.

We have 6 other phones on our plan and two just went to Mexico with ZERO issues while there. MORE than happy with this plan. MUCH less $$$ than the MiFi we spent lots of $ on in the past.

[bucky]

AT&T is not dominant on the east coast signal wise anyway.
Our traveling friends have AT&T and repeatedly have no signal while we do. Even in Atlantic City NJ of all places. I love to bust her chops. "Here, use my phone."

[Alan_Hepburn]

Keithk3628 wrote:
...and there is some kind of military discount too but I didn't catch what that does, will have to ask the wife.
Keith

Verizon's military discount is 15% - all you need to do is show some ID (VA card, DD214, etc.)

[Bill_Satellite]

2oldman wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Not at all sure what this means........ Tethering at max 3G. .

That means a deal-breaker for me.

I got that part!!! I think that's what the salesman was trying to explain and, at that time, you could pay an additional amount to get 4G speeds. Clearly there's nothing in that wording that mentions such and option.