Verizon Cost Reduction

[lovy]

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to cut my phone bill down, I currently have the family plan 1400 minutes for my son and myself, My 13 year old basically use data and text as for me I have one sister that I speak to a lot but was wondering if I cut family plan how will i go about speaking to her, is skype voice calls good? If I get a skype number that will eliminate that problem but how good is the voice quality? and is there any free text messaging service? I am trying to go on the 700 minute plan with 10 added text messaging since I nor my son text a great deal.. Any suggestions are appreciated, right now my bill is about 230 smh each month.

 

[dpham00]

skype audio is okay, but both parties need skype for it to be free. if your sister is on verizon, then it should be covered under mobile to mobile for free, or you can use their paid service, but the tb sometimes drops data so you might have dropped calls. i also have freezees occasionally (have to pul the battery) but i am using the leaked skype video. another option, you can add her to your plan for an additional $10/mo+tax (assuming she's responsible person as you're responsible for the charges). i have the 550 min family plan, it's not advertised on the website, but you might be able to get it by calling in. i pay $50 for the primary line, and $10 for each additional line.

as for free texts, there are several. google voice or yahoo messenger will provide you with free texts, and i am sure there are others, but those are the ones i use. i use gv the most, but i use ym for free international texts.

 

[lovy]

skype audio is okay, but both parties need skype for it to be free. if your sister is on verizon, then it should be covered under mobile to mobile for free, or you can use their paid service, but the tb sometimes drops data so you might have dropped calls. i also have freezees occasionally (have to pul the battery) but i am using the leaked skype video. another option, you can add her to your plan for an additional $10/mo+tax (assuming she's responsible person as you're responsible for the charges). i have the 550 min family plan, it's not advertised on the website, but you might be able to get it by calling in. i pay $50 for the primary line, and $10 for each additional line.

as for free texts, there are several. google voice or yahoo messenger will provide you with free texts, and i am sure there are others, but those are the ones i use. i use gv the most, but i use ym for free international texts.

Thank you Dph ,

I was thinking of purchasing a skype phone number and giving it to people that are not on Verizon because it will ring my skype which is data, as for the 550 family plan I spoke to a rep and she didn't even mention that plan stated the lowest family plan was 700 minutes. Is this plan still in existence?

 

[Mooch10]

you can also have her change to Verizon and you can talk all you want

 

[lovy]

you can also have her change to Verizon and you can talk all you want

Hi Mooch,

Trying but it's like pulling teeth lol, I dont know what she get out of Tmobile lol

 

[richardpandy]

I don't know about your account, but I can add 10 numbers to my account that I can call anytime, within the US of course, and it doesn't use your normal minutes.

 

[weavertim]

I used to use google voice on my computer sometimes. it was free.

 

[FrankXS]

I don't know about your account, but I can add 10 numbers to my account that I can call anytime, within the US of course, and it doesn't use your normal minutes.

Unfortunately, you have to be on a $ 79/mo or more plan (1400 hrs) for this friends & family perk.

-Frank

Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt 4G/LTE using Tapatalk

 

[dpham00]

Thank you Dph ,

I was thinking of purchasing a skype phone number and giving it to people that are not on Verizon because it will ring my skype which is data, as for the 550 family plan I spoke to a rep and she didn't even mention that plan stated the lowest family plan was 700 minutes. Is this plan still in existence?

it's not a listed plan on their website. you can try to call in and ask to cancel your plan saying that XXX is cheaper or whatever. there's a chance they may offer it to you. it is only offered to certain people, so it's not a guarantee, but anyways, the plan i have is:

Nationwide Loyalty Family Share 550 Minutes $50 s4995 1107, that's what it says when i use the my verizon app on the tb.

if you work for a larger company or know someone who does, you can have them enter their work e-mail here, and then it will send them an e-mail with a link to you get a discount on the monthly access and feature (basically voice and data)

Employee Discount Program - Register Your Line

there are some restrictions, like the plan must be $35 or higher i believe, so only the primary line will get the voice discount for family plans.

 

[lovy]

Unfortunately, you have to be on a $ 79/mo or more plan (1400 hrs) for this friends & family perk.

-Frank

Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt 4G/LTE using Tapatalk

Hi Frank,

That's the plan I'm on now 1400 minutes with 10 family friends, but I dont use half of those minutes and I only talk to one person a lot on the FF plan so looking to lower it, if skype were working properly it could have really helped me with this dilemma.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

The primary line is usually the only line that gets any of the discounts, but I've been getting all of the in store corporate discounts with my line (I had my mom as the primary line and just recently switched my wife to the primary line). I got the Thunderbolt for $199 on launch day and the accessories were discounted too (even when I bought a single case later).

I really think it depends on the reps you get (over the phone or in store). A lot of the reps that have been there a while or the higher ups usually realize a good customer by looking at the account.

Sent from my Thunderbolt

 

[prakash99]

If your sister has an android or iphone, then you can cut down voice minutes if you both use some push to talk app like TIKL, etc

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[Unobtanium]

Having simiilar conundrum

I have been looking at our plan hard, because I want to go from my plain phone to a smartphone (probably Thunderbolt, but that's a whole other discussion). Just me and my wife on VZW, have been with them since it was Airtouch, right after the name change from Pactel. Went to them for the only true "no roaming, no long distance" plan when Bellsouth Mobility wouldn't match.

Anyway, we are texting more and talking less. Unless something goes really wrong, we will have been WAY under 700 voice minutes for four months in a row. She is over 250 texts/month. I get an 18% primary line voice discount through my employer, and 20% on data.

We are currently on the 1400 plan, using about 6 of the "F&F" numbers, and paying the $5 per line for 250 texts.

If we go to the 700 minute plan, we would lose "F&F" but we are under the minutes anyway, and the "F&F" to in-laws, her sister, etc. are usually night & weekend anyway. I ran a spreadsheet, we can go to the 700 minute pan, add the $10 per line 500 text plus unlimited mobile-to-mobile text, and get one smartphone with unlimited data and only be about $10 over where we are now per month.

The VZW rep tried to sell me on the $99.99 700 minute / unlimited text, but that's actually $10 +/- more than doing the individual $10 /month plans, which would fit in our usage right now, and we can always switch if we find our texting costs go up. However, with smartphones, we could replace texting with e-mail to some extent.

If she decides she wants a smartphone too, we are up to about $40 - $50 more than what we spend right now. We need to make a decision soon, the fora here are lit up about VZW going to tiered data pricing, but grandfathering in those with the unlimited data.

I'm tempted to see if I could force that Loyalty plan for 550 minutes a month out of them (I've certainly been loyal (two StartTACs, a v60, G'Zone type V, now on G'Zone Boulder, and I would Go G'Zone Commando if it were a 4G device)), but that 550 is right at the edge of our current usage.

 

[Unobtanium]

P.S to the above - Look at including Canada

I also got creative - looked at the "Nationwide plus Canada" plans. I don't go into Canada on a regular basis (been twice in the last 6 years), but they have a 450 minute family plan (59.99) with no "F&F" or a 900 with 5 "F&F" numbers (79.99), but limit the Night and weekend to 1000 minutes per month, instead of unlimited.

Both times I went to Canada, BTW, I switched to a plan that included Canada, and then back to our regular plan within 30 days, so we didn't have to worry about Canadian roaming while there. Was ESPECIALLY useful when we went as a family on a business trip, and she and the kids were doing the tourist thing while I was in meetings.

 

[bjboucher]

Your best bet is to talk to Verizon to see if they have something they can offer you. If you don't need the friends and family, Verizon has plan now that we recently switched to that has 700 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited mobile-mobile (any mobile, not just Verizon). I think the base price is 79 bucks plus any additional lines and data charges.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

What are you paying for your 1400 minute plan? That's what I have and even with 4 lines we barely use 400 but we have unlimited texting. I don't know why you don't have unlimited texting as I thought that was standard with a 1400 minute plan.

Sent from my Thunderbolt

 

[FrankXS]

What are you paying for your 1400 minute plan? That's what I have and even with 4 lines we barely use 400 but we have unlimited texting. I don't know why you don't have unlimited texting as I thought that was standard with a 1400 minute plan.

Sent from my Thunderbolt

No, texting is not included in the 1400/mo plan. Additionally, the 1400/mo plan is the lowest plan that allows the use of Friends and Family. Anything less and there is no Friends and Family.

Personally, if I wanted to lower my rates under lovy's circumstances, I'd be trying to get my sister on Verizon, or even, put her on my own plan for $9.95/mo (add-a-line). Then I could drop my minutes way down 'cuz she'd be on my own free Mobile to Mobile.

-Frank

 

[bjboucher]

No, texting is not included in the 1400/mo plan. Additionally, the 1400/mo plan is the lowest plan that allows the use of Friends and Family. Anything less and there is no Friends and Family.

Personally, if I wanted to lower my rates under lovy's circumstances, I'd be trying to get my sister on Verizon, or even, put her on my own plan for $9.95/mo (add-a-line). Then I could drop my minutes way down 'cuz she'd be on my own free Mobile to Mobile.

-Frank

When did you sign up for this plan? We had the 1400 minute Friends and Family plan for about 18 months (signed up in August 2009) and it included unlimited texting. If your plan is old, you should be able to get it changed.

 

[FrankXS]

When did you sign up for this plan? We had the 1400 minute Friends and Family plan for about 18 months (signed up in August 2009) and it included unlimited texting. If your plan is old, you should be able to get it changed.

Yeah, I know it is possible to get the "unlimited" stuff. But it costs extra. The basic $79.99/mo (plus 9.95 for extra line) 1400 Family Share plan does NOT include unlimited Text. You must have purchased the higher priced plan.

Looking now, I see that you probably have the "Talk and Text" plan for $119.99/mo, not the "Talk" plan at $89.99 (including the extra line).

-Frank

 

[bjboucher]

We changed plans a few months ago but that is probably what we had. I get a 15% discount on my bill which is nice. Right now I have 700 anytime minutes, unlimited text and unlimited mobile to mobile for 90 bucks before discount. We text way more than call so the texting is a must for us. My kids send/receive over 3,000 texts/month. Its crazy.