Re: [Instruction]How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon
But don't you have to pay the ETF + the $30 activation fee on the line, too?
Seems easier to just keep the extra line. Where I live, it is about $13 a month extra after taxes and fees to have a dumbphone extra line. For 20 months, that is $260. So the way I look at it is that I get an upgrade on that line every 20 months for the cost of $260. If I pay $200 + the $36 upgrade fee for the latest iPhone on that line it costs about $500 instead of the $650 it costs if you bought it full retail. You could probably sell the latest iPhone for $500 or close to it on swappa and then you would have an extra line, too. What I do with the extra line is keep it in my mother's car. She has an iPhone but she forgets it sometimes and this way she always has a phone in her car.
Anytime you add a line there is a $35 activation fee but anytime you upgrade an existing line of service there is a $30 UPGRADE fee, so they sort of off set--they ding you if you are a new or existing customer--, but yes, you are correct, you would get stuck with a $35 activation fee and $350 ETF on the new line.
Activation fees are much easier to waive than upgrade fees, so it's conceivable you could get lucky when you open the new line.
I would agree that keeping the extra line is not a bad option when you are only paying about $13 per month extra for that line. The problem is that for the person who has been flying totally solo, it costs much more to add a 2nd line.
Let's assume they are paying $39.99 for a 450 minute basic single plan with unlimited Nights and Weekends, unlimited VZW to VZW and no texting.
If they add a 2nd line and wish to start a Nationwide Family plan, the lowest plan is normally $50 for 700 minutes, but they do have a 550 minute LOYALTY plan for $40 if you ask nicely.....lol
So, if you add that 2nd line, your bill would look like this:
550 share minutes =$40 + $9.99 1st Line + $9.99 2nd line + approx. $3 tax on that 2nd line in your example but other states are higher and lower.
(There are taxes on the 1st line too but I didn't include those since you will pay them as a single line plan too.)
Total cost for single plan is $39.99 for 450 minutes vs. $62.98 for a 2 line family share with 550 minutes.
You can do the math, but it isn't worth it over 2 years.
Of course, if you are a power texter and need unlimited texting, (something I've never understood since Google Voice became popular...lol) Verizon charges $20 to add unlimited texting to a single plan or $30 to add it to a family share plan, so that 2nd line could end up being very costly.
So they let you switch lines back and forth like that? Well if that is the case, I should just rent out my extra dumbphone line to allow people to transfer their unlimited data lines' upgrades to, lol!
Well, typically people that do assumption of liabilities are using it as a means to avoid paying for or outright canceling a line they no longer want and paying an ETF. I'd imagine Verizon views it favorably since they are not actually losing a line of service and could potentially be gaining a new customer.
Most people aren't going to agree to take it back once they get rid of it, but these aren't normal circumstances--i.e. we are discussing how to use loopholes to keep unlimited data

--and there is no law that says a line of service can only be transferred once.