[Instruction] How to get a new phone and keep (legacy) Unlimited Data on Verizon

[scipper77]

Re: Best Buy Mobile lets me keep Unlimited Data Plan on Verizon?

I don't see why they wouldn't allow you to add insurance with a new device. When I go to my features I get this option. You might want to check with big red before attempting.

Sent from my SM-N900V using AC Forums mobile app

I get that with my wives line because she has insurance. I am just hoping that I will be able to add insurance without any actual human interaction. Human interaction after upgrade = no UDP.

I think you are right about calling Verizon. I can talk freely about anything I want before I change my plan and there is no way for them to take my unlimited from me. After I upgrade I'll be afraid to call Verizon for anything.

 

[rdjr74]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

Does your contract showed it's updated on the verizon website when you switch sim cards? I tracked my phone and it's going to be here tomorrow and my contract on the verizon website has not updated yet?

My contract date changed about two hours after placing the order.

 

[aprules2]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

Hi guys, just went to try this on Best Buy's site, I chose keep my existing plan. Then at the next screen it says this device requires a network data plan choose one... The only thing I can click is Network Access Fee More Everything - Smartphone Line Access $40 per month. Did they finally catch on? My terrible Droid M has a busted screen and speaker Id really like to swap it for an s5. Will my sim card fit with out cutting?

 

[aprules2]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

I'm reading posts everywhere trying to figure this all out. I just read something else on here, and I'm slightly confused. I have a family plan its the old one where everyone has their own data and text plan but shares minutes. There are 4 phones on the account only mine has the Unlimited Data Plan everyone else has the 2gb plan. As of now my phone is the only one with an upgrade available, but I dont want to lose my plan. 2 phones on my plan have used their upgrade already and have a year until they are reliable. Can I transfer my upgrade to one of those lines and get a new phone on that line, then later activate it on my number or will I lose the unlimited Data Plan.

 

[Throwback559]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

activated the m8 on Thursday. so far so good. paid $5 to have a phone shop trim down my sim.
this is the best thread ever in internet history lol

 

[oldstyle00]

Re: [Instruction]How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

@dss2000
I did everything you told me that you said about transferring upgrades around. I transferred an upgrade from one of my UDP to my wife to get an iphone and it ended up trying to sign my UDP into a new contract. The way you made it seem was I would beable to transfer my upgrade and not be at risk of losing my UDP. Is there something I am missing?

Line1-UDP eligible for upgrade
Lind2-UDP eligible for upgrade
Line3-Tiered data plan not eligible
Line4-dumb phone not eligible
Line5-dumb phone eligible for upgrade

So what I did was used the upgrade on Line 5 to get an M8 for myself, which came today but when looking at my verizon said I had a pending transaction from transfering my upgrade to Line 3 to get an iphone. Talked to verizon and the lady told me to reject the iphone 5 coming in the mail so I could keep my unlimited data. She said by transfering my upgrade it places my Line into a contract in order to use to transfer upgrade. Just wanted to know if there was a way around any of this. I should beable to get the M8 onto my number using all the info here, but didn't know if there was another way to transfer upgrades without the UDP lines being entered into contracts. I guess I am not understanding how transfering an upgrade puts my line into a new contract when its not going to be my phone.

 

[phloker]

Re: Best Buy Mobile lets me keep Unlimited Data Plan on Verizon?

I ordered a new HTC One M8 to replace my Droid Razr. When it arrives, I'm tempted to insert a new nano sim ordered from Verizon with my current Droid # and unlimited data plan. Would that have the same effect as cutting the Droid's existing sim card? I'm hesitant to cut the existing sim in case this whole plan doesn't work and I have to go back to the Droid while it gets sorted out.

 

[dss2000]

Re: [Instruction]How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

@dss2000
I did everything you told me that you said about transferring upgrades around. I transferred an upgrade from one of my UDP to my wife to get an iphone and it ended up trying to sign my UDP into a new contract. The way you made it seem was I would beable to transfer my upgrade and not be at risk of losing my UDP. Is there something I am missing?

Line1-UDP eligible for upgrade
Lind2-UDP eligible for upgrade
Line3-Tiered data plan not eligible
Line4-dumb phone not eligible
Line5-dumb phone eligible for upgrade

So what I did was used the upgrade on Line 5 to get an M8 for myself, which came today but when looking at my verizon said I had a pending transaction from transfering my upgrade to Line 3 to get an iphone. Talked to verizon and the lady told me to reject the iphone 5 coming in the mail so I could keep my unlimited data. She said by transfering my upgrade it places my Line into a contract in order to use to transfer upgrade. Just wanted to know if there was a way around any of this. I should beable to get the M8 onto my number using all the info here, but didn't know if there was another way to transfer upgrades without the UDP lines being entered into contracts. I guess I am not understanding how transfering an upgrade puts my line into a new contract when its not going to be my phone.

You should be able to order an M8 using the upgrade for Line 5. When you get it activate it on Line 1 and it should preserve your UDP. There will be a pending activation on that Line5 but you never activate it and it will eventually fall off in a week. Until it falls off in a week you won't be able to order or transfer another upgrade. If you don't want to wait that week then activate it on Line5, then activate the original dumb phone back on Line5 that will free up the new M8. You can then activate the M8 on your UDP line. Sometimes there is a hitch with this because when you activated the M8 on Line5 it associates the SIM with that Line5 and when you go to activate it on the UDP it will say it can't because it is still associated with Line5. If this happens you then have to call Verizon or do Online chat (I find this more convenient) and ask them to un-associate it with Line5 and they will. Then you can activate it on the UDP line. Your Line5 should then be available to receive another transfer upgrade and order another phone and repeat the process.

At what point in the process is it asking you to sign your UDP into a new contract? When you transfer the upgrade it just asks you to pick a data plan for the Line5 which is just temporary.
At activation? If so even if it says you need to change your data plan, click OK and look carefully at the choices in data, even though it says that in the prior screen your unlimited data should be one of the choices.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Best Buy Mobile lets me keep Unlimited Data Plan on Verizon?

I get that with my wives line because she has insurance. I am just hoping that I will be able to add insurance without any actual human interaction. Human interaction after upgrade = no UDP.

I think you are right about calling Verizon. I can talk freely about anything I want before I change my plan and there is no way for them to take my unlimited from me. After I upgrade I'll be afraid to call Verizon for anything.

I just called Verizon and I was told that if I buy a device and swap the sim card from my old device it will automatically be recognized as a new device and then I will have the option to add insurance through MyVerizon. I was cautioned that I just have to be sure that the sim card is compatible with the new device (I'll have to cut mine.) So, according to Verizon, I can do the swap and add insurance with no human interaction. I'll report back if I can verify that this works.

Good news for me is that I don't even use much data. If I end up tiered it really won't cost me anything. It's pure greed for me that I am hanging on to my UDP. (For 2 lines I was under a gig last month)

 

[Wiedle]

Re: Best Buy Mobile lets me keep Unlimited Data Plan on Verizon?

Hey peeps,

Just wanted to update. Ordered two phones to upgrade the two lines on my UDP. I also ordered a new sim from amazon (thanks to the person that recommended that to me).

Using the procedures outlined in this thread, I switched my droid razr to my new S5. I then put the new sim card in the razr and activated the razr on my wife's line ( iphone 4, no sim in that phone). Once activated, I used that sim in the 2nd S5 I got for her.

It has only been about 4 hours, but verizon still shows us having S5 phones, upgrade eligible 2 years from the date I purchased them, with unlimited data and no changes to our pre-existing plan features. Oddly enough, when I switched her iphone line to the razr, our bill dropped $9/mo. I am guessing there was some insurance on that line that I wasn't aware of, but that's great.

Thanks to anyone that helped me through this process. It really was pretty simple.

 

[aprules2]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

Here I found another screen shot of what I was talking about on the best buy site apparently someone else had the same problem but no one could give them advise on how to resolve it heres their screen cap....
http://forums.androidcentral.com/attachments/verizon/116157d1399138369-best-buy-mobile-lets-me-keep-unlimited-data-plan-verizon-best-buy-verizon-phone-ordering.png

 

[FlyingArrow]

Re: [Instruction] How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

I think I just kept unlimited data on two simultaneous upgrades. No extra line needed. No trip to Best Buy. No cutting SIM cards. Not even picking up new SIM cards.

Online, I went through with normal upgrades on both lines, requesting a Droid MAXX and an HTC One M8. I upgraded both separately so that I wasn't forced to enroll in Share Everything. Instead, both numbers stayed on the Nationwide plan. I did have to mark a 2GB line for each upgrade when getting the phones, seeming like I'd lose unlimited. The phones arrived today. I had requested the phone I want on her line and the phone she wanted on my line. Then I activated them online but put them on the opposite lines from how I ordered them. I treated them as if they were any phone I picked up from a 3rd party. The SIM cards that came with the phones worked fine during activation - I didn't have to get new ones. Both phones are now working and My Verizon still says I have unlimited data. The contracts have been extended 2 years. Unless there's something that is going to time out and turn off the unlimited data in the next week or two, that appears to have worked.

I did this based on the suggestion of one helpful Verizon rep on the phone. I tried calling many other times to get confirmation and possibly have someone walk me through it, but everybody else I talked to in chat or on the phone said I had to buy full retail.

Oh - there was one slightly tricky part. When I went to activate the phones, it defaults to ask if I want to activate the new phone they shipped me. There's a link to instead go to another page where you can activate a different phone. It's a sentence at the end of the paragraph - not a large button or anything like that, so it might be easy to overlook. Then choose the radio button to activate a phone that you haven't had on that number previously.

 

[jklaz]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

Hi guys, just went to try this on Best Buy's site, I chose keep my existing plan. Then at the next screen it says this device requires a network data plan choose one... The only thing I can click is Network Access Fee More Everything - Smartphone Line Access $40 per month. Did they finally catch on? My terrible Droid M has a busted screen and speaker Id really like to swap it for an s5. Will my sim card fit with out cutting?

If they did catch on, it's BS. I literally planned on doing this right now. This is the second time this has happened to me. When Verizon had their glitch a few months back allowing upgrades, I missed the chance right after. Now this method is being stopped? Please no

 

[dss2000]

Re: [Instruction] How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

I think I just kept unlimited data on two simultaneous upgrades. No extra line needed. No trip to Best Buy. No cutting SIM cards. Not even picking up new SIM cards.

Online, I went through with normal upgrades on both lines, requesting a Droid MAXX and an HTC One M8. I upgraded both separately so that I wasn't forced to enroll in Share Everything. Instead, both numbers stayed on the Nationwide plan. I did have to mark a 2GB line for each upgrade when getting the phones, seeming like I'd lose unlimited. The phones arrived today. I had requested the phone I want on her line and the phone she wanted on my line. Then I activated them online but put them on the opposite lines from how I ordered them. I treated them as if they were any phone I picked up from a 3rd party. The SIM cards that came with the phones worked fine during activation - I didn't have to get new ones. Both phones are now working and My Verizon still says I have unlimited data. The contracts have been extended 2 years. Unless there's something that is going to time out and turn off the unlimited data in the next week or two, that appears to have worked.

I did this based on the suggestion of one helpful Verizon rep on the phone. I tried calling many other times to get confirmation and possibly have someone walk me through it, but everybody else I talked to in chat or on the phone said I had to buy full retail.

Oh - there was one slightly tricky part. When I went to activate the phones, it defaults to ask if I want to activate the new phone they shipped me. There's a link to instead go to another page where you can activate a different phone. It's a sentence at the end of the paragraph - not a large button or anything like that, so it might be easy to overlook. Then choose the radio button to activate a phone that you haven't had on that number previously.

Thanks for sharing. I actually thought of what you described before and thought it should work but never had the guts to try it or recommend it. So just to confirm I'm following what you did. You have Line 1 and Line 2 both with UDP and upgrades. Transfer upgrade from Line 1 to Line 2 order phone select 2GB data plan. When phone comes activate it on Line 1, 2GB plan never goes into effect and Line 1 UDP is preserved. Wait week for pending activation on Line 2 to fall off. Then transfer upgrade from Line 2 to Line 1 and order a new phone. Activate new phone directly on Line 2. Pending activation on Line 1 eventually falls off you have two new phones on UDP.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[pdxcraigslist]

Re: Best Buy Mobile lets me keep Unlimited Data Plan on Verizon?

So it looks like you have to already have an active 4GLTE sim card to use this method?
Unfortunately I only have two 3G iPhone4s with no simcards.

Is the only way to use this method to somehow activate a sim card in 4gLTE phone (i.e. used Nexus) for my line and then swap it with the new sim card?
Anyone know how this might work for us dinosaurs on 3G with no sim cards?
Thanks

 

[marcus321]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

When I first go and select a device and choose "Upgrade my device (2-year contract extension) with Verizon Wireless " I get a note on the bottom that states "Do you have an existing unlimited data plan?
Here's what you need to know:
With Verizon's new Share Everything plan, unlimited data is no longer available. When you upgrade your device, you will not have unlimited data.
If keeping unlimited data is important to you, you can choose "Replace my device" and pay full retail price for a new device."

Has everyone been getting that? Is it okay to continue and I still get to keep my UDP?

 

[cnotes2019]

Re: [Instruction] How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

Thanks for sharing. I actually thought of what you described before and thought it should work but never had the guts to try it or recommend it. So just to confirm I'm following what you did. You have Line 1 and Line 2 both with UDP and upgrades. Transfer upgrade from Line 1 to Line 2 order phone select 2GB data plan. When phone comes activate it on Line 1, 2GB plan never goes into effect and Line 1 UDP is preserved. Wait week for pending activation on Line 2 to fall off. Then transfer upgrade from Line 2 to Line 1 and order a new phone. Activate new phone directly on Line 2. Pending activation on Line 1 eventually falls off you have two new phones on UDP.

Posted via Android Central App

How can this work??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FlyingArrow]

Re: [Instruction] How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

Both lines have UDP and had upgrades available.

But I never transferred any upgrade. I didn't do any waiting. I just did a normal upgrade and went through the motions of accepting a new tiered plan on each line. I did both phones online, one right after the other. When I tried to do them simultaneously (check both phones at the same time), it tried to force me from Nationwide into the Share Everything plan. It may not have made a difference, but I wanted to change as little as possible during this process. Doing them individually, I put down a 2GB data plan while keeping the Nationwide talk/text plan on each phone.

Apparently the new tiered plan doesn't start until you activate the phone on that line... that's what it said as I was checking out and also what the friendly Verizon rep had indicated. The contract extends immediately for 2 years and of course the upgrade is gone immediately, but the tiered plan doesn't kick in until the phone is activated on the given line. So I never activated on that line... I activated each phone on the opposite line as if it were bought as a 3rd party phone. I activated both the same day they arrived. I did have to click on a link to say that I wasn't activating the new phone that was on its way, which was the default screen after clicking to activate a phone. The link about activating a different phone wasn't hidden, but it wasn't a big huge button either... just a sentence about activating a different phone. I didn't have to switch the phones after activating them because I ordered them 'backward' with the intention of switching them. So the phone I want was ordered on her line and then activated on my number. Vice versa for her phone.

I was too lazy to go through the Best Buy rigamarole, so I just went with what the one friendly, knowledgeable Verizon rep told me. I wasn't sure if it would work, since every other rep either didn't know how to do it (not knowledgeable) or has been told not to share such information (not friendly). We're not big data users, so if we lost unlimited it wouldn't have been a huge loss for us. (We're on wifi most of the time.) But I am glad it's there just in case.

Can't guarantee something funny won't happen in the next couple weeks, but for today we have new subsidized phones and still have the unlimited data. I didn't call the 877 number they said to call. Maybe if I had it wouldn't have worked? Maybe since I didn't they're going to cut me off somehow in the next week? *shrug* But that's how I did it in case someone wants to replicate it. No guarantees.

 

[pdxcraigslist]

Re: Verizon: How to keep Unlimited Data and get phone on subsidized price

So it looks like you have to already have an active 4GLTE sim card to use this method?
Unfortunately I only have two 3G iPhone4s with no simcards.

Is the only way to use this method to somehow activate a sim card in 4gLTE phone (i.e. used Nexus) for my line and then swap it with the new sim card?
Anyone know how this might work for us dinosaurs on 3G with no sim cards?
Thanks

 

[oldstyle00]

Re: [Instruction]How to Keep Unlimited Data on Verizon

I received the M8 with the Line 5 upgrade and then the following day my wife wanted a new iphone so I transferred the upgrade I had on my UDP to her Line 3, I received my new M8 in the mail today and it said I had a pending transaction on Line 1 because of the upgrade transfer I guess. I called Verizon and they understood what I was trying to do and didn't want the lose my UDP, so she said I needed to reject the Iphone coming in the mail so my plan wouldn't change. I don't know if I possibly could have accepted the phone then called them without turning the Iphone on to possibly save my UDP, but I didn't want to risk it. I guess I should have waited until I got the M8 all taken care of. It must have asked to upgrade plans after I ordered the Iphone, but I didn't realize it because it was the same plan my wife was already on, but for some reason that plan then got associated with my number and was putting me into a new contract. Everything went great when ordering the M8, but I think I should have waited to order the other phone until I got the M8 on my UDP. You know more about all of these transferring things around then I do so hopefully I am explaining all of this well enough. Also when I go into activate phone on my Verizon the Iphone coming in the mail is associated with both my line and my wifes, I have no other options other then activate that phone. The way the reps on the phone made it sound was if I transferred my upgrade the system would make me choose a new plan because my phone isn't on a contract, so it would try to put my line into a new contract (if that makes sense). Both reps I talked to on the phone were great and were telling me every different way to try and preserve my UDP the reps in the Verizon store I went to were doing the complete opposite and wouldn't help me at all.