Prepaid vs Postpaid

[bchandler02]

I just read that VzW announced new prepaid plans today. Trying to figure out what the incentive is for staying on postpaid and giving evil red any more money than absolutely necessary.
Verizon adds two new data-packed prepaid plans to give customers even more value | About Verizon

On my postpaid account, I have 1 line and 10GB for $90 (after employee discount).
On prepaid, I could get 5GB for $50 or 10gb for $70.

I use 4-5GB a month, so either one is an option. The new plans include carryover and hotspot usage. I don't care about Wifi calling.
Coverage looks to be the same from what I can tell on their map.

So, what are the advantages to a post paid account/plan?

 

[pbike908]

WIFI calling is now available on Prepaid -- so long as your phone supports it. So is simultaneous voice and data.

Prepaid is definitely a better deal for most folks if they aren't on a family plan or if the don't receive a big corporate discount.

Postpaid will get you Verizon's visual voice mail. But on Prepaid you can have pretty much the same thing by using Google Voice Mail which is what I have done.

I believe that Prepaid will let you stream the NFL on cellular data without impacting your data.

I think the built in malware security that Verizon offers is only on postpaid. But malware on Android can pretty much be avoided by using common sense -- the biggest being don't side load any apps.

Those I believe are the biggies.

I am on Prepaid, primarily because it's a better deal since I am not on a family plan. I have been on it for over 2 years and I never have had a problem with the service or data throttling.

 

[dpham00]

There are also better promotions for phones. Just on one line I picked up several phones$200 off and $300 trade in value for a cracked screen g4 which I paid $110 for within the last few months.

Of course promotions vary, just depends on what is available at the time

 

[pbike908]

There are also better promotions for phones. Just on one line I picked up several phones$200 off and $300 trade in value for a cracked screen g4 which I paid $110 for within the last few months.

Of course promotions vary, just depends on what is available at the time

I presume you are saying that Postpaid has better promotions on phones??? I would say that is correct. I briefly switched to Postpaid for a couple of months last December because of a deal Verizon was offering on the Droid Turbo 2. I then paid off the phone and went back to prepaid. It was cheaper for me to do that although I did have a couple of months with less data. I understand that Verizon has tightened up the ability to do that with their recent promotions.

 

[bchandler02]

Thanks. I can buy my phone outright. My only concern with what I have learned so far is that prepaid does not include roaming on what postpaid refers to as "Extended Network" - it is 25 cents a minute for voice, and no data option in that case.

 

[pbike908]

Thanks. I can buy my phone outright. My only concern with what I have learned so far is that prepaid does not include roaming on what postpaid refers to as "Extended Network" - it is 25 cents a minute for voice, and no data option in that case.

I spend a fair amount of time in the boonies and I have never encountered a roaming charge. But then again like most folks, I don't talk on my phone much. And in the boonies, I am often times the only one with data and usually the one with the best signal when I hang out with Tmobile, AT&T, and Sprint folks. I have been on prepaid for the better part of 3 years. I think you will be fine.

 

[dpham00]

I presume you are saying that Postpaid has better promotions on phones??? I would say that is correct. I briefly switched to Postpaid for a couple of months last December because of a deal Verizon was offering on the Droid Turbo 2. I then paid off the phone and went back to prepaid. It was cheaper for me to do that although I did have a couple of months with less data. I understand that Verizon has tightened up the ability to do that with their recent promotions.

Yes better promotions on phones. Verizon is definitely getting stricter though.

 

[reversalagent]

The timing of this discussion is great. I am in the same boat, postpaid with 2 lines, 1 unlimited 1 with 2 gb, and pay about ~$170 / month. The 2nd phone just went off contract and I am interested in looking at prepaid. My phones are paid off as of now, so I am really trying to figure out what advantage I have to staying postpaid.
One phone uses about 3 - 5 gb / month (but that can change given Wifi), the other about <= 2 gb.

I am looking at the exact plan mentioned here, 2 x 5 gb $50 / month plans. I get a corporate discount of about 20% so debating if pre or post option is best.
I have tried to research as best as possible, but hoping someone can answer a few questions:

1. Is there a "line fee" with prepaid? If the plan is $50 dollars a month, is that it? With postpaid, there is an $80 option, but it appears I have to pay $20 a month PER phone or is this incorrect?
2. Does the $50 dollar plan allow autopay and get a $5 discount per month?
3. Am I really losing anything by going to prepaid? I assume it is the same coverage, service etc. I have iPhones, so visual voicemail is already included. I guess what I am trying to ask is what is the difference of the two options?

Sorry, never have done prepaid and just curious about options and saving money. Thanks for any replies.

 

[dpham00]

No line fee with prepaid.

Post paid has$20 line access charge per line. Not sure about auto pay.

 

[pbike908]

Sorry, never have done prepaid and just curious about options and saving money. Thanks for any replies.

All the answers you need are above. And the Verizon site explains the auto pay discounts pretty clearly. I don't think you are missing anything with Prepaid. And it's month to month. So if your phones are paid off and you don't like it, just go back on postpaid.