Verizon unlimited upgrade loophole

[dmaynard83]

So my gf has a upgrade and she is on the tiered plan.

So I have a note 2 which my gf wants, so the question is should I upgrade her line with the s4 and swap it to my line when it comes in so I keep my unlimited or wait for the note 3?

I'm asking because verizon might change a policy so this loophole won't work anymore and we would have to upgrade at full price in the future (when the note 3 comes out)

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[Raptor007]

I would take the S4, the Note 3 likely won't be out until November on Verizon. Tough call though.

 

[scorpiodsu]

Is your question about which phone you should have or if you should keep your unlimited or both? The first is up to you. Who are we to decide which device you get LOL. And the second, certainly. It's not really a loophole it's simply because there have been no changes to your line so therefore no change in services. As long as you're not using any upgrades or changes to your plan you should be able to keep unlimited as long as you want. No loophole required LOL. These carriers still have plenty of customers on old legacy plans that haven't been offered in years. I see no difference here.

 

[dmaynard83]

Is your question about which phone you should have or if you should keep your unlimited or both? The first is up to you. Who are we to decide which device you get LOL. And the second, certainly. It's not really a loophole it's simply because there have been no changes to your line so therefore no change in services. As long as you're not using any upgrades or changes to your plan you should be able to keep unlimited as long as you want. No loophole required LOL. These carriers still have plenty of customers on old legacy plans that haven't been offered in years. I see no difference here.

Well one of the loopholes are if you transfer your upgrade to someone else on your plan you won't lose unlimited data. And you can swap the phone when it comes in.

The question is should I take advantage of the loophole now and take a minor upgrade on the s4 coming from the note 2 (giving the note 2 to my gf which she wants) or wait at the end of year for the note 3 comes out hoping verizon didn't change any policy to take advantage of this loophole.

Thanks for the responses.

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[androidluvr2]

The question is should I take advantage of the loophole now and take a minor upgrade on the s4 coming from the note 2 (giving the note 2 to my gf which she wants) or wait at the end of year for the note 3 comes out hoping verizon didn't change any policy to take advantage of this loophole.

Verizon gave a warning before the changed their policy so I would imagine they would do that again. If you pay attention here, you should be fine waiting. I don't see them changing their policies without giving a warning first.

 

[exempli_gratia]

So it's possible to upgrade from dumbphone to smartphone, then switch back to your old dumbphone, and thus go back to the lower month rate? Thus have a discounted brand new smartphone to do with as you please (i.e. sell for nice profit on ebay), with no increased monthly cost?

Seems to be missing something, no? Why wouldn't people with dumbphones do this more often? I guess may be this is where some of the ebay phones come from; but seems odd.

 

[dmaynard83]

So it's possible to upgrade from dumbphone to smartphone, then switch back to your old dumbphone, and thus go back to the lower month rate? Thus have a discounted brand new smartphone to do with as you please (i.e. sell for nice profit on ebay), with no increased monthly cost?

Seems to be missing something, no? Why wouldn't people with dumbphones do this more often? I guess may be this is where some of the ebay phones come from; but seems odd.

The loophole I know is only in relation to upgrading phones and keeping unlimited plan.

So basically you are able to take advantage of the subsidized price while keeping your unlimited plan.

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[androidluvr2]

So it's possible to upgrade from dumbphone to smartphone, then switch back to your old dumbphone, and thus go back to the lower month rate? Thus have a discounted brand new smartphone to do with as you please (i.e. sell for nice profit on ebay), with no increased monthly cost?

yes, this is possible.

 

[jackdubl]

Verizon won't end this loophole. People have been doing it with other types of grandfathered plans for decades.

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[snookasnoo]

Ditto. The S 4 is pretty darn nice with better build quality and screen. I have my complaints about it but I'm replacing my Note 2 with one on Verizon and will consider the Note 3 when it comes out. I pay full price for my phones so I can keep unlimited though.

I would take the S4, the Note 3 likely won't be out until November on Verizon. Tough call though.

 

[majorpayne]

So it's possible to upgrade from dumbphone to smartphone, then switch back to your old dumbphone, and thus go back to the lower month rate? Thus have a discounted brand new smartphone to do with as you please (i.e. sell for nice profit on ebay), with no increased monthly cost?

Seems to be missing something, no? Why wouldn't people with dumbphones do this more often? I guess may be this is where some of the ebay phones come from; but seems odd.

Yes you can transfer the upgrade tot he dumbphone and then switch it the line back tot he dumbphone without losing your unlimited.. I know this as I just bought my wife the Note 2 for 150 and did just this on 4/2/13 at best buy.

 

[exempli_gratia]

Yes you can transfer the upgrade tot he dumbphone and then switch it the line back tot he dumbphone without losing your unlimited.. I know this as I just bought my wife the Note 2 for 150 and did just this on 4/2/13 at best buy.

Thank you, good to hear real experience. But in your case you were on a shared plane already, with one line being dumbphone, right?

Does that work if the dumbphone is was on a separate plan? Can it still upgrade to smartphone, with the required data plan; then switch back to dumpphone, and drop the data plan?

What's the process of switching phones? The 4G to 4G? And the 4G to "Feature phone" (with the drop of data plan)? Can that be done online?

Thanks.

 

[majorpayne]

Thank you, good to hear real experience. But in your case you were on a shared plane already, with one line being dumbphone, right?

Does that work if the dumbphone is was on a separate plan? Can it still upgrade to smartphone, with the required data plan; then switch back to dumpphone, and drop the data plan?

What's the process of switching phones? The 4G to 4G? And the 4G to "Feature phone" (with the drop of data plan)? Can that be done online?

Thanks.

Yes, we are on a family share plan with at least 1 line being a dumbphone. With the dumbphone being on a different plan i do not know if it would work the same. I would think that they would frown upon this but in theory it should work. You can actually go to thier website now and do the switching and if the phone has been on the account before you don't even need the MEUI or anyhting as it'll be in a drop down

 

[androidluvr2]

Does that work if the dumbphone is was on a separate plan? Can it still upgrade to smartphone, with the required data plan; then switch back to dumpphone, and drop the data plan?

Doesn't have to be on the same plan. If the lines are on the same account, then upgrades can be transferred.

What's the process of switching phones? The 4G to 4G? And the 4G to "Feature phone" (with the drop of data plan)? Can that be done online?

There is a thread on this with instructions on the Verizon forum.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon/227608-instruction-how-keep-unlimited-data-verizon.html

 

[exempli_gratia]

Doesn't have to be on the same plan. If the lines are on the same account, then upgrades can be transferred.
...
There is a thread on this with instructions on the Verizon forum.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon/227608-instruction-how-keep-unlimited-data-verizon.html

Thank you, will catch up with that thread.

In the case I'm thinking of, it's two totally separate accounts, and no transfer of upgrades. Just that account-1 does the dumb/no-data --> smart/data upgrade, then switches back to dumb/no-data. And then hands off the now liberated smartphone to account-2. Seems like the same essential elements as the two-line-under-one-account approach discussed here; not sure VZ sees it that way.

 

[androidluvr2]

In the case I'm thinking of, it's two totally separate accounts, and no transfer of upgrades.
Just that account-1 does the dumb/no-data --> smart/data upgrade, then switches back to dumb/no-data. And then hands off the now liberated smartphone to account-2. Seems like the same essential elements as the two-line-under-one-account approach discussed here; not sure VZ sees it that way.

You are allowed to do that. The person is giving you a gift. Verizon doesn't have a problem with that. Once Account 1 buys the phone, they are free to do with it what they want, including giving it away as a gift. And once they reactivate their dumb phone on Account 1, they no longer need a data plan.

Just have them activate the smartphone on their account first. Then they put their dumbphone back on their line, remove the data plan, and then you activate the smartphone on your unlimited data account. You will need to get a new SIM card to do that unless you already have a compatible 4G LTE SIM card for you line, then just switch the SIM card into the new smartphone.

The only caveat in all of that is that you can only do this if you get the smartphone from Verizon, Costco or Best Buy. Any other retailer will charge Account 1 a $400 fee if they don't keep the smartphone with the dataplan on their line for at least 180 days.

 

[exempli_gratia]

Just have them activate the smartphone on their account first. Then they put their dumbphone back on their line, remove the data plan, and then you activate the smartphone on your unlimited data account. You will need to get a new SIM card to do that unless you already have a compatible 4G LTE SIM card for you line, then just switch the SIM card into the new smartphone.

Are not all 4G LTE SIM's cross-compatible? Would a 4G SIM from a Galaxy Nexus work in the S4 (or too soon to tell since VZ's S4 is not out yet)?

The only caveat in all of that is that you can only do this if you get the smartphone from Verizon, Costco or Best Buy. Any other retailer will charge Account 1 a $400 fee if they don't keep the smartphone with the dataplan on their line for at least 180 days.

Cool. Was concerned about limits/penalties for dropping data. Good to know direct from VZ doesn't. Thanks.

Any concerns in dropping Account-1's "Share Everything" Smartphone Data back to "Share Everything" Non-Smart Data (basic 300mb), once back on basic phone? (I've seen some posts that implying "Share Everything" plans are less malleable)

 

[androidluvr2]

Are not all 4G LTE SIM's cross-compatible? Would a 4G SIM from a Galaxy Nexus work in the S4 (or too soon to tell since VZ's S4 is not out yet)?

GNex has a micro SIM card. I think S4 has a micro SIM card, too, and if so, that would work to just use the GNex SIM card in the S4.

Any concerns in dropping Account-1's "Share Everything" Smartphone Data back to "Share Everything" Non-Smart Data (basic 300mb), once back on basic phone? (I've seen some posts that implying "Share Everything" plans are less malleable)

What happens on the Nationwide Family Share plans is that you get charged for the data plan in the month you add it. Then if you drop it in the same month, they give you a prorated credit the next month. So for those plans, you pay for it when you add it, but it gets deducted from your next bill.

I would think it would work the same way with Share Everything but it can't hurt to call and ask.

 

[CupidsRevolver]

You"ll lose your unlimited eventually regardless.even if you use someone else's or another lines upgrade, when your contract end date comes (which is typicall within four months of your upgrade) when you renew your contract with VZW you'll lose your unlimited then. Whether you used your upgrade or not.

 

[dmaynard83]

You"ll lose your unlimited eventually regardless.even if you use someone else's or another lines upgrade, when your contract end date comes (which is typicall within four months of your upgrade) when you renew your contract with VZW you'll lose your unlimited then. Whether you used your upgrade or not.

And if you don't renew?

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