Verizon unlimited upgrade loophole

[Xxw0lfxX]

What "loophole" are we talking about? I'm eligible for a upgrade now, but really can't afford to lose my unlimited data, on either line...

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[dmaynard83]

What "loophole" are we talking about? I'm eligible for a upgrade now, but really can't afford to lose my unlimited data, on either line...

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You need a dummy line to transfer the upgrades to. So either open one or bite the bullet on a upgrade.

I think someone worked out its about 25% cheaper than paying full price.

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[Premium1]

I have 2 smartphones(1 unlimited and one on the 2gb plan) the unlimited is up for upgrade, can I switch the upgrade to the other non unlimited line and then activate it and switch to my main line( with unlimited data and still have unlimited correct? I used to do this but make sure it is still the same process.

 

[taylorz_412]

I have 2 smartphones(1 unlimited and one on the 2gb plan) the unlimited is up for upgrade, can I switch the upgrade to the other non unlimited line and then activate it and switch to my main line( with unlimited data and still have unlimited correct? I used to do this but make sure it is still the same process.

Yup you can, just did it to get my pre order in. Had a couple unlimited lines and one dumb phone I transferred the upgrade from the unlimited to the dumb phone and preorders the s4, once it gets here il activate it switch it to my line and cancel the data package on it to put the dumb phone back on the line

 

[tfast500]

im going to try this method... i believe i read enough to understand this process

I pre-ordered the s4 using an upgrade on my grandpas dumb phone since i have an unlimited line... since he went to a smart phone a 30 dollar data plan was needed to be upgraded on his line....

Is this the correct process? (i know its redundant just want to dumb it down step by step to make sure everything goes flawlessly)

1. When phone arrives in mail go online or call Verizon to activate the S4 on his line removing his dumb phone from the line...
2. go online and switch phone esn on his line back to his old phone... (will this automatically cancel the 30 dollar 2gb plan????) if not can i call and cancel free of charge?
3. now take the S4 floater phone and put my bionic sim card into it and wait for it to automatically activate?

my father has an upgrade on his line also so can he transfer that upgrade onto my gpas dumb phone and repeat the whole cycle or will at this point verizon catch on to what im doing?

let me know if these steps are correct thanks!!!

 

[exempli_gratia]

... since he went to a smart phone a 30 dollar data plan was needed to be upgraded on his line...

Is there still a $30 data plan? I thought only the $30/line + $40 share-everything plans are available now.

 

[anon(1733)]

Yup you can, just did it to get my pre order in. Had a couple unlimited lines and one dumb phone I transferred the upgrade from the unlimited to the dumb phone and preorders the s4, once it gets here il activate it switch it to my line and cancel the data package on it to put the dumb phone back on the line

I would watch that. My brother did that transferee his upgrade from his unlimited line to a dumb phone line and it worked. However Verizon caught it and canceled his unlimited data about two months in. They would not give the unlimited plan back because they said he used his upgrade on the unlimited line. Might have just been bad luck for him but I would still use caution. Now I just use the upgrades on my dumb phone lines and transfer to my unlimoted line and leave my unlimited upgrades alone.

 

[tfast500]

Is there still a $30 data plan? I thought only the $30/line + $40 share-everything plans are available now.

yest 10 for line and 30 for the data... we still are on family plan and not on the share everything

 

[taylorz_412]

I would watch that. My brother did that transferee his upgrade from his unlimited line to a dumb phone line and it worked. However Verizon caught it and canceled his unlimited data about two months in. They would not give the unlimited plan back because they said he used his upgrade on the unlimited line. Might have just been bad luck for him but I would still use caution. Now I just use the upgrades on my dumb phone lines and transfer to my unlimoted line and leave my unlimited upgrades alone.

Ahh thanks for the heads up but I've done it a couple of times and its been ok

 

[anon(1733)]

Ahh thanks for the heads up but I've done it a couple of times and its been ok

That's awesome. If others have done it as we'll maybe I will try. Maybe he was just unlucky. I'm just not brave enough yet to tempt fate lol

 

[Premium1]

I would watch that. My brother did that transferee his upgrade from his unlimited line to a dumb phone line and it worked. However Verizon caught it and canceled his unlimited data about two months in. They would not give the unlimited plan back because they said he used his upgrade on the unlimited line. Might have just been bad luck for him but I would still use caution. Now I just use the upgrades on my dumb phone lines and transfer to my unlimoted line and leave my unlimited upgrades alone.

He had to do something else for them to cancel it. If anything they would have done it right away not two months later. Seems he must have done something else to lose it.

 

[anon(1733)]

He had to do something else for them to cancel it. If anything they would have done it right away not two months later. Seems he must have done something else to lose it.

You'd be surprised with what Verizon does. I once lost my insurance plan for no reason with them because their " computer" thought I switched phones when in fact I hadn't. Lol. So like i said who knows.

 

[tjnoff]

Correct. Just activate his line with the s4 then swap the sim card with yours, unless you don't have a 4G sim card - then you will have to go in store and get a sim card installed. Which isn't a big deal.

But ya your son will still get his scheduled upgrade.

Also you can chat with Verizon live on their site and they can confirm all this.

So, I had a conversation with a VZW rep the other day about using the Alternate Upgrade route to keep my unlimited data plan when buying a subsidized GS4. He stepped me through the process of using the eligibility of my unlimited data plan line to purchase the GS4 on my daughter's 2 GB line. He told me how to activate it on her line, then move it to my line, and then put her phone back on her line. Said it could be done online or over the phone. All looks pretty straightforward. So I ordered the GS4 on my daughter's line. Should be here tomorrow according to FedEx.

But, I've seen people mention swapping SIM cards as part of this process. Are you talking about actually swapping the physical SIM card, or swapping the SIM# between phone lines under the account? The VZW rep mentioned nothing about swapping actual SIM cards, just swapping the Device ID and SIM# online or over the phone.

Just making sure I'm doing this right tomorrow! Thanks!

 

[majorpayne]

So, I had a conversation with a VZW rep the other day about using the Alternate Upgrade route to keep my unlimited data plan when buying a subsidized GS4. He stepped me through the process of using the eligibility of my unlimited data plan line to purchase the GS4 on my daughter's 2 GB line. He told me how to activate it on her line, then move it to my line, and then put her phone back on her line. Said it could be done online or over the phone. All looks pretty straightforward. So I ordered the GS4 on my daughter's line. Should be here tomorrow according to FedEx.

But, I've seen people mention swapping SIM cards as part of this process. Are you talking about actually swapping the physical SIM card, or swapping the SIM# between phone lines under the account? The VZW rep mentioned nothing about swapping actual SIM cards, just swapping the Device ID and SIM# online or over the phone.

Just making sure I'm doing this right tomorrow! Thanks!

the actual card

 

[tjnoff]

the actual card

OK. So where in this process would actual SIM cards be swapped, and which SIM cards are they, and from and to what phones would they be swapped? Note that the below steps are based on the steps emailed to me by the VZW rep.

- Order new phone on 2 GB line using eligibility from my unlimited line
- Receive new phone
- Turn off old phone on 2 GB line
- Activate new phone on 2 GB line by turning it on and going through activation process
- Turn off new phone
- Reactivate old phone on 2 GB line on VZW site, reassigning old phone's Device ID and SIM# to that line
- Turn on old phone to activate it on 2 GB line
- On VZW site, reassign new phone's Device ID and SIM# to unlimited data line
- Turn on new phone to activate it on unlimited data line

Based on what I was told (and this guy was not hesitant and seemed to know very well what he was doing) the SIM numbers can be assigned on the VZW site. Does that negate the need to swap actual cards? If not, where in this list of steps are card swaps done, and what cards are they?

Thanks!

 

[dmaynard83]

OK. So where in this process would actual SIM cards be swapped, and which SIM cards are they, and from and to what phones would they be swapped? Note that the below steps are based on the steps emailed to me by the VZW rep.

- Order new phone on 2 GB line using eligibility from my unlimited line
- Receive new phone
- Turn off old phone on 2 GB line
- Activate new phone on 2 GB line by turning it on and going through activation process
- Turn off new phone
- Reactivate old phone on 2 GB line on VZW site, reassigning old phone's Device ID and SIM# to that line
- Turn on old phone to activate it on 2 GB line
- On VZW site, reassign new phone's Device ID and SIM# to unlimited data line
- Turn on new phone to activate it on unlimited data line

Based on what I was told (and this guy was not hesitant and seemed to know very well what he was doing) the SIM numbers can be assigned on the VZW site. Does that negate the need to swap actual cards? If not, where in this list of steps are card swaps done, and what cards are they?

Thanks!

When I talked to a Verizon rep they said basically you activate the new phone through the normal process on the dummy line.

Then you take out the sim card in your old 4g phone and put it in the s4 which should get you running the s4 on the unlimited line.

Your old phone should automatically revert to the 2gb plan.

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[justreboot]

I got a Droid M for my daughter in law (who uses little data) on my sons upgrade (activated on her #) / My son kept the unlimited data and my daughter in law went to 2GB. So yes, your plan will work, no loophole required. I ended up getting the s4 (hopefully this morning) for full price and selling the s3 on swappa for 350.

 

[tjnoff]

When I talked to a Verizon rep they said basically you activate the new phone through the normal process on the dummy line.

Then you take out the sim card in your old 4g phone and put it in the s4 which should get you running the s4 on the unlimited line.

Your old phone should automatically revert to the 2gb plan.

Well, the phone currently on my unlimited line (HTC Thunderbolt) is a 4G phone, but it uses a mini-SIM and the GS4 uses a micro-SIM, so I don't think they're will be any swapping of cards there. The phone on the 2 GB line is going back on the 2 GB line once the GS4 is moved off that line.

The GS4 is shipping with a SIM (it's a line item on the order confirmation message from VZW), and the VZW rep said the Device IDs and SIM#s could be reassigned from line to line on the VZW site or on the phone with a VZW rep, so I'm going to assume (dangerous, I know) that the GS4 can keep its original SIM and be moved from the 2 GB line to the unlimited line.

Anyway, it's on the truck for delivery today. I'll post here what my results were and how I did it.

 

[theOneAndOnlyMrT]

I did the "loophole" upgrade. I didn't even know about it but on the day I called to pre-order the rep told me to do it...lol. Anyway, I got my phone today and all I did before turning it on or anything is call them and tell them what I was trying to do. She just moved the phone over to my normal line. I used the "upgrade" from my tablet. Easy peasy...no trouble at all.

 

[tjnoff]

OK, folks, here's what I did. Worked like a charm. A couple of steps were confusing, but it wasn't hard to figure out, and I did it all online...

* Ordered new GS4 for my daughter's 2 GB line, but using eligibility from my unlimited line
* Receive new GS4 today
* Installed SIM and battery that came with it into the GS4, as well as SD card from my old phone (Thunderbolt) from my unlimited data line
* Turn off daughter's phone (the one from the 2 GB line)
* Activated the new GS4 on 2 GB line by turning it on and going through activation process
* Turned off new GS4
* Re-added daughter's phone back to her 2 GB line on VZW site as follows...

- Logged into VZW.com
- On the My Verizon menu at the top, chose Activate or Switch Device
- The next page had all phones under my account shown. I selected the GS4 which was shown as being assigned to my daughter's phone number. Clicked Next
- The next screen asked if I wanted to replace the GS4 with a phone that had already been previously activated on my account, which I select since my daughter's phone had been on this account before I replaced it with the new GS4. My daughter's phone was in a dropdown list, so I selected it.
- Next screen instructed me to call *228 option 1 to activate my daughter's phone back on her 2 GB line.
- Turned daughter's phone back on. Dialed *228, selected option 1, went through voice prompts on phone. Phone rebooted itself when done and her phone was back on her 2 GB phone line​

* To add the new GS4 to my unlimited line, went back through above steps, this time selecting (on the Activate or Switch Device screen) my old Thunderbolt that was still assigned to my unlimited data line, then took these steps...

- (This is one place where the Web site didn't make sense) After selecting it and clicking Next, the following screen was different. It showed the new GS4 and asked if this was my new device (to replace my Thunderbolt on my unlimited data line), but didn't give me a Yes or No choice.
- COPY DOWN THE DEVICE ID AND SIM CARD # THAT IS DISPLAYED HERE... it will make the rest of the steps a bit easier.
- This page also asked for my Billing System Password. This is also sometimes called your PIN. It is NOT your My Verizon Web site password. It's 4-5 characters. You can call VZW to have it reset if you don't know it. After entering it I clicked Next.
- The next screen was more like what I saw when re-adding my daughter's phone to her line, except this time I selected that I was adding a phone that had NOT been on this account before. Yes, the new GS4 had technically been on my 'account' before, but I think it means 'on this phone line before.' I had to provide the Device ID (I'm pretty sure - I can't go back through the steps and check), and the SIM # (definitely), so be sure you've copied those in the above step.
- Once I stepped through and completed this process, I turned the new GS4 on. ***NOTE: It took 15 or so minutes before it was accepted by the VZW network. I was afraid something was wrong and that I'd have to call VZW and get stuck in CSR hell, but don't panic. It just takes some time. While it was getting set up, I went back to the Activate or Switch Device screen where the process started, and the new GS4 was shown on my unlimited data line, where I wanted it, but it was grayed out and not selectable, with a note under the name saying that the request was processing, or words to that effect.​

* Now my new GS4 in on my line and has UNLIMITED DATA (well, at least until VZW pulls the plug on all unlimited data plans... but I'll take it!)

Anyway, that's how it went down. No phone calls to VZW. No swapping of SIM cards. Certainly worth the effort to keep my unlimited data plan!

Let me know if you have questions!