Very confused about upgrading and unlimited data..

WannaBeYou

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I tried adding a line through Activate or Switch Device online and got an error message that I could not activate this device on my account via My Verizon. I didn't get an option to even select a phone.
I just did this and it worked to keep unlimited although I didn't finalize the checkout. Log into your account and go to SHOP->Phones and Devices->Smartphones. Then select the device you want and go through the process to add a line with a dataplan.

When I did this, it did not kick my other lines off of unlimited.


I wouldnt mind taking advantage of the current Radio Shack deal and pay $99 for an S3 w/ a $30 credit towards the Google Play store but im worried about running into a similar situation the OP ran into at the non-corporate store.
Are you planning on dropping the data plan on the line you add through Radio Shack before 181 days? Because if so, I think there would be an additional fee charged by Radio Shack that would wipe out the subsidy. This is why it has to be done through VZW if you want to drop the data plan on the new line right away - VZW doesn't charge a fee for that.
 

FDLuke

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Check your PM's wannabe.

I would be seeking the cheapest option for adding a new line as I don't have a use for it other then trying to keep my unlimited. It isn't worth worrying about cancellation fees from VZW and another store. I'll just pay the $199 for the new phone. I know that I'm going to use more data then I've been using (currently, under 2gb/mo) and do not want to lose the unlimited. IMO, paying $500 or $600 for a new phone does not make sense. It may suit others.
 

WannaBeYou

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Check your PM's wannabe.
I responded.

I would be seeking the cheapest option for adding a new line as I don't have a use for it other then trying to keep my unlimited. It isn't worth worrying about cancellation fees from VZW and another store. I'll just pay the $199 for the new phone. I know that I'm going to use more data then I've been using (currently, under 2gb/mo) and do not want to lose the unlimited. IMO, paying $500 or $600 for a new phone does not make sense. It may suit others.

The new line will pay for itself if you have 2 unlimited data lines that you can transfer their upgrades to the new line and use one of the transferred upgrades to buy an iPhone 5 and sell it on swappa.com. Here is how it works:

Get your GSIII by adding a line through VZW. That is $200 + the cost of the new line ($10/mo + taxes/surcharges = $15/mo where I am = $300 for 20 months) + $35 activation fee + tax on the phone. I don't know how much tax is on the phone where you live, but worst case scenario is CA where they charge the tax on the full retail value of the phone. Just to make this a round number, let's say that is $45. So price for the phone for 20 months (time until the next upgrade is available on the new line) is $200 + $300 + $35 +45 = $580.

Of course you have to activate a basic phone on the new line to get rid of the data plan for the price to be only $300 for 20 months.

Then when your upgrade comes up on your unlimited data line, you transfer it to the basic line and get a 16GB iPhone 5 for $200 + tax = about $250. Then activate the iPhone 5 on the basic line then activate a basic phone to remove the data plan, sell the iPhone 5 on swappa.com for $600 (which is what they are selling for now, but it may go down in the future) - minus the $10 swappa.com fee and $10 insured shipping cost = $580. There may be paypal fees, too, so you need to factor that in but I don't think they are huge fees.

So you end up putting out $580 for the GSIII, then $250 for the iPhone 5 but you can recoup $580 for the iPhone 5 by selling it on swappa.com so in the end, you got your GSIII for $200 + tax, which is the upgrade price, and were able to keep your unlimited data!

Then when your second unlimited data line's upgrade comes due, you transfer it to the basic line repeat the steps above for the iPhone 5 but instead of selling it, your other family member gets a new phone at the upgrade price while keeping unlimited data!

And when the new line's upgrade comes up in 20 months, you can get another iPhone and sell it to recoup the cost of the new line for another 20 months.

Now of course, if in the future VZW closes the loophole so that you lose unlimited data with the transferring of upgrades from an unlimited data line, then this won't work in the future. But for now, it works.
 
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WannaBeYou

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I wouldnt mind taking advantage of the current Radio Shack deal and pay $99 for an S3 w/ a $30 credit towards the Google Play store but im worried about running into a similar situation the OP ran into at the non-corporate store.

FYI - you have to pay RS $400 if you cancel the line so the price of the phone would be $500 ($100 + $400) if you cancel the line you added at RS. I think if you cancel within 14 days, no ETF or activation fee from VZW, but you would have to double check that. You would still get charged the $400 from RS, though, which would mean the phone would be $500, which is still cheaper than retail price of $600.

http://radioshackwireless.com/autoc...OP&cid=25578_b30b813c75f9467ca277d03141429203
 

WannaBeYou

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Then when your upgrade comes up on your unlimited data line, you transfer it to the basic line and get a 16GB iPhone 5 for $200 + tax = about $250.

I forgot, there is an upgrade fee, now, too of $30. So you would pay $200 for the iPhone 5 + tax + $30 upgrade fee = about $280 if you are in a place like California that charges tax on the full retail value of the phone.
 

lockout20

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I just want to be certain....

Currently Have 2 Lines (Line #1 & Line #2) on a Family share plan with upgrades pending with unlimited data, zero dumb phones....

Actions to retain unlimited data??

1) Order new phone line with smart phone.... As Line #3
2) Activate new phone/line on line #3
3) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
4) Transfer New phone (from step #2) to Unlimited Line #1

5) Transfer smartphone upgrade from Line #1 to Line #3 and order smart phone on Line #3
6) Activate new phone/line on line #3
7) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
8) Transfer New phone (from step #5) to Unlimited Line #2

9) Transfer smartphone upgrade from Line #2 to Line #3 and order smart phone on Line #3
10) Activate new phone/line on line #3
11) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
12) Sell Extra Smart Phone??
 

WannaBeYou

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I just want to be certain....

Currently Have 2 Lines (Line #1 & Line #2) on a Family share plan with upgrades pending with unlimited data, zero dumb phones....

Actions to retain unlimited data??

1) Order new phone line with smart phone.... As Line #3
2) Activate new phone/line on line #3
3) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
4) Transfer New phone (from step #2) to Unlimited Line #1

5) Transfer smartphone upgrade from Line #1 to Line #3 and order smart phone on Line #3
6) Activate new phone/line on line #3
7) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
8) Transfer New phone (from step #5) to Unlimited Line #2

9) Transfer smartphone upgrade from Line #2 to Line #3 and order smart phone on Line #3
10) Activate new phone/line on line #3
11) Activate legacy dumb phone on line #3
12) Sell Extra Smart Phone??

yes that is my plan. I have already added a line and ordered a new phone for it. Should be here on Thursday. I will post as I complete each step. I won't be able to start step 5 until the end of August since that is when my upgrade comes due and I will in all likelihood be waiting for the GN3 to be released before I do it.

I suggest going with the latest iPhone as the phone to sell since those seem to hold their resale value the best.
 

kobe008

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Hey all, great information in this thread. I have another question that I do not believe has been answered here yet. I have a Verizon account with 2 unlimited lines on it both with upgrades available. I bought a GS3 off ebay for myself but my wife doesnt want to spend that much for a different phone. So I already have a newer phone and we both still have our upgrades available. Is it possible for my wife to transfer her upgrade to someone on a totally different Verizon account? I've done lots of Googling lately about this topic and it almost sounds like this is possible but I have not read an exact answer if it is or not. So she would transfer her upgrade to a friend not on our account, they would use the upgrade and get the new phone my wife wants and activate it. This should cause my wife's contract to be renewed for 2 years while leaving the friends contract unchanged right? Then the friend would activate their original phone back to themselves then my wife is free to activate her new phone on her own line. Thoughts? If not possible then our only option is to open a 3rd line which we would rather not do cause it would sit there unused.

Also, the friend we would transfer my wife's upgrade to is already on a tiered plan so no worries about them losing unlimited data.
 

gbororats

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This is good information. I'm glad I stopped by. My house currently has 4 smartphones, all with unlimited data. I plan on adding a 5th line, to transfer the upgrades to, so I can retain my unlimited status. I don't own a dumb phone to put on the 5th line. Is having the dumb phone really necessary? Thanks.

be careful with this, i was under the impression that if you ADD a new line of service to your family share account you will be forced into the share everything. Double check this before pulling the trigger
 

YourMobileGuru

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be careful with this, i was under the impression that if you ADD a new line of service to your family share account you will be forced into the share everything. Double check this before pulling the trigger

No. If you are on a single line and want to move to a family plan you will have to move to shared everything since nationwide family share plans are no longer available. But if you are already on a nationwide family share plan you can still add lines up to the maximum of 5 total. Trying to add a 6th line will force you to shared everything.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Android Central Forums
 

DarkScythe

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Yeah, what MobileGuru said is correct about the plans.
While there's a big push to share everything plans, if you already have something, you should generally be able to keep what you have, unless of course you're making major changes like he outlined.

I don't believe there's any way to transfer upgrades to lines outside of your own family account though - why would this even work? What would this realistically be used for? (Besides abuse, lol.)
 

YourMobileGuru

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Yeah, what MobileGuru said is correct about the plans.
While there's a big push to share everything plans, if you already have something, you should generally be able to keep what you have, unless of course you're making major changes like he outlined.

I don't believe there's any way to transfer upgrades to lines outside of your own family account though - why would this even work? What would this realistically be used for? (Besides abuse, lol.)

You can't even transfer an upgrade to a line in another account or sub account under your own name and social security number so no I don't see how you could.

Sent from my Motorola Droid RAZR Max HD using the Android Central Forums app.
 

tnmurdock

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So is it still possible to transfer upgrades? I am back on the family share plan with one unlimited line and one dumbphone.And if I want to add a few phones to the share plan. Can I do that? or do I have to have dumb lines already?
 
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japetty

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Just heard that unlimited is going away for good in about 15 months and everyone will be on the 2Gb for $30.00 or a share everything plan. This came from our company adviser who notifies us when our upgrade is due should we want it. We all pay for our own phones and get whatever we want. I really did not figure the unlimited was going to be here to much longer anyway. Good luck with your endeavor though.
 

Bond32

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Just heard that unlimited is going away for good in about 15 months and everyone will be on the 2Gb for $30.00 or a share everything plan. This came from our company adviser who notifies us when our upgrade is due should we want it. We all pay for our own phones and get whatever we want. I really did not figure the unlimited was going to be here to much longer anyway. Good luck with your endeavor though.

Really? You do realize that about 30 percent of people everywhere said you wouldn't be able to keep unlimited data at all. You cannot believe this for the one reason that it changes the terms of your signed contract. By dropping unlimited data grandfather plans it will break a lot of people's contracts meaning anyone could simply walk away from verizon. Which is what will happen.

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YourMobileGuru

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Really? You do realize that about 30 percent of people everywhere said you wouldn't be able to keep unlimited data at all. You cannot believe this for the one reason that it changes the terms of your signed contract. By dropping unlimited data grandfather plans it will break a lot of people's contracts meaning anyone could simply walk away from verizon. Which is what will happen.

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If you are out of contract you can do that anyway.

Your contract is for a set time period (24 months). At the end of that time you can leave or they can change the terms unilaterally because the contract is no longer in effect. At 24 months after the last day that a person could have signed up for an unlimited Verizon can do whatever they want. That date is about 15 months away so what he told makes sense.

Historically carriers have almost always allowed people to continue on their existing plans (even ones that did not exist anymore) until they themselves changed the plan, changed to a device that required a plan change, or left the provider. But they are NOT required to do so.

It would be a sucky thing to do but Verizon would be well within their rights to notify everyone that is no longer under contract that effective on such and such a date unlimited data no longer exists and those that do nothing will automatically be moved to the 2GB plan at the same price.
 

Bond32

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Yes, but verizon wants your business even if you aren't willing to get sucked into some stupid 2 gig plan. They still make money off the grandfather plans.

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YourMobileGuru

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Yes, but verizon wants your business even if you aren't willing to get sucked into some stupid 2 gig plan. They still make money off the grandfather plans.

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The number of people they would loose over that would be miniscule. Everyone said that when unlimited went away and Share Everything became the norm that people would lave in droves. Instead the opposite happened, they had record subscribers the last two quarters.

For the vast majority of pep[;e 2GB is fine and if you really want more the 5 and 10GB plans are also available, as are the Mobile Share plans.

Most of the people who would lave over it are the ones Verizon does not want anyway. Read the post in my sig for details about why they made these changes, but the Cliffs Notes version is that 5% of Verizon customers were using 65% of Verizon's data and the new system discourages people to use tens of GB of data and those that do are now forced to pay for the privilege.
 

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