Upgrade dumb phone to smartphone on current plan

Hello all,

I have the old family plan (shared minutes, text messages and one unlimited data plan), with one dumb phone (no data, just texting) and one smartphone. I was going to buy a new smart phone for myself (activating and keeping my current plan) and switching the current dumb phone with with my old smartphone. Does anyone know the cheapest way to activate the smartphone to replace the dumb phone? They really only need the wifi for the phone but i know in order to activate it I need to add a data plan. I can't seem to find the old pricing for adding a small data plan.

Thanks very much in advance!

Accepted answers

tikibar1

Yep, your plan for getting yourself a phone off ebay and moving your current phone to the basic line should work, and you won't lose your unlimited data that way. Just be sure that the phone is Verizon branded and has a clean ESN/MEID. There were some promotional data plans at one time that were less than $30, but as far as I know, those plans are no longer available.

So, yes ... you may want to run the numbers and compare the two plans and see if it's worth giving up your unlimited data. On the Share Everything plan, you'd pay $80 for the two phones' access fees + whatever data level you chose (i.e., $50 for 1 GB, $60 for 2 GB, $70 for 4 GB ... which also includes unlimited minutes/texts and mobile hotspot). Be aware that once you switch, you cannot go back.

All comments

unknown

The cheapest data plan for a smartphone on old pricing is $30. If you switch the old smartphone back to a dumbphone and get rid of the data plan then you'll lose the unlimited data if you ever decide you want to go back to a smartphone.

tikibar1

If you upgrade your smartphone line by signing a new two-year contract (i.e., get a subsidized phone), you will lose your unlimited data and have to choose a tiered data plan (i.e., $30 for 2 GB) or switch your account to Share Everything. You may want to upgrade the basic phone to a smartphone and add a 2 GB ($30) data plan. Then swap the phones so that the new phone is on your line and your old phone is on the other line.

DingoAce10

Well I was just going to buy a new phone on ebay (Lucid), replace my current smartphone (incredible) with it just by activating it on my current plan. Then give the incredible to my wife and replace her basic phone with it. But if it is going to add $30 to my current plan (thought there was a $15 data plan under the old pricing) then it might not be worth it. Might just upgrade the plan to the new shared everything.

tikibar1