The New Cell Phone Plan That’s Allset to Save You Money

September 04, 2014

A couple of years ago, I wrote about prepaid cell phone plans and how they can save you money. I ended up switching from the LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Ting. However, I’ve recently had some problems with my phone losing data connection and battery power so I decided to upgrade again. That’s when I discovered Verizon’s new “Allset” prepaid plan. Here’s why I think it offers the best deal in cell phone plans right now:

Network

Verizon has consistently been ranked as the overall top network in the US for reliability, speed, data, and call quality. While I’ve been generally happy with the Sprint coverage provided by Ting, there’s something comforting knowing you have access to the largest network, especially when you travel a lot like I do. Faster 4G speeds is always nice too.

Customer Service

Unlike some prepaid providers, it offers good, quality customer service from a US call center.

Price

That network and customer service has always come at a steep price…until now. Verizon’s new prepaid plans offer unlimited minutes and texting and 500 MB of data for only $45 a month. That includes 4G speeds and the ability to use your device as a wireless hotspot at no additional cost. Compare that to their regular plans that easily run over $100 a month.

500 MB of data per month may not sound like a lot but you can double that to 1 GB by just signing up for autopay, which you’ll probably want to do anyway to avoid missing a payment deadline. If you start running out of data, you get an alert and can purchase more. It only costs $5 for another 500 MB for a month, $10 for an extra GB for 90 days, or $20 for 3 GB for 90 days. I average less than 1 GB per month with a decent amount of usage and have never gone over 1.5 GB so this should be more than enough for me.

Phone Selection

Unlike many prepaid plans that limit your phone selection, Verizon allows you to use any Verizon phone on their prepaid plan. That means you can get the latest phone or save money by using an existing phone or by buying an older model. In my case, I opted for a certified pre-owned Samsung Galaxy s4 (one of last year’s top phones) as the best tradeoff between quality and cost.

The Alternatives

So why wouldn’t you go with the new Verizon prepaid plan? I can only think of two reasons. One is if you get better coverage for another network in your area. The second is if you want more data.

If you get better coverage in your area with AT&T, you can get a prepaid phone that uses AT&T coverage on Straight Talk for the same $45 per month. You get more data but aren’t allowed to stream music or videos with the cellular data connection or use your phone as a hotspot. If you prefer Sprint or want more data, consider Republic Wireless or Ting. The former provides unlimited voice, text, and data but only offers a few phones and doesn’t allow hotspot capability. The latter charges you based on actual usage and you can use almost any Sprint phone. Finally, T-Mobile has prepaid plans that can make sense for some people, especially if you use a lot of data and not so many voice minutes.

The point is that before you sign up for another contract, make sure you’re aware of all of your options. Going prepaid doesn’t have to mean being stuck with a crappy phone on a poor network anymore. But it can still mean a lot of savings for your bank account.