Nothing wrong with prepaid. Postpaid seems to costs a lot more for the same service. Perfect example. I was traveling from the USA to Germany on business. I had AT&T prepaid. My coworker had AT&T postpaid. Not only was he paying $80/month for close to the same service I was paying $40, when we both went to enable roaming in Europe the costs were this:
AT&T post-paid $10/day
AT&T pre-paid $25/week (= $3.57/day)
I’ll buy my phone outright and keep my prepaid, thanks!
On post-paid there’s also the added bonus of leaking your SSN when the provider gets breached. No such trouble with pre-paid.
I have a super old grandfathered T-Mobile prepaid plan from like… 2014? I think? Anyway I pay 30 bucks a month for unlimited talk/text, 5 gigs of high speed and infinite low speed data if that ever gets used up. AT&T tried to solicit me for a plan until I told them mine lmao
Damn if that’s a good deal they’re really fucking you over there. I’m paying about $11 USD a month for unlimited calls, texts and data (Ireland) with roaming data included. I got an early deal with a new carrier about two years ago but it’s €15 a month for the same now.
Not trying to get you to switch, but my current Mint Mobile plan is $20/month for unlimited talk & text and 15g high speed data. Uses T-Mobile’s network. Only issue is that you have to pay a year at a time to get the price that low.
There’s a AT&T prepaid plan that has that same items for the same $30/month. The AT&T one also includes free roaming in Canada and Mexico, and international texting free.
Postpaid bakes in the price of the phone. It’s why if you do postpaid and don’t upgrade your phone immediately when eligible, you’re gettin ripped off. It’s also why they lock you in for 2 years or charge a big fee to leave. They need you to pay for the device.
Prepaid is just the cost of service, you accept the price of the handset. This lets you do things like keep a phone for 3-4 years and save money by deferred upgrades.
That’s really interesting! Is it because you don’t really use your phone much and/or connected to wifi? I remember how expensive phone bills used to be back when you paid per min and text, it’s really hard to imagine that being an economical daily choice for many. Sounds fantastic for someone who does a lot of international travel or for long times
That’s really interesting! Is it because you don’t really use your phone much and/or connected to wifi?
I use my phone a lot actually.
$40 a month is unlimited talk and text to and in USA, Canada, and Mexico. 30GB data at 5G speeds with unlimited at 1.5Mps after the 30GB is exhausted. That applies to hotspot usage too when you bring your own phone. It even includes 5GB of data when roaming in Canada or Mexico.
I remember how expensive phone bills used to be back when you paid per min and text, it’s really hard to imagine that being an economical daily choice for many.
I remember that too! Those days are long long ago. Prepaid isn’t “pay per min” like it was back in the late 90s or early 2000s. I think the reason people don’t look at them is because they used to be that way. Its been unlimited plans available for more than a decade. I really don’t see the point of post-paid unless you can’t afford to buy your phone outright and need to spread the cost over months of service which postpaid will do for you.
Nothing wrong with prepaid. Postpaid seems to costs a lot more for the same service. Perfect example. I was traveling from the USA to Germany on business. I had AT&T prepaid. My coworker had AT&T postpaid. Not only was he paying $80/month for close to the same service I was paying $40, when we both went to enable roaming in Europe the costs were this:
I’ll buy my phone outright and keep my prepaid, thanks!
On post-paid there’s also the added bonus of leaking your SSN when the provider gets breached. No such trouble with pre-paid.
I have a super old grandfathered T-Mobile prepaid plan from like… 2014? I think? Anyway I pay 30 bucks a month for unlimited talk/text, 5 gigs of high speed and infinite low speed data if that ever gets used up. AT&T tried to solicit me for a plan until I told them mine lmao
Damn if that’s a good deal they’re really fucking you over there. I’m paying about $11 USD a month for unlimited calls, texts and data (Ireland) with roaming data included. I got an early deal with a new carrier about two years ago but it’s €15 a month for the same now.
Not trying to get you to switch, but my current Mint Mobile plan is $20/month for unlimited talk & text and 15g high speed data. Uses T-Mobile’s network. Only issue is that you have to pay a year at a time to get the price that low.
There’s a AT&T prepaid plan that has that same items for the same $30/month. The AT&T one also includes free roaming in Canada and Mexico, and international texting free.
Lol I’m just joking around man, I’m on a family mobile phone at the moment myself.
Apologies if my response came off as aggressive. That was not my intent.
We’re good!
Postpaid bakes in the price of the phone. It’s why if you do postpaid and don’t upgrade your phone immediately when eligible, you’re gettin ripped off. It’s also why they lock you in for 2 years or charge a big fee to leave. They need you to pay for the device.
Prepaid is just the cost of service, you accept the price of the handset. This lets you do things like keep a phone for 3-4 years and save money by deferred upgrades.
That’s really interesting! Is it because you don’t really use your phone much and/or connected to wifi? I remember how expensive phone bills used to be back when you paid per min and text, it’s really hard to imagine that being an economical daily choice for many. Sounds fantastic for someone who does a lot of international travel or for long times
I use my phone a lot actually.
$40 a month is unlimited talk and text to and in USA, Canada, and Mexico. 30GB data at 5G speeds with unlimited at 1.5Mps after the 30GB is exhausted. That applies to hotspot usage too when you bring your own phone. It even includes 5GB of data when roaming in Canada or Mexico.
I remember that too! Those days are long long ago. Prepaid isn’t “pay per min” like it was back in the late 90s or early 2000s. I think the reason people don’t look at them is because they used to be that way. Its been unlimited plans available for more than a decade. I really don’t see the point of post-paid unless you can’t afford to buy your phone outright and need to spread the cost over months of service which postpaid will do for you.
Thank you so much!! That’s crazy I’m going to keep this information in my back pocket for future reference! I know people it could be beneficial for