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If the new Shared Data plan will save you money or is better for you, please post here

Will the new Shared Plans save you money?

  • Yes, I will benefit from the new plan structure.

    Votes: 14 33.3%

  • NO, I will not benefit from the new plan structure.

    Votes: 28 66.7%
  • Total voters
    42
jackdubl

jackdubl

Android Expert
I am looking to see who is benefitting from the new plan structure, and how or how much are you benefitting. There have been several posters on various threads who say that the new Shared Data plans will help them, usually by lowering their bill by $8 to $50 a month. So far, without exception, when I ask them to break down for me how they are saving, they find out that they were wrong and will end up paying more, and typically for less services. This is starting to make me think that those posters either don't understand the new plans, or they are hired by Verizon to come on here and post about how great these new plans are. So it's pretty simple: if you think you will benefit from the new plan structure, please post your current services and cost and compare to your services/cost under the new plan.
 
I haven't ran the numbers, but the one place I could see this being beneficial is if you use your phone as a mobile hotspot "legally". The new plan includes mobile hotspot in the data package with no extra fee or separate data package.
 
svensett said:
I haven't ran the numbers, but the one place I could see this being beneficial is if you use your phone as a mobile hotspot "legally". The new plan includes mobile hotspot in the data package with no extra fee or separate data package.
Click to expand...

I believe you might also save money if you have one of Verizon's larger voice plans.
 
People who already have unlimited minutes and smartphones will see significant savings with the new plans. Also people who have a smartphone and tablet will also see some savings. Heavy data users, and people with mixed smartphones and dumbphones on an existing family plan, stay away, as the new plan is significantly more for them.
 
jackdubl said:
I am looking to see who is benefitting from the new plan structure, and how or how much are you benefitting. There have been several posters on various threads who say that the new Shared Data plans will help them, usually by lowering their bill by $8 to $50 a month. So far, without exception, when I ask them to break down for me how they are saving, they find out that they were wrong and will end up paying more, and typically for less services. This is starting to make me think that those posters either don't understand the new plans, or they are hired by Verizon to come on here and post about how great these new plans are. So it's pretty simple: if you think you will benefit from the new plan structure, please post your current services and cost and compare to your services/cost under the new plan.
Click to expand...

Ok, here's a breakdown of my current bill.

1st phone, 1400 minutes $110 - 26% Corp disc($28.60) ........... = $81.40
Data package $29.99 - 20% Corp disc ($6.00) ....................... = $23.99
Ringback tones (.99) and Visual VM ($1.99) ........................... = $ 2.98
2nd Phone ....................................................................... = $ 9.99
Data Package $29.99 ........................................................ = $29.99
Insurance ....................................................................... = $ 8.18
3rd line ........................................................................... = $ 9.99
Data package .................................................................. = $29.99
Ringback tones (.99) ......................................................... = $ .99
Taxes & fees .................................................................. = $ 19.95
Total ............................................................................ = $217.45

Breakdown of my new Shared bill (Est.)

3 Smartphones @ $40 ea. ................................................ = $120.00
4GB Monthly access @ $70 - 20% corp disc. ($14.00) ........... = $ 56.00*
Insurance on 1 phone ...................................................... = $ 8.18
Ringback tones on 2 phones .............................................. = $ 1.98
Visual VM on 1 phone ....................................................... = $ 1.99
Taxes and fees (est.) ...................................................... = $ 19.95
Total ............................................................................. = $208.10

*The 3 phones we have now are all 3G phones and we use approx 2 to 2-1/2GB's of data per month, so a 4GB package should be ok. However, if/when we upgrade in the near furture to 4G we may have to get the 6GB data package which would cost after the corp disc ($80 - $16) $64.00. This would then bring our total bill to $216.10. This is virtually identicle to what we're paying now.

I'm thinking of dropping the insurance on my daughters iPhone because she seams to be careful, but this would reduce both bills by $8.18 which
is of course a wash.

There you have our story regarding the new shared data plans and how it would affect us. Obviously it wasn't the heavy phone call users Verizon was going after but rather the heave data users. Like I have said before, Verizon is moving towards a pay to play system. If you're a heavy data user, you're gonning to pay more. If you're not, your bill will stay close to what you were paying before.

Best of luck to all of us,

Oh yes, I remain, patiently/impatiently waiting for the release of the Razr HD. :)
 
For me it will save a little money. Two smartphones and two dumbphones for two people who would never understand or have the patience to use one. Where it helps me is they constantly come close to going over the minute allowance of 1400 because they just get on the phone and chat away with no regards tothe nights /weekends on mobile to mobile. They end up calling a person home phone thinking oh its Verizon is so its free. So these plans having unlimited minutes is great and I use mostly wifi for my data so even better. Now just gotta wait a little longer for a good phone to show up.
 
It will cost me $30 more than I'm paying now with 3 smart phones and 2dumb. 2 smart phones on unlimited and 1on double data. We don't go over our 2000 minute plan either.
 
I save about $40.

Old plan: 2 smartphones on family play (700 mins./5,000 texts/500 texts) plus data = $200.

New plan: 2 smartphones with unlimited mins and text and 6 GB data = $160.
 
euph_22 said:
I believe you might also save money if you have one of Verizon's larger voice plans.
Click to expand...

Current bill runs me around $340 each month. That is two smart phones with unlimited minutes and data and 1 smart phone with unlimited minutes and 2 gig of data. The two unlimited data phones average about 1.5 gig each a month and the other never exceeds the 2 gig. Playing with their estimator I can go with the bucket brigade at 10 gig and pay $220 per month. The problem is that we (wife and I on the unlimited data lines) are starting to do a lot of streaming of radio, especially her on her 4 hour daily commute. I will have to watch for another month or two and if our data use doesn't exceed 8 gig will probably go ahead and do it on the next line upgrade.
 
tdperry said:
Current bill runs me around $340 each month. That is two smart phones with unlimited minutes and data and 1 smart phone with unlimited minutes and 2 gig of data. The two unlimited data phones average about 1.5 gig each a month and the other never exceeds the 2 gig. Playing with their estimator I can go with the bucket brigade at 10 gig and pay $220 per month. The problem is that we (wife and I on the unlimited data lines) are starting to do a lot of streaming of radio, especially her on her 4 hour daily commute. I will have to watch for another month or two and if our data use doesn't exceed 8 gig will probably go ahead and do it on the next line upgrade.
Click to expand...

Spotify lets you download your music to your phone, so you can download that using wifi and wouldn't need to stream over 3/4g. I'm sure there are other options out there as well.
 
Loco4LosChe said:
I save about $40.

Old plan: 2 smartphones on family play (700 mins./5,000 texts/500 texts) plus data = $200.

New plan: 2 smartphones with unlimited mins and text and 6 GB data = $160.
Click to expand...

Just curious, but what's the breakdown of your old plan? A 700 minute 2 phone family plan looks about $70 and and (f you have old frandfathered unlimited data) $30 each for data plans = $60. total $130 + taxes and fees.

Not arguing, but $200 seams high.
 
I know there are a lot of people upset by the new data plans that Verizon is pushing out, but stop and take a look at them. I am currently paying about $350.00 a month for 3 smart phones, Razor, I phone and a Droid X, and my tablet. If I update to the new plan with 10gb of data to share between all 4 devices, I will save about 60 bucks a month. I don't plan on renewing my tablet next year and will then be saving approximately $120 a month.

If you have multiple smart phones with an unlimited plan call or stop by a Verizon store and compare. You may be much better off. If you are a heavy data user it may be worth a look.

I don't think they are trying to screw anyone as I initially did. I am not necessarily a fan of Verizon either. They are the least of all evils. I am all about saving a buck or two here and there though.

Thought I would share.
 
yes the new plans will actually be good for some people. Especially the average user. My Wife and I could easily share 4gb of data a month. I looked into it and i think i'll be saving money as well.
 
Currently 5 smartphones on a friends & family plan -> $260/month. 2 of the phones have unlimited data.
New plan $300/month for service plus 10gb data. I'd have to check several months of data usage logs so might be able to get away with 6 or 8gb data
 
Surprisingly, I'll save money going to the new plan, if I figured out everything correctly. I'm going to go over everything with the Verizon employee very carefully before switching though.

Old plan:
My Droid 3 900 minutes $60, Data $30, Unlimited text $20
Dad smart phone add'l line $10, Data $30, Text $5
Mom "normal" phone add'l line $10, Text $5
Xoom Tablet $35 for 3GB data

Total $205
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New plan:
My Droid 3 $40
Dad Smart phone $40
Mom "normal" phone $30
Xoom tablet $10
4GB shared data $70

Total $190

I've checked through the last 4 months of bills to figure out our average data uses between my phone, my Dad's phone, and my Xoom tablet (2 - 3GB a month on the average). And I'm supposed to be getting Wifi at work real soon, so that'll drop it more. But even if I bump it up to 6GB at $80, I'm still spending a bit less than my current plan. And I get my parents on unlimited texting.
 
romshark said:
Surprisingly, I'll save money going to the new plan, if I figured out everything correctly. I'm going to go over everything with the Verizon employee very carefully before switching though.

Old plan:
My Droid 3 900 minutes $60, Data $30, Unlimited text $20
Dad smart phone add'l line $10, Data $30, Text $5
Mom "normal" phone add'l line $10, Text $5
Xoom Tablet $35 for 3GB data

Total $205
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New plan:
My Droid 3 $40
Dad Smart phone $40
Mom "normal" phone $30
Xoom tablet $10
4GB shared data $70

Total $190

I've checked through the last 4 months of bills to figure out our average data uses between my phone, my Dad's phone, and my Xoom tablet. And I'm supposed to be getting Wifi at work real soon, so that'll drop it more. But even if I bump it up to 6GB at $80, I'm still spending a bit less than my current plan. And I get my parents on unlimited texting.
Click to expand...

Yep, looks like you are good to go.
 
Go to know my numbers look correct so far.
And thanks for posting that FAQ on the new plan. Good to know my corporate discount will be off my $70 data bucket. I was worried it'd only be off my $40 access fee.
 
After comparing other carrier's plans and coverage I think we are actually going to switch over to the Share everything plan. Since I'm spending so much time on Wifi these days the unlimited data isn't that necessary for me anymore. Only used 2.8GB of 4G this month.

We currently have one smartphone and one dumbphone on our family plan. 700 minutes with no text and one unlimited plan. So we have $70 + $30 = $100 right now.

Since we are at 662 minutes used of our 700 minute plan this month (pretty normal for us) we have been looking at unlimited talk and text plans on other carriers so that we don't have to keep monitoring our minutes anymore. My girl also really wants to have a smartphone again.

Sprint has bad service in our area and I have personal issues with At&t so that really left us looking at staying with Verizon and changing plans or moving to T-Mobile.

With T-Mobile we would have had Unlimited talk/text and 2GB data for her with 2 or 5 GB for me. This would of had us paying $140 to $155 a month and having questionable service in some areas we have to travel to along with no real 4G to speak of.

With Verizon's old plans we would have been switching to 1400 minutes plus unlimited text and adding in another data plan for 2GB along with my data plan. So $90 + $30 + $30 + $30 = $180 It didn't really seem worth it compared to other plans out there.

With the new Shared plans we are looking at $40 for each smartphone and either 4 or 6GB of data. So $150 or $160 for everything we want. I honestly think we could get by with the 4GB of data as I don't see her using more than 1GB each month, but I figure for $10 more we will probably go with the 6GB and never worry about overages for anyone.

So in the end, Verizon will be about $5 to $10 more depending on data compared to T-mobile with what most of us will agree is better coverage and $20 to $30 cheaper than changing to the 1400 minute plan with text and an additional smartphone.
 
I was thinking about applying for a family plan ( my wife use a prepaid att) with the old plan it will be 150$ with 700 min and unlimited text and 2gb
With the new plans 140$ with unlimited minutes and text and 4gb add to that free hotspot which was the most important thing for me and I can add 10$ and get 6gb
 
Here are 3 cases but you will save money in all 3 instances. You have to get out of the mindset that everyone has unlimited data. Most people are already on tiered data so keep that in mind.

10 people in a family at this time you would need to buy 2 family plans of 5 people but 1 plan with Share Everything. Not everyone has smart phones, let's say only 5 have smart phones.

$40 x 5 (smartphones) = $200
$30 x 5 (dumb phone) = $150
$100 (10GB data) = $100
Total = $450

vs

$90 x 2 (2x 1400shared) = $180
$10 x 8 (8 additional phone lines) = $80
$30 x 2 (2x unlimited text) = $60
$30 x 5 (5x 2GB data) = $150
Total = $470

Not only does this save you $20 per month but you also get unlimited minutes out of this plan vs 280 minutes per line.

Take this example too. 10 people and all getting 2GB data.

$40 x 10 (smartphones) = $400
$100 (10GB data) = $100
$10 x 5 ($10 per additional 2GB) = $50
Total = $550

vs

$90 x 2 (2x 1400shared) = $180
$10 x 8 (8 additional phone lines) = $80
$30 x 2 (2x unlimited text) = $60
$30 x 10 (10x 2GB data) = $300
Total = $620

$70 per month savings.

2 smart phones each getting 2GB

$40 x 2 (smartphones) = $80
$70 (4GB shared) = $70
Total = $150

vs

$70 (700 shared) = $70
$30 (text) = $30
$30 x 2 (2GB data) = $60
Total = $160

$10 savings
 
You could save some money if you've got a full tilt family or business plan with 4 or more user's (paying for unlimited everything voice, text, data.) And you switch to new Shared Data plan and all user's on said plan are willing to cut back and monitor there data usage yea.

We just went through this last year with the New Tiered Data Plan's that was custom designed for saving's of course we lost unlimited data and who can forget the grandfather promise. Don't be a fool Marshall.



Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.

OfTheDamned
Great idea pay for data and use wi-fi that's exactly what they want you to do.




If this was helpful, be sure to press the thanks button!

These aren't the droids you're looking for.;)
 
dirkbonn said:
Just curious, but what's the breakdown of your old plan? A 700 minute 2 phone family plan looks about $70 and and (f you have old frandfathered unlimited data) $30 each for data plans = $60. total $130 + taxes and fees.

Not arguing, but $200 seams high.
Click to expand...

Forgot we both have text plans that bump up the final price.

Family Share 700 mins: $70

Line 1 has 1000 texts and Line 2 has 5000 texts: $10 and $20

Each line has unlimited data: $30 and $30

Insurance on both lines: $7 and $7 (I think)

That's $174, throw in taxes and fees, and it's $200.

Personally, I can't wait for the shared plan. I currently do get a discount through my company that knocks my bill down to $160, but I'm about to quit, so I think that will go away. If I don't tell Verizon, will they find out lol (kinda being serious :D)? If Verizon doesn't find out, then my shared plan will go down from $160 to around $130ish methinks.
 
I found that if 3 in our family have 4g and if I actually paid for the tether service like I am supposed to then the new plan would save about $100/mo if we had 10gb shared instead of all unlimited.

So the question is if unlimited data is worth $100/mo to keep. I think the answer is know and with as tight as money is today the total data usage is not enough to justify that price difference. Worst case even with overage charges I still save and I could likely if I know I am going to be over change my plan for 1 month to cover unexpected data useage and still save money.

The real question is when (like every 2 years or something) the data limits will increase and by how much. I think they need to slowly expand the data cap over time as usage increases.
 
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