It's a good time to be mulling a switch in phone carriers, as a number of low-cost wireless providers are currently running promotions with lower rates to lure you away from the competition. From family plans to locked-in rates, there's a lot of incentives to take your wireless business elsewhere — if you don't mind committing to a carrier that may be off the beaten path.
Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile are both trying to attract families to their service, with similar deals offering discounts on multiple lines for switchers. Not to be outdone, Total Wireless and Visible are cutting the rates on their unlimited data plans and guaranteeing the lower monthly costs will stay in place for five years, so long as you're switching from one of those carriers' competitors.
Don't be dubious if none of these carrier names are ringing a bell. Mint and Ultra are both owned by T-Mobile and use their parent company's network for wireless coverage, including 5G service. The same goes for Total Wireless and Visible, only those providers are owned and operated by Verizon.
Here's a closer look at how each of these offers aimed at switchers compare and what you stand to save by taking advantage of any of the following deals.
Quick Links
- Mint Mobile: Buy 1 line, get 4 lines free @ Mint Mobile
- Visible: Unlimited data for $15/month, was $25 month
- Total Wireless: 2 lines of unlimited data for $15/month each
- Ultra Mobile: 3 lines of unlimited data for $85
Mint Mobile: Buy 1, Get 4 Lines Free
Mint is trying to get AT&T and Verizon customers to bring their business to its wireless service, which uses T-Mobile's network. When you sign up for a three-month intro plan on any of Mint's four data plans, you can activate up to four additional lines for free; those extra lines will get three months of service at no charge.
Let's say you sign up for Mint's 5GB plan, which costs $15/month for the first three months. That means for a $45 upfront payment, you can have up to five lines of data, each with their own 5GB allotment.
Right now, Mint is charging $15 for any of its plans, including its unlimited plan, which normally costs $30/month for the first three months. So that's another way you can potentially save, at least on your initial three months of service. After three months, your wireless plan goes back to the regular rate.
The caveat is that after your three month trial is up, you need to pay for a full year to keep the low monthly rate. In the case of the 5GB plan, that's a $180 payment covering the next months of service, and it applies to each line of data. It's a big upfront commitment, but it keeps a low monthly cost in place for those who can swing the advance payment.
Visible: Save $10/month on unlimited data for 5 years
Verizon-owned Visible was the first to respond to Mint's family plan offer. While Visible doesn't offer family plans of its own, it has does have one of the best unlimited data plans out there, and it's taking $10 off the monthly cost for people who bring their T-Mobile number over for new service at the carrier. Additionally, Visible will lock in that $15 monthly rate for five years.
Normally, Visible's entry-level unlimited plan costs $25/month, so you're potentially saving $600 off the cost of wireless service by grabbing this deal.
The $25/month Visible Plan features 5G coverage through Verizon's nationwide network. (Faster Ultra Wideband 5G is only available with the more expensive Visible Plus plan.) Your data speeds can be slowed if Visible's network is experience lots of traffic.
Total Wireless: 2 lines of unlimited for $15/month each
Like Visible, Total Wireless is cutting the rate on its unlimited plan to $15/month. (Total's most affordable unlimited data plan usually costs $40/month, so you're saving $25 each month.) But Total's promotion is targeting families, as you need to switch two lines or more to get that $15 monthly rate for each line.
Total's offer applies to several different T-Mobile services, including Mint, Metro by T-Mobile or T-Mobile itself, with a promo code for each corresponding service.
Total says the $15 monthly rate includes taxes and fees. It's also locking in that rate for five years, matching one of the more attractive aspects of Visible's promotion. Thats potentially
Total's base 5G unlimited data plan can see your data speeds slowed when there's traffic on the network, but you do get 5GB of hotspot data with the plan. Total also offers a $200 credit on your next 5G phone purchase when you stick with the service for 12 months.
Ultra Mobile: 3 lines of unlimited data for $85
Back to T-Mobile-owned carriers, Ultra Mobile is running a promotion for families of its own. New customers switching to Ultra can get three lines of unlimited data for a total of $85/month. There's no requirement on switching from a specific carrier.
The first line of unlimited data at Ultra Mobile costs $49/month with subsequent lines available for $24, so essentially, this offer cuts the cost of the third line of data by $12. If that doesn't sound like substantial savings compared to some of the offers listed above, hang on for the best part of Ultra's promotion — that $85 monthly cost will remain in place for as long as you keep your service with the carrier.
Ultra can slow speeds on its unlimited plan after you use 40GB of data in a billing period. Mobile hotspot data is free. The promotion ends November 30.
