On June 24th, 2020, Verizon updated their prepaid plans.
They got rid of the multi-line discounts, added a new customer loyalty discount for those who subscribe to the plans for 4 to 10 months or longer, decreased the cost of their unlimited plan, and updated the features available for the plans.
In this article I’ll explain what’s different about Verizon’s new prepaid plans, how the customer loyalty discount works, and if the new plans are worth switching to.
Previously, Verizon offered four prepaid plans starting as low as $30 per month. The options were (prices listed including $5 auto-pay discount):
However, soon after these plans launched, Verizon launched a double-data promotion. Anyone who signed up for the plans would immediately get 2x the original data amount. This double data promotion lasted for over a year. It was first made available on May 21st, 2019, and it lasted through June 23rd, 2020, right before the new prepaid plans were launched.
Since the double-data promotion was available for so long, and so easy to take advantage of, Verizon’s old prepaid plans were effectively the following:
Again, these prices include Verizon’s $5 auto-pay discount. The lower cost $30, $35, and $45 plans were honestly a great value. Signing up with Verizon prepaid meant you could go to a physical Verizon store for customer service and support, and for many people the data options were plenty for their needs.
In fact, with the double-data promotion, Verizon’s own prepaid plans were some of the best value plans available on their network. (That was, until Visible took over as the best value plan with their $25 unlimited plan thanks to their Party Pay group discount).
The icing on the cake with Verizon’s old prepaid plans was their multi-line discount. Four lines of unlimited data came out to just $50 per line, and families with different data needs could still mix-and-match the plans for up to $25 off for lines 2 through 10.
With Verizon’s new prepaid plans, they aimed to keep the data amounts and prices roughly the same. The new plans are the following (prices listed with $5 auto-pay discount applied):
As you can tell, a few things are different here. The $30 plan got its data completely removed, and the $35 and $45 plans had their data decreased by 1GB. I think Verizon decreased the data amounts by 1GB across the board to make sure customers who took advantage of the double-data promotion felt they were, in fact, getting a promotion and a little extra data. Still, it’s nice to know the data increases to 5GB and 15GB are now permanent.
The other big change with Verizon’s new prepaid plans is their customer loyalty discount. Customers who stay signed up for 4 months receive $5 off their bill, and customers who stay signed up for 10 months receive $10 off their bill. This loyalty discount is in addition to the $5 off auto-pay discount.
Factoring in all discounts and promotions, on the 10th month of service Veriozn’s new plans are available for the following prices:
The unlimited data plan also now has a $10 hotspot add-on available. $5 gets you 10GB of high-speed hotspot data before unlimited hotspot data at 600Kbps. The $35 and $45 prepaid plans continue to support the hotspot feature with their included data amounts.
The big question here is this: are the new Verizon Prepaid plans actually better than the previous ones?
To answer this, let’s take a deeper look at exactly what the previous plan offered and what the new plans include.
Let’s be real, Verizon’s $30 prepaid plan got hit pretty hard. It went from a great deal to an awful deal. Not only does the plan no longer include 1GB of data, but it is also not eligible for the customer loyalty discount.
Previously the plan included unlimited talk and text, 1GB of LTE data, unlimited 2G data, hotspot support, and the option for an international calling add-on to make and receive calls to Canada and Mexico.
The new $30 prepaid now has no data, no unlimited 2G data, and no hotspot support. The international calling add-on is still available, and, what’s most interesting, is this plan is eligible for the $5 Canada and Mexico data roaming pass. The data pass gives you 500MB of high-speed data while in Canada or Mexico.
Considering Verizon’s $35 5GB plan drops down to $25 per month after the loyalty discount, I don’t think this new $30 plan is worth it at all. If you need unlimited talk and text on the Verizon network, US Mobile’s $10 plan is a much better option.
Verizon’s $35 prepaid plan got some minor changes. Previously it included 6GB of LTE data with the double-data promotion. Now it includes 5GB. It continues to support unlimited 2G data, the mobile hotspot, and offer an add-on for international calling to Canada and Mexico.
What’s new is the $35 plan now offers a $5 per day international data pass to Canada and Mexico, and the multi-line discount has been replaced with the customer loyalty discount.
Similar to the $35 plan, Verizon’s $45 prepaid plan only got some minor updates. It decreased by 1GB to 15GB of LTE data, but it continues to support unlimited 2G data, and the mobile hotspot. What’s interesting is this plan now includes the Canada and Mexico international calling add-on for free. The Canada and Mexico data roaming pass is also now available for $5 per day. Again, the multi-line discount here was replaced by the loyalty discount.
Verizon’s unlimited prepaid plan probably saw the most updates out of all of the plans. And most of these updates are welcome improvements to the plan!
Previously Verizon’s prepaid unlimited plan started at $65 per month with auto-pay. The new plan now starts at $60 per month with auto-pay!
Another new change is the addition of a hotspot data add-on. Previously, the prepaid unlimited plan didn’t support the mobile hotspot. This was disappointing to a lot of prepaid subscribers. Now, the unlimited prepaid plan has a $5 hotspot add-on that includes 10GB of high-speed hotspot data before unlimited hotspot data at 600Kbps. This is a welcome change to the plan I’m sure a lot of people are happy about!
Finally, the unlimited prepaid plan now includes both the Canada and Mexico international calling add-on and the Canada and Mexico international data roaming add-on for free.
Considering this plan drops in price down to $50 per month with the loyalty discount, I think it is an excellent option for anyone interested in an unlimited data plan on the Verizon network.
Great question.
Verizon’s new prepaid discount works by rewarding customers who continue to have active service with Verizon for consecutive months. After 3 months of active service customers will receive a $5 discount applied to subsequent bills, and after 9 months of active service customers will receive an additional $5 discount applied to all subsequent bills.
If you were to sign up as a new customer today, here’s how the discounts would pan out:
What is great about the loyalty discount is that existing Verizon customers can switch to one of the new prepaid plans, and they will immediately receive credit for the loyalty discount based on how long they’ve been a customer. So if you’ve been a Verizon customer for 6 months, you’ll immediately get $5 off your bill via the first loyalty discount.
Now, are these loyalty discounts better than the previous multi-line discounts Verizon was offering?
The answer is: it depends.
I dug up Verizon’s old prepaid website via the Wayback Machine to see exactly how the discounts compared. For a family with four lines on the unlimited plan, the discounts are exactly the same: $50 per person per month.
However, if you were a family where each person had different data needs, you may actually be getting a better deal. While Verizon only offered a $5 auto-pay discount to the first line added to the family plan, any 8GB, 16GB, or unlimited plans added to the family were eligible for $15, $20, or a $25 off respectively. Considering the new loyalty discount only offers up to $15 off per month (and after a period of 10 months at that!), the multi-line discounts were actually a better deal for the 16GB and unlimited data plans.
Plus, let’s not forget you got the multi-line discounts immediately. Now you have to wait 10 months for your plans to drop in price.
I think the multi-line discounts were an overall better value on Verizon prepaid. While it’s nice the new loyalty discounts are available to people with only a single line on the account, the truth is these discounts are really best for existing Verizon customers.
Would you wait 10 months for a discount, when there are already plenty of better options available? I don’t think so.
For existing, single-line customers on Verizon Prepaid, I think it’s a no-brainer to switch to the new plans. Sure, you’ll sacrifice your 1GB of extra data, but you’ll immediately get the loyalty discount based on how long you’ve been an active Verizon customer. The new plans are a great way to reduce your bill by an extra $10 per month.
If you signed up for a previous multi-line plan on Verizon prepaid, I think the decision is more challenging. I suggest you run the numbers to see exactly how much you’re paying now and how much you’d be paying under the new system. In most cases, I suspect the previous multi-line discount to actually be the better deal.
And for anyone who’s not currently a Verizon Prepaid customer, should you sign up for these? The truth is, I don’t think so.
Visible is a carrier that uses Verizon’s network for coverage (in fact, Visible is owned by Verizon and acts as their flanker carrier), and Visible’s unlimited data plan is just $40 per month. Flat. All taxes and fees included. Plus, you can save up to $15 per month with Visible’s Party Pay group discount. So you’d be paying $25 flat for unlimited data on the Verizon network, which is a much better deal than what Verizon Prepaid has to offer.
That said, Verizon’s new prepaid plans can be good for anyone who values being able to go to a store for customer service. And they are certainly a great option for existing Verizon customers.
