New cell plans - service contract vs lease

[Edcculus]

Time is up on the current Verizon plan next month. I’m considering switching my wife to Sprint. Since moving to our new house, both of our phones have gotten really terrible service because our house is down in a hole/behind a huge hill. My work phone is Sprint (no real choice there). If I get her on a Sprint plan, I can buy a signal booster for the house so we can both get better service.


So here is where I’m confused: the different plans. You can now “lease” a phone, or you can do the traditional service plan. She will be getting the iPhone 6 16GB.


Here is the breakdown of pricing


Lease:
Phone cost: $20/month for the 24 month lease (the only option they give me)
service: $50 for unlimited text, voice and data.
Total monthly: $70 (before all that extra stuff they add in)
Total cost for 2 years: $1680


Service Plan
Phone Cost: $200 up front
Service : $85/month unlimited text, voice and data.
Total Monthly: $85 (before extra stuff they add in)
Total for 2 years: $2240


Has anyone made the switch to the newer pricing schemes the cell companies are doing now? How exactly does upgrading work? Since you aren’t getting a subsidized phone, presumably would you be able to get an upgrade for some sort of fee just about any time you wanted? The lease plan seems like a no brainer once its all added up. I’d appreciate anyone who can share their experience!

 

[acesn8s]

We're going out of contract with Verizon with this month's bill. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks as well. I'm not pleased with having to pay subsidized prices per month now that the cellphone is "paid off".

 

[cvargo]

Are you truly leasing the phone like you would a car and responsible to return it after the lease is up? Or are you basically financing it? After the 24 months do you own the phone or do you need to give it back?

 

[MicBaldy]

Based on those numbers I'd go with the lease. I'm a little confused as to why the monthly service charge is different though.

 

[langod]

Since you're tied to Sprint, investigate Ting wireless -- they're a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). Which means they use a carriers service -- in their case, Sprint -- and resell it. They do not subsidize the phone -- you need to buy it yourself, either from them or you can "bring" any unlocked Sprint-capable phone, and all you pay is service. You don't buy a "plan", you only pay for what you use. So if one month you use 200 minutes, 300 txt messages and 50 Megs of data, that's all you pay for. If next month it changes, you pay a little more or a little less, etc.

3 years ago I went onto Ting from AT&T. I was paying $150/mo for service for 1 smartphone and 2 dumbphones. I changed over, bought 3 used smartphones, and my bill dropped to less than $50/month. Yes, I had to buy phones -- about $400 total -- but they were paid off in 4 months of savings.

They have a "saving calculator" if you want to compare rates. Oh, and another thing -- their customer service is top notch, I've called or emailed a couple of times and get nearly instant solutions.

one thing I will note -- if you are a HEAVY data user, their price gets expensive fast -- they're really more set up for the casual data user. (although I have a teenage daughter and it still works out cheap, because most places you can use wifi, which is, of course, free. I typically pay $50-60/month.)

Check them out here:
https://z69jaen9m.ting.com/
Yes, that's a referral link --you get $25 off and I get money off my bill. (Mods, if that's a no-no, apologies and please remove it)

For a non-referral link, just go to www.ting.com

 

[skijor]

+1 to Ting. I've been with them for two years and couldn't be more pleased. They are usually a lap behind on the iphone...if that's vital.
Ting...pay for what you use. What a novel idea

 

[Edcculus]

Are you truly leasing the phone like you would a car and responsible to return it after the lease is up? Or are you basically financing it? After the 24 months do you own the phone or do you need to give it back?

Here is what Sprints site says:

Sprint Lease is an industry-first option that gives you the flexibility to lease select smartphones and tablets for a lower monthly cost versus purchasing the device. A lease is different in that Sprint owns the device. At the end of your lease term, you can purchase the device and own it outright, or return it to us and upgrade to the latest device.

Based on those numbers I'd go with the lease. I'm a little confused as to why the monthly service charge is different though.

I think the monthly access charge is less because they are trying to encourage people to go with the lease. Its fairly well known that more recently, cell companies are losing money with the subsidized plans.

 

[Edcculus]

I'm really liking that Ting idea...my wife stays at home, and is mostly always on Wifi. From our last bills, it looks like she has between 600-900 minutes a month, and 200-300 texts a month. Most of her texts are actually iMessages, which count as data...but she's mostly on wifi so that doesn't matter.

If I got her a CDMA iPhone, which they say specifically on their site is covered by Sprint, would the signal booster I get from Sprint work for her phone too?

Heroes our coverage map for Sprint. Our whole street pretty much gets terrible coverage.

 

[Lmarkow]

I am very unhappy with Sprint's Airrave. As soon as the phone is paid, Sprint is a gonner.

 

[Edcculus]

Good to know. What about it do you not specifically like?

I'm actually not to worried about my bad service at the house. Spring has the best service at my plant. I'd rather my wife have good service since she's home a lot.

 

[Michael Spotts]

Not a fan of the Airrave myself. Main reason I went to T-Mobile. I get LTE and haven't had dropped calls. When I was with Sprint I like them but my place just didn't get signal. Tried the Airrave and it didn't help. I'd lose signal with it more than not. You could always look into Google's Project Fi. Not compatible with IPhone (Nexus 6 at the moment) so that may be a deal breaker. Options are never a bad thing.

 

[bakerbarber]

I heard of Ting. We use too much data to save with them though.

CDMA is on the fast track to extinction though.

GSM is where it's at. Are you sure AT&T or T-Mobile aren't an option?

A lease in any form is just usuary. No good.

 

[Lmarkow]

The Airrave was just another piece of technology to fail, causing me to loose service. It uses the wi-fi, so when Time Warner decides to get the cable back up, that's when I can use my cell phone again. I understand newer phones can get service over the wi-fi without the Airrave tower, which would just leave me at the cable company's mercy. But there's a Verizon tower not too far away, so Sprint is a gonner.

 

[dpm802]

We're going out of contract with Verizon with this month's bill. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks as well. I'm not pleased with having to pay subsidized prices per month now that the cellphone is "paid off".

+1 ... I kept my last phone for almost 3 years, and I knew I was being ripped in that 3rd year once the contract expired and I went month-to-month.

The carrier reps will tell you "No, we're not charging you for the phone. Its FREE! The contract is just to ensure you stay with us for 2 years."

Of course, going through the whole contract just guarantees that you won't have to pay an Early Termination Fee ... about $350 last time I looked.

Trying to figure out the "Magic Math" behind cellphone price plans will drive you nuts. You are on the right track by calculating out "Total Cost of Ownership" over the entire period, though.

If you or your wife belong to any professional organizations, Military Reserves, Unions, AARP, etc. you may qualify for both hardware and service discounts. You'll need to dig 'em up on your own, though, because the Wireless Carriers are not going to advertise that you can get the same phones and the same service cheaper just by presenting a Membership Card to affiliates that they honor.

 

[langod]

I've never used the Airrave. Ting does support them. If you look into their forums, I believe there's some discussions about them.

Good to know. What about it do you not specifically like?

I'm actually not to worried about my bad service at the house. Spring has the best service at my plant. I'd rather my wife have good service since she's home a lot.

 

[LouieGrandie]

The sad fact is that if you are on ATT, Sprint or Verizon you pay at least $80 a month no matter what plan you are on for a single phone. There is no combination of phone and plan that will get you below $80.

If you get a new phone every 2 years then a lease would make the most sense.

 

[Gig103]

I'd say you should go for "Easy Pay" which is a little more ($7/mo to be precise) but you own the device:
This is what my sample cart looks like:
$50.00/mo = iPhone Plan "Exclusively for iPhone 6 - unlimited data, talk, text
$27.09/mo = Apple iPhone 6 16GB
Total cost for 2 years = $1850.

This way you get to keep the phone at the end for $170, and a used iPhone may still be worth that much - they hold their value better than most electronics. Or maybe your wife will find it's still working great and not "need" an upgrade like the carriers have convinced us.

Also keep in mind that new iPhones are usually announced or released in September. If you go Easy Pay, she can wait until Oct 2017 to upgrade, you save the $20/mo for July-Aug-Sept, and she gets a newer model.

The only thing I don't know is how warranty and such work with leased devices. Is it like a Cable DVR where if something happens ever you get a replacement? Or is it like a car where you fix it yourself because it's getting turned back in. I'd find that out if I were you.