Those of you with an Alltel/Verizon or Sprint Data card Plan

[Steve Polley]

Ran across this today and was unaware of this. Both providers will allow you to put your data card plans "on hold" for 3 months at a time for a small fee. This is a very nice option as this allows you to maintain your current data plan (unlimited w/Alltel) without having to disconnect/reconnect and possibly lose your current features. Also allow for saving a few extra bucks for the next chase season.
Here is the link with more info
http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2743/63/

 

[Terry Tyler]

Wow, Thanks for the tip Steve. Ive been paying a little over $60 a month for my Verizon internet and i only use it a few days a year. I was looking into possibly a pay as you go, but now that youve shown me this ill definatly try it next summer.

 

[Randall Cooper]

Unfortuntely, I use my data card for internet in my new appartment right now. However, I am looking into getting internet service here in the apartment without the data card, so this is good to know, thanks Polley!

 

[Skip Talbot]

This sounded like a great idea, Steve, until I looked into the details. The fee for Verizon's "vacation mode" is $15. I'd consider $5 more like a small fee. Plus Verizon already has month to month contract-less data options and activation is only what... $25? Not much of a saving. Ninety days isn't going to cover the whole winter either. I was thinking about turning my data off now and probably won't reactivate it until March. Although I also have $15 data from ATT ontop of my voice plan that I can use as a backup. Good find though, I'm sure this will help some of us.

 

[Jason Foster]

Regardless of who it might benefit directly...thank you for sharing. It is always best to know ALL your options.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

With Verizon I've been able to bump my data package up or down without strings attached. I have a $29.99 package to allow access via handset, and had to bump it up to a full data package to tether to the laptop while chasing.

One thing to consider, I'm an employee of a state university, so I get a discount on all things wireless with Verizon. I believe it's 18% off monthly services, 25% off all accessories, and I paid 1/6th retail price on my handset device. If you are an employee of a city, county, state, or government organization, check to see if there are discounts available to you.

 

[Paul Hadfield]

This sounded like a great idea, Steve, until I looked into the details. The fee for Verizon's "vacation mode" is $15. I'd consider $5 more like a small fee. Plus Verizon already has month to month contract-less data options and activation is only what... $25? Not much of a saving. Ninety days isn't going to cover the whole winter either. I was thinking about turning my data off now and probably won't reactivate it until March. Although I also have $15 data from ATT ontop of my voice plan that I can use as a backup. Good find though, I'm sure this will help some of us.

You and Stan know more about this stuff than I do but I'd say a $15 fee by Verizon is pretty generous on their part - $15 vs. $180 of non-use, i'll take it!

Thanks Steve, i'll definitely be making the call to Verizon. All this time of paying for an unused device that at times had me questioning if I should have bought a Blackberry and simply "wing it" with whatever was available so to at least get the more out of the device during down time. My contract is up in June and with the advances in mobile devices that we have seen in just the past year alone, I'm tempted to switch out altogether.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

...a Blackberry and simply "wing it" with whatever was available so to at least get the more out of the device during down time.

You've brought another consideration to mind....

I'm not sure about other carriers, but on Verizon, if you have a smartphone of the non-Blackberry variety, you don't HAVE to pay for a "full" data package. I have the Palm Centro, and I pay half the cost of the data package REQUIRED for the Blackberry. The only downfall, I don't get email service popping up automatically, but rather I go through a browser to get to it. I'm not even sure I'd call it a downfall This option saves me approximately $25/mo.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I was thinking of suspending my Verizon aircard, but I think I am just going to cancel service until about March or so. That's 5 full months if I can go till March 15, and it's only $35 to reactivate at that time.

 

[Tony Perkins]

A smartphone + normal tether fees for 7 months of the year will run you about the same money as an aircard for 7 months, plus 5 months of 'vacation' and a reactivation fee. It all depends if you want data on your phone in the offseason. If you don't, the aircard option with vacation is the way to go.