(EXPIRED) Free AirPods/Galaxy Buds + Mastercard GC with phones at Visible Mobile

I promise this blog hasn’t turned into the Frequent Dialer with all of today’s phone deals, but there is a third deal to follow the two I wrote earlier available at T-Mobile and at the Google Store. This one is available via prepaid Verizon carrier Visible Mobile, and it presents a terrific value for those without a trade-in device who are not looking to get locked in with a carrier. In my case, it gave me a very solid deal on a Google Pixel 4a (NOT the 5G variant) that I’m giving someone as a gift. I’m going to write this post as what I did, but note that similar deals (maybe better deals to you) are available on a bunch of other Apple iPhones and Android phones, so you can take what I did and run with it as it fits your situation.

The Deal

• Prepaid carrier Visible Mobile is offering the following deals for free wireless earbuds on select phones. This stacks with a deal for a free virtual Mastercard gift card worth up to $200. Links to each deal (our affiliate links, but note that you can go through Rakuten for $10 or 1,000 points as noted in the post below):
  • Free Apple AirPods Pro with select iPhone models
  • Free Samsung Galaxy Buds Live with select Android models
  • Free virtual Mastercard gift card worth up to $200 with select phones (stacks with headphones offer)

Key Terms

• These deals require porting a number from an eligible service (see eligible services below) and activating service on Visible mobile (one month required for earbuds and 2 months likely for the Mastercard gift card)
• See full terms on the promo pages linked above

Quick Thoughts

I first saw this deal posted at Dan’s Deals yesterday and it was exactly the deal I was looking for. I have a family member for whom the Google Pixel 4a would be a great fit, but they really don’t need the 5G from the phone I wrote about earlier from the T-Mobile / Costco deal and the Google Store deal.

This deal will require signing up for Visible Mobile cell phone service for 2 months. I did that, but I don’t really need the service. I’ll check it out only because I want the phone deal. Visible’s phones are all unlocked, so it will be easy enough to play with their service intermittently for 2 months while ultimately gifting the phone itself.

Here’s the deal:

Visible Mobile is offering Free Apple AirPods Pro with select iPhone models or Free Samsung Galaxy Buds Live with select Android models. To get the free headphones, you just need to buy one of the qualifying phones from the promo pages, port your phone number from a qualifying other carrier, and activate your Visible phone on their service when you receive it (the cheapest plan is $40 per month for one phone; service gets cheaper with more lines). Then you’ll get a code for the free headphones.

Additionally, many phones come with a virtual Mastercard gift card worth up to $200, though that takes 8 weeks so you’ll need to keep service for 2 months in order to qualify for the gift card.

To start, you’ll need a phone number to port from one of the qualifying carriers:

• AT&T

• AT&T Prepaid

• Boost Mobile

• Cricket Wireless

• FreedomPop

• MetroPCS

• Net10 Wireless

• Page Plus Cellular

• Republic Wireless

• Sprint

• Straight Talk

• T-Mobile

• T-Mobile Prepaid

• Ting

• Total Wireless

• TracFone

• US Cellular

• Verizon

• Virgin Mobile USA

• Walmart Family Mobile

• Consumer Cellular

• Google Fi

• Mint Mobile

• Spectrum Mobile

• Xfinity Mobile

It is particularly notable that Verizon qualifies. Visible is a Verizon MVNO, so it is surprising to see them allowed to compete with Verizon for the same customers.

In my case, I had a paused Google Fi account. I was able to port out my number from Google Fi to qualify. If you don’t have a number to port, you may be able to buy one cheaply on eBay. Just be sure to choose a qualifying carrier and do your due diligence vetting a seller.

Visible Mobile is on a few shopping portals. Last night, Rakuten was offering 10% / 10x back. Unfortunately, that has since been reduced to $10 / 1,000 total points. Still, it’s worth starting there. There was also a Chase Offer good for $25 back on Visible Mobile. That was scheduled to expire last night, but it might be worth checking your Chase accounts as those offers are sometimes extended.

Then I went to the Android landing page at Visible and added the Google Pixel 4a to my cart at a price of $336 and checked out, entering the info to port my number during the process.

With tax, I paid $362. I expect to spend another $80 on the first 2 months of service for a total of $442 spent.

I expect to sell the Galaxy Buds Live for $100 (they currently go for $140). If that expectation comes through, here will be my full deal:

•  $442 spent
• -$100 Mastercard
• -$100 (earbuds sale)
• – $25 (Chase Offer)
• $217 net
• I earned 3,360 Membership Rewards points from Rakuten (now 1,000)
• I also expect to earn 1,056 Chase Ultimate Rewards points by paying with the Chase Ink Business Preferred

Even without the Chase Offer and extra Membership Rewards points, getting the Pixel for a net cost around $242 is a solid deal over the current retail price of $349. It might not seem so compelling after the other two Pixel 4a 5G posts that I did today, but those deals require a trade-in. This is a nice deal for a phone with a great camera in the middle of the pack.

Assuming you value the 1,000 Membership Rewards points more than 1c each, you’re looking at a nice small return there. If you were otherwise considering a purchase of the Galaxy Buds or were planning to buy them for someone as a gift, this deal might seem even better to you.

There is of course the chance that fulfillment of the Mastercard gift card will take longer than advertised and so it could end up being less of a win. However, it looks like a solid deal to me — and other phones may interest you more. I ordinarily wouldn’t have even thought to look at Visible mobile for a phone deal this week, but the 4a is exactly what I was looking for and I hadn’t seen any other discounts offered on it with the launch of the 4a 5G drawing all of the deal attention as of late.

Of course, as I noted at the top, there are also good deals on a number of other phones including iPhones, Samsung phones, OnePlus, and Google. I was just glad the deal came together on exactly the phone I wanted to buy.

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