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According to a post at Travel in Points that was based on data points from Reddit here and here, T-Mobile is apparently offering half off your cell phone bill for three months if you ask for the discount and agree to a 3GB data cap for those three months. I do not believe this is limited to first responders. It is said that this will not affect your plan long-term but is rather applied like a promotion code (I’m skeptical). I’m not personally trying this deal as I need more than 3GB of data, but for many folks who are primarily at home & covered by Wi-Fi for the coming weeks / months, this could make for a really nice savings.
The Deal
- T-Mobile is reportedly offering a 50% off discount for those who accept a 3GB data cap for the next 3 months. This discount would come off of your normal plan and apparently won’t change your plan (See below for warnings and advice).
- No link, you apparently need to contact T-Mobile on Twitter. I believe this discount is called “Stay Connected Data 3GB capped”.
Key Terms
- From reddit: “This won’t impact your rate plan itself or any promotions, it’s just in order to get the 50% off the services it would require us to move every line to a capped 3GB data plan.”. YMMV – be sure to confirm the details.
Quick Thoughts
Again, the details of this deal are not published publicly, so we’re going off of reported details from reddit. I recommend asking all of the pertinent questions when you contact T-Mobile about this and getting direct confirmation on the key details. Speaking of that, the word on reddit is that you should contact T-Mobile on Twitter to inquire about this promotion.
If you are currently working from home and will be for the foreseeable future, this could make for a great savings, especially on a multi-line plan (though all lines need to switch to this plan to get the discount). Note that the discount does not apply to device payments (you still have to make whatever payments owed on a device payment plan).
As noted at the top, it is said that this will not permanently affect/change your plan, so it should be possible to participate in this even if you have some grandfathered plan you’d like to keep and after 3 months is over you should remain on your same plan (or will perhaps need to contact T-Mobile to reactive data). Just don’t shoot the messenger if that turns out not to be true – I’d recommend caution if you have an old plan that you’re nervous about losing.
At least one person on reddit claims that it could cause problems reverting back to an unavailable plan, and I think this is a valid fear, though I don’t know for sure that this is correct:
For those worried about losing discontinued plans, it depends on your plan. The way this works structurally is that you stay on the same base rate plan (Simple Choice, T-Mobile ONE, etc) but your data feature is replaced (Simple Choice 10 GB w/ SMHS, ONE Plus Promo, ONE Plus International, etc) and then the discount is added. Data is capped, though you can purchase up to an additional 3 GB per line for $5/GB/line.
Personally, I’m on that One Plus International plan that includes unlimited hotspot (a feature no longer available), so I’m not sure I’d risk it even if I didn’t need more than 3GB of data.
But I use way more than 3GB of data each month as my wife and I have both worked from home for years and primarily use our phones as hotspots when working to remain on separate connections. Until a few months ago, our only option for home Internet was pretty slow DSL service. We now have T-Mobile’s rural 4G LTE home Internet service, which is not capped but is also on the same bill (so maybe I’d have to agree to cap that?), but we still use the hot spots a fair amount. I couldn’t do a 3GB data cap, so I’ll be sitting this one out.
On the other hand, if you have a newer plan that you’re not worried about losing and you’re mostly using your Wi-Fi right now anyway, this could be a significant savings over three months that’s worth pursuing.
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Supposedly, the offer is available when you click,
“We’re committed to supporting our customers. Learn how we’re responding to COVID-19” at the top of your T-Mobile page. Although, I couldn’t locate it. I called and had no issue adding it to my account. The person at T-Mobile told me the offer was available to everyone.
If you do the promo, and you have an older grandfathered plan you will not be able to reactivate that old plan, so any savings you get with this 3g deal you will lose by having to accept a more expensive plan or move to another,[probably better] carrier, beware!
Thanks for sharing this Nick. The person from My Team of Experts (Tmobile customer service) assured me that I’d get back my grandfathered plan from way back. I’ve been with them for more than 13 years, so he assured me that he has access to plans from way way back. He even put that in the call notes.
Those who decide to take the plunge, you may want to ask your rep to add to the notes that the grandfathered plan you’re on will be available after three months.
Like Ivan, I was told that additional data is $5 per 1 GB and to get additional data beyond the 3 GB, a call to customer service is necessary.
For those considering, the 50% off is after the auto pay and 2 GB kickback discounts are factored in.
I did this today over the phone, took 5 minuted. The rep immediately knew what I was talking about. You can cancel this arrangement at any time.
Keep in mind after 3gb you’ll have no data at all
Yes, but you can add extra 1GB for $5 each
Worked for us!
I called Tmobile and told them my boy Nick told me they did it for him
Thanks
I am skeptical of the report on Reddit “… that it could cause problems reverting back to an unavailable plan…” unless of course that is someone involved directly with the implementation of this plan (technical or business side). This statement is simply fear mongering.
As far as the screen shot on Reddit showed, this 50% discount is simply a plan add-on that can be activated (added) or deactivated (removed). Seems straightfoward.
Note – this sounds to be a stict data cap and not deprioritization once 3GB is met, meaning data stops working once the 3GB cap is met – this may not work for some.