A way to get new phone and vm not knowing?

[spriteboost]

I was wondering since I'm still grandfathered in the 25 dollar plan. Is there a way to buy a new phone, and transfer your number to it without vm help and keeping the 25 dollar plan? I gave the phone to my mom and she's still using it but she's thinking of an upgrade but we don't because of the 25 dollar plan seems like a waste to pay 10$ more for same plan. So is there a possible way to buy a new phone/or used? I'm guessing no but worth a shot to ask.

 

[SiempreTuna]

You can buy any unlocked phone, pop the TM SIM in it and you're good to go. That's exactly what I did when I bought my Nexus 4

If your new phone takes a different size SIM, T-Mob will replace it - though they may charge you a one off fee - or you cut your SIM to size. There are instructions on-line or you could buy a kit.

BTW, the Nexus 4 is a fantastic phone and was an absolutely amazing bargain when I bought it but last week, Google cut the price $100

Has to be the best phone bargain ever - check it out on Play

 

[dsmryder]

I was wondering since I'm still grandfathered in the 25 dollar plan. Is there a way to buy a new phone, and transfer your number to it without vm help and keeping the 25 dollar plan? I gave the phone to my mom and she's still using it but she's thinking of an upgrade but we don't because of the 25 dollar plan seems like a waste to pay 10$ more for same plan. So is there a possible way to buy a new phone/or used? I'm guessing no but worth a shot to ask.

You could get a used phone and activate it on their website. That should leave your account at the $25 plan.

 

[metsfan99]

You could get a used phone and activate it on their website. That should leave your account at the $25 plan.

It would have to be one of the phones that is still eligible for the $25 plan. There was a list of the eligible phones on Virgin's site. It's probably still there if you search. I believe it was any phone that was released prior to a certain date. That date was around May or June of 2012, around the time the EVO was released. If you plan on staying with Virgin, you will have to switch to the $35 plan at some point, unless you always want to use an old model phone.

 

[TDOW]

You can buy any unlocked phone, pop the TM SIM in it and you're good to go. That's exactly what I did when I bought my Nexus 4

If your new phone takes a different size SIM, T-Mob will replace it - though they may charge you a one off fee - or you cut your SIM to size. There are instructions on-line or you could buy a kit.

BTW, the Nexus 4 is a fantastic phone and was an absolutely amazing bargain when I bought it but last week, Google cut the price $100

Has to be the best phone bargain ever - check it out on Play

Virgin Mobile is not a GSM provider, therefore there is no SIM card to pop out.

 

[mogelijk]

To answer the OPs question, there is no legal way to change your phone on Virgin without Virgin's help. The IMEI of the phone must be paired in Virgin Mobile's system to your phone number; so when you change phones Virgin Mobile will see if you upgrade to a newer phone and require you to switch to a $35 plan.

 

[metsfan99]

I found the upgrade rules for the OP (pasted below). I don't think that Virgin has changed any of this policy since then. I believe the only one of these phones that Virgin still sells directly is the Chaser. If you want a new unit of one of the other phones, you should be able to find them on Amazon, Ebay, etc. or you can get a used unit.

Learn about new Beyond Talk device upgrade rules What are the new device upgrade rules?
Starting May 27, 2012, if you are using the $25, $40, or $60 Beyond Talk Plans and you upgrade to a Beyond Talk Smartphone launched after May 1, 2012 (including the HTC EVO™ V 4G), you will need to switch to the current $35, $45, or $55 Beyond Talk Monthly Plan. When you switch plans, you will need to pay for your new plan and you will lose any minutes, messages, and money in your balance. This will also change your monthly payment date. So if you are considering upgrading to a new smartphone, we recommend that you wait until right before your next monthly payment date to activate.

*The following smartphones launched before May 1, 2012 and are therefore not subject to the new device upgrade rules at this time: VentureTM, LG

 

[m-cman]

Don't know what phone your Mom has but the Optimus V is a great phone. In some ways better than my HTC EVO V. The main complaint was storage but if your Mom isn't into a bunch of apps, etc it should be fine.

 

[aurora40]

Virgin Mobile is not a GSM provider, therefore there is no SIM card to pop out.

And even if they were, they certainly wouldn't use a T-Mobile SIM!

 

[aurora40]

I was wondering since I'm still grandfathered in the 25 dollar plan. Is there a way to buy a new phone, and transfer your number to it without vm help and keeping the 25 dollar plan? I gave the phone to my mom and she's still using it but she's thinking of an upgrade but we don't because of the 25 dollar plan seems like a waste to pay 10$ more for same plan. So is there a possible way to buy a new phone/or used? I'm guessing no but worth a shot to ask.

Maybe you just need to think about it differently. $10 more a month is to use the service on a phone that is decent. Or to get data speeds that are better (assuming you have wimax or lte coverage in your area).

Prices go up. You could have been paying the $35 a year ago, but VMU decided to grandfather people. So either you have to come to terms with their new pricing strategy, or stay locked in a smartphone time capsule. Because of that, you can't get the old price on a new phone in any fair or honest way.

 

[metsfan99]

Maybe you just need to think about it differently. $10 more a month is to use the service on a phone that is decent. Or to get data speeds that are better (assuming you have wimax or lte coverage in your area).

Prices go up. You could have been paying the $35 a year ago, but VMU decided to grandfather people. So either you have to come to terms with their new pricing strategy, or stay locked in a smartphone time capsule. Because of that, you can't get the old price on a new phone in any fair or honest way.

Exactly, it's still a good deal. I don't know if it is the same in every state, but my increase was actually only about $7.50/mo. Virgin used to charge me sales tax when I was paying $25, but when I had to switch, I get billed only $35 with no tax.

 

[dsmryder]

Exactly, it's still a good deal. I don't know if it is the same in every state, but my increase was actually only about $7.50/mo. Virgin used to charge me sales tax when I was paying $25, but when I had to switch, I get billed only $35 with no tax.

On Ting I have paid ~$20 the last four months.

 

[aurora40]

On Ting I have paid ~$20 the last four months.

I paid $30 for the whole year when I was on Page Plus. But who cares? It's not a relevant comparison unless your usage pattern fits into that plan.

2GB of data on Ting is $48/month, without any minutes or texts. Arguably the biggest selling point on VMU is the unlimited data (throttled after 2.5GB) and texts. In your case, Ting was a better deal, but that doesn't mean the $35 VMU plan isn't also a good deal.

You also can't get stung with big "overages" (in this case, costs you weren't expecting). Go nuts with data one month on Ting, and you could have an $80+ bill. This would wipe out several months of the $10-15 average savings you were getting. With VMU, you are never paying more than $35 (or whatever plan level you pick).

 

[mogelijk]

I paid $30 for the whole year when I was on Page Plus. But who cares? It's not a relevant comparison unless your usage pattern fits into that plan.

2GB of data on Ting is $48/month, without any minutes or texts. Arguably the biggest selling point on VMU is the unlimited data (throttled after 2.5GB) and texts. In your case, Ting was a better deal, but that doesn't mean the $35 VMU plan isn't also a good deal.

You also can't get stung with big "overages" (in this case, costs you weren't expecting). Go nuts with data one month on Ting, and you could have an $80+ bill. This would wipe out several months of the $10-15 average savings you were getting. With VMU, you are never paying more than $35 (or whatever plan level you pick).

This is also why the $30/month T-Mobile plan is so popular. For users who use their phone to text and use apps it is ideal, I'm not aware of anywhere else you can get unlimited texting and data (first 5 GB unthrottled) for anything close to that price. Of course, with only 100 minutes, it doesn't work for people who talk on their phone a lot (though a lot of users have VOIP apps so they can talk free).

Personally, I got rid of Virgin Mobile because their data speeds were just insanely slow -- even living in an area where I could get WiMax, which had far too many dead spots. Additionally, I can use pretty much any unlocked GSM phone, and change my carrier if I find a plan that will work better for me.

I actually have switched to a GoPhone plan temporarily, as I will do some traveling and wanted AT&T's coverage. At some point, I'm likely to go back to T-Mobile's $30 plan, or possibly Solavei or Straight Talk (using an AT&T SIM) to get their unlimited plans. I also love buying Nexus phones from Google, which can be moved to any GSM carrier's plan, and will always have the latest version of Android -- to me the phone, Android updates, and fast data tend to be my priorities.

If you live in an area where Virgin Mobile has decent data speeds, particularly if you have LTE, VM can be a great bargain. The "trick" is to figure out your priorities and usage patterns -- that will allow you to better chose the plan that works for you, and not to feel "stuck" with a particular carrier.