The main reason why we talk about prepaid plans phone plans T-mobilr or any brand, is that usually, they are a better fit for travelers. The idea behind this site is exactly that, to be able to cater to the needs of travelers. Still, it is important to point out that at least as far as T-Mobile goes there are certain differences between their regular plans and their prepaid plans as far as price goes. The way that they see it they are letting you walk at the end of the month and you have to pay for that “freedom”. Also, you can actually get pretty decent deals for usage in Mexico and Canda. If there are locations that you visit frequently maybe the prepaid plan could actually end up being a better deal than the contract plan.
Still, a lot of people can have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea of paying a bit more money for that freedom as was mentioned before. That is one of the main topics that we are going to try and cover in this particular article. As we always try to mention, the reason why there are different options available is simply that different people are going to have different needs. With T-Mobile no matter what type of plan you chose you are going to be able to get pretty decent coverage stateside. Their coverage in Mexico and Canda is one of the best when compared to even some companies like AT&T that have a local branch in Mexico. If these are the places that you visit frequently going with T-Mobile as your overall provider could be one of the best decisions that you make. We are going to see why!
- Why do the prepaid phone plans T-Mobile offers cost more than the plans on a regular contract?
- If you are a regular traveler you may want to look into these prepaid phone plans T-Mobile offers
- The benefits of an unlocked phone and why you should really consider having one.
- Why would you go with a regular contract?
- Is it worth it to buy a SIM internationally or just stick with the fees in your plan?
- What is the T-Mobile Data Pass?
- Are the prepaid phone plans T-Mobile worth it?
Why do the prepaid phone plans T-Mobile offers cost more than the plans on a regular contract?
For starters, this not exactly true. If you buy a plan that only has one line in it you are going to be paying pretty much the same amount as you would on a one-line prepaid account. With regular plans where you can really save money is if you are on a family plan with around 4 lines. A lot of service providers what they do is give you the cost of a line on a 4 line plan and tell you that, that particular rate is what you are going to be paying per month. If you want to buy just one line the cost is going to be about the same as you would pay for a prepaid number.
With T-Mobile, these are the rates that you could expect to get.
The Essentials Plan is going to cost you 60$ dollars if you are buying just one line. This with Autopay, which is going to charge you directly to a credit or debit card. The rate goes to 45 dollars per line for 2 lines with autopay. It goes to 35 on 3 lines and 30 for four lines on the contract. With the essentials plan, you get unlimited texting even while abroad. So, that is something that you may want to look into.
Their prepaid plans are actually very interesting in that you could get a reduced rate as well if you have more than one line. It is one of the few companies that offer these types of benefits. The thing is, you are going to have to have these charges automatically billed, so if that is not what you are looking for then you would have to forgo those benefits. As far as costs go you can be getting 10GB for 40 dollars. For 50 dollars you are able to obtain an unlimited plan. The problem with these two first options is that you are only getting 3G speed. In the 60 dollar plan, you are going to be able to obtain 10GB of 4G speed and the rest unlimited at 3G speed.
If you are a regular traveler you may want to look into these prepaid phone plans T-Mobile offers
Another interesting part about these prepaid phone plans T-Mobile offers is that you are going to be able to get add ons to your plans. So for example, if you are someone who travels to Mexico and, or Canada a lot and that is the reason why you are looking into one of these plans you can add 5GB of 4G data for Mexico and Canada for 5 dollars more onto your regular plan. It is insane to think this, but with these plans, you could potentially be getting faster service in Mexico and Canada then you would on your average plan in the United States. If you really look at it, this is certainly one of those plans that is suited for travelers.
Obviously where you travel is going to determine a lot as far as what type of plan you may be looking to sign up for. Mexico and Canda are certainly two of the more common destinations that American tourists and business travelers end up at. At the end of the day, it is hard to pick a universal perfect option. It really depends on where you travel how much time you spend abroad, and other little factors that could come into play. We are going to try and cover some of the more common scenarios that travelers or even regular users face.
The benefits of an unlocked phone and why you should really consider having one
Unlocked phones are essential to travel. As you could basically remove your regular SIM card and put in another SIM card from another company and get local coverage. As was mentioned before, Mexico and Canda are pretty well taken care of by T-Mobile, especially if you happen to have the add on coverage. If you are traveling to another worldwide destination having an unlocked phone is to going to allow you to literally plug in and play a new SIM card. There are newer phones such as all of the recent versions of the iPhone that are going to allow you to have two active SIM cards or in this case eSIMs that you are going to be able to use. Even in that case though, you need to make sure that you have an unlocked phone.
An unlocked phone just means that the phone is able to read SIM cards from different companies. If you get a phone directly from T-Mobile in this case, chances are you have a phone that is only going to be able to read T-Mobile SIM cards. If you were to take that phone abroad and want to insert a SIM card from a company like Orange, or Virgin mobile you would not be able to do so. There are Youtube videos that explain this procedure and how you can do it yourself. If you don’t feel up to it though, you could always get some help at those mall islands that sell cell phone gadgets. The other option is to actually get help directly from the place where you buy your SIM card if you buy it a physical place.
If you are keen on or need to get a foreign SIM for a trip the safest option is to buy a cheap phone and put the new SIM in there. You won’t have to cope with the fear of losing personal data and things of that nature. Since we basically carry a library of personal information on our cell phones these days.
Why would you go with a regular contract?
Usually, as we mentioned regular contracts allow you to add people to that one contract and lower the rates for everyone. So, even if you are not family you could potentially start that group contract with friends. Another one of the benefits that you get with these long term contracts is that you can finance a new phone or even get one free after spending x amount of time with the company. These are benefits that you are essentially giving up when you decide that you want to go with a prepaid plan. So, if these are things that are important for you then, maybe you really should think about sticking to the regular plan even if this means that you are going to be tied down a bit by the company. In T-Mobile,s case regular contracts also mean “cheaper speed”. In that, you are getting 4G speed almost standard while in prepaid deals 3G speed is what is mostly standard.
Now, the reasons to not go with a regular contract are pretty much based on freedom and not ruining your credit. These seem like fewer reasons than what we just gave for actually having a regular contract, but they can be really powerful. If you are an avid traveler you can literally opt-out of paying your domestic phone bill for one month and actually getting a foreign SIM card. So that you don’t end up paying for something that you are not using. That is actually a theme for prepaid plans. You can literally only pay for what you need. Also, you can decide to not pay at all if you don’t need the service for a certain amount of time. The worst thing that is going to happen is that you may lose your number. As we always mention there are more options so that different people can pick and chose what suits them best.
Is it worth it to buy a SIM internationally or just stick with the fees in your plan?
This is one of the toughest questions that you are going to have to deal with before you travel and decide what you are going to do with your phone. With the prepaid phone plans T-Mobile has, Mexico and Canada coverage is very, very accessible. The problem could be the type of coverage that you are getting in a particular place. To be honest though, if you are visiting big cities across the globe you are probably not going to have a big problem with the type of coverage you get. More often than not, it is going to be OK at worst in big cities. If you are visiting more remote places, then you could really look into a SIM card. So that, you can be pretty much guaranteed coverage. A foreign SIM card is still the safest route to ensure that you are going to be getting decent coverage abroad.
If you have a long term contract you need to make sure that you are not going to be charged some of those hidden fees. That is another reason why the prepaid contract is a good idea. They can’t charge you more than you already paid. Before you are traveling across the border in any direction make sure that you have that 5-dollar add on activated. Also, taking care of your data is just overall a good idea. If you are one of those people that watches Netflix all day with your unlimited plan this can be tough. Connecting to a wifi connection if you are looking to do that could be the better option. So that you don’t go over the 5GB of data the T-Mobile provides.
What is the T-Mobile Data Pass?
T-Mobile is making strides to try and lure people to just use their coverage even while going on trips abroad. Besides their Mexico and Canda coverage which is reasonably affordable, they have data passes for international use. There are different options that you are going to be able to buy. There is a 5 dollar day pass. With the 5 dollar pass, you get 512MB of data for 24 hours. You also get unlimited calls to over 210 countries. This is a good emergency measure. The next option is a 35 dollar plan that gives you 5GB. This option is only available for 10 days. You also get the unlimited calls that you get with the daily pass. You can get the premium pass which is 50 dollars for 15GB of data. This data is going to be valid for 30 days.
Is the pass a better option than buying a foreign SIM card? It could be in the right circumstances. Remember that these rates are going to be added to your regular bill. So, this means that you could get a bill for the month that you are abroad that goes over 100 dollars. For that amount, you could potentially get more data from a foreign SIM card. The foreign SIM card though is going to change your number and you are not going to be getting your regular text messages and things like that. If we get down to the last penny if you will this data package could be a bit more expensive. What this data pass option has going for it though, is that it is very practical. You can activate it through the T-Mobile app and you are not going to have to worry about inserting a SIM card and that whole ordeal.
Are the prepaid phone plans T-Mobile worth it?
At the end of the day, it really comes down to what is worth it for you personally. Some people may say, I don’t want to pay more than 10 or 20 dollars for coverage. You can certainly find ways to do that, but you are probably going to be getting very limited amounts of data and even minutes in some cases. Another person could say, I don’t care how much I pay, I just want to have a simple way that I could obtain coverage. Without a doubt, the least troublesome way that you can probably get data and minutes is with the Data Pass that we just talked about. At the end of the month, you may be paying double what you would normally pay per line though.
As far as prepaid plans go, there is definitely a market. T-Mobile is actually one of the few companies that doesn’t try and sort of hide these options. With some other companies, it seems like they are trying to force you into the long term deals. The only big issue with the prepaid plans in T-Mobile is the 3G speed coming standard. This could change fairly quickly as pretty much every single company is even going with 4G is their minimum speed. As far as options go though, T-Mobile does provide a wider set of options when compared to what a lot of other companies are putting on the table. When it is all set and done though, it is really going to come down to what your main personal needs and concerns happen to be.