Will the ol' activate-on-other-line/switch-sim-back trick work to keep unlimited?

[urklegrue]

I pre-ordered on my husband's upgrade hoping that this works.

1. Put his sim into GS4 and activate. Maybe make some calls for good measure.
2. Yank his sim and put it back in his Galaxy Nexus.
3. Put my GS3 sim into GS4.

If anyone else is successful with this before the phone arrives on Tuesday, let me know. :biggrin:

Or should I just take it to the Verizon store and ask them to do it?

 

[DevonM]

Or should I just take it to the Verizon store and ask them to do it?

This is what I have to do since I don't yet have a 4G SIM and they need to give me one.
It better work, because this idea is the basis for my entire purchase.

 

[k1ngr4t]

Another option should be to activate it on the new line, then just move the phone to the unlimited line and vice versa. Or are you saying to get unlimited on both lines? If so, then I HIGHLY doubt this is something Verizon hasn't caught on to and made impossible.

I will say I tried to do this in store (switch lines) and the rep told me it wasn't allowed. However, merely 1 week after that, a friend did the exact same thing at a different store and I've read of people having success with it several times on here since, so...be wary if they say no. Not sure if you can do it yourself online or something though....

 

[BLeClair12]

As far as I know, the basic idea still works. When I pre-ordered my S4, though, it told me I needed to also order a new SIM Card because the one in my Bionic wasn't compatible. On my shipping confirmation, it lists "4G NFC SIM CARD" as part of my order.

When I activated my Bionic, they told me that the 4G SIMs could only be activated once, and once they were taken out of service, they were effectively "fried". They screwed up my activation and had to overnight me a new SIM as a result. If that's still the case, you can still achieve what your ultimate goal is, but it may require a few extra steps (and a couple new SIMs).

 

[TisMyDroid]

Yes, it works... and most reps are aware that it is the one way to keep unlimited when buying a phone at the subsidized price. Whatever line the new phone is first activated on will be required to code a tiered plan unless it already is on a tiered plan. Once the phone had been activated on a line then it can be changed to any line without any changes made to the plan (retaining unlimited on an unlimited line). It is exactly what I did when I recently bought my GN2 (transferred the eligible upgrade to my son's tiered line, bought the GN2 Werth that upgrade, activated it on his tiered line, then activated it on mine).

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[urklegrue]

Mission accomplished! It worked.

 

[droidworld]

Yes, it works... and most reps are aware that it is the one way to keep unlimited when buying a phone at the subsidized price. Whatever line the new phone is first activated on will be required to code a tiered plan unless it already is on a tiered plan. Once the phone had been activated on a line then it can be changed to any line without any changes made to the plan (retaining unlimited on an unlimited line). It is exactly what I did when I recently bought my GN2 (transferred the eligible upgrade to my son's tiered line, bought the GN2 Werth that upgrade, activated it on his tiered line, then activated it on mine).

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

How much does it cost to add a line? I have unlimited as well but I would like to upgrade at a discounted rate

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Droid Forums

 

[urklegrue]

I think it's still $9.99 for a basic line.

 

[k1ngr4t]

Urk which method do you use??

 

[urklegrue]

I had an upgrade available on my line. I switched it to my husband's line. He has a tiered plan. Activated on his line first then switched the sims. I did go to the Verizon store but that is all the guy did there so it was sort of unnecessary.

 

[Faithlly]

When I pre ordered my phone I had to Change from unlimited to a plan. So I picked the 4g with hotspot. When I got my phone and activated it my hotspot didn't work so I called Verizon. For some unknown and GREAT reason, my plan didn't change and still have my unlimited. The rep said "well we can still change your plan if you want" umm no thanks, will keep my unlimited. She said she didn't blame me, lol. Not sure if this has happened to anyone else?

Sent from my Samsung S4

 

[droidworld]

When I pre ordered my phone I had to Change from unlimited to a plan. So I picked the 4g with hotspot. When I got my phone and activated it my hotspot didn't work so I called Verizon. For some unknown and GREAT reason, my plan didn't change and still have my unlimited. The rep said "well we can still change your plan if you want" umm no thanks, will keep my unlimited. She said she didn't blame me, lol. Not sure if this has happened to anyone else?

Sent from my Samsung S4

You lucked out

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Droid Forums

 

[wingdo]

Went to the VZW store today, upgraded my GF's Bionic to the S4 (virtually as her phone was never with me), then they put the activation back on her Bionic and popped the new SIM in the S4 for me. Loving the phone so far, and no issues at all at the store getting the upgrade taken care of. I still have my nice neat cheap unlimited plan.

 

[Ohyea!]

Is there anything preventing me from personally switching the S4 from one line to the other? You know at home without going to the VZW store?

 

[O2VW1.8T]

I think it's still $9.99 for a basic line.

yes its about 15 bucks after all the tax and bs, I have 4 lines and only use 2 the other 2 are for upgrades and i have 2 dumb phones on the other lines. I upgraded my dumb line at best buy they activated it and then had to buy another sim card to put my unlimited data on the S4 and it worked fine. When i got home i signed on verizon and see i have 2 S4's on my lines so i put back my dummy phone without any issue and now im back to a 9.99 plan.