Prepaid plans, such as Verizon prepaid plans, are often shunned in favor of postpaid plans. What most people don't know is: prepaid plans have great benefits!
For instance, prepay plans are the perfect complement for bring your own phone programs, don't require a stressful credit check, commitment, annual contract, or activation fees. While Verizon's prepaid plan section is easy to access, the information from the Verizon website tends to be a bit garbled and unorganized.
Well, we're here to help with that.
Within this guide, you'll find information on the phone plans as well as the prepay phones, customer service, coverage, and more. Finally, we'll direct you to our cell phone plan comparison tool, so you can make an informed decision on what you should settle on as your prepaid or postpaid plan service provider.
In This Guide
Verizon Wireless Prepaid Plans
There are a few prepaid monthly plans to choose from, but which plan works for you?
There are a couple of advantages to consider with a Verizon prepaid plan. With the service provider's prepaid plans, you won't have to suffer from a credit check or the commitment of an annual contract.
Furthermore, you won't have to pay an activation fee and you will receive free next-day shipping on all devices.
Referring to the official Verizon website, there are four plans to choose from: 2GB at high speed, 5GB at high speed,10GB at high speed, and Unlimited high speed. The first three smartphone plans offer the following:
- Carryover Data, which means any unused data will carry over to the next month.
- Unlimited talk and text in the United States
- Always On data, meaning that once your LTE network data allotment is reached, your speeds will be slowed to 128kpbs
- Mobile Hotspot
- Unlimited texts from the United States to over 200 countries
As a side note, if you're curious about making calls and texts to Puerto Rico, you should be aware that Puerto Rico is actually included in the domestic plan, meaning you won't face any charges when you dial to and from Puerto Rico. Pretty cool, huh?
The 10GB and Unlimited monthly plans include unlimited calling to both Mexico and Canada. However, you can always purchase unlimited talk packages (which either contain unlimited calling to Mexico and Canada or unlimited calling to 40 countries) for a certain fee per month per line.
If you plan to call internationally more often than most, you might find better prices and perks with any of these dedicated international cell phone plans.
A bit more about the Verizon Unlimited prepaid plan: the unlimited plan includes everything that the 10GB plan has, except it features unlimited high-speed data. However, it is not truly unlimited as your data may be throttled during times or places of network congestion. Furthermore, video streams will only be in standard definition rather than high definition.
Even worse is that there isn't an option to purchase HD video streaming, unlike T-Mobile's prepaid unlimited plan on the T-Mobile network. The T-Mobile network prepaid unlimited plan allows you to purchase an HD day pass so you can stream video at 1080p. Hopefully, Verizon will provide customers with a similar allowance in the near future.
There is only one available basic phone plan. With this plan, which is at quite the affordable fee, you'll receive unlimited calling, unlimited texts, and unlimited mobile web on basic phones. This plan is great for those who don't want to purchase a smartphone (or have kept their basic phone forever), as you will be able to take advantage of both unlimited texts and unlimited mobile web, which aren't available with some other providers, such as T-Mobile or some Verizon MVNOs.
Data Device Plans
You can also purchase a data device plan, otherwise known as a data-only, a mobile hotspot, or tablet plan. Data ranges from 500MB, which is only good for one week, to 10GB, which is good for a total of 60 days. However, these plans are considerably expensive for what you're receiving. For more information, you can compare tablet plans among all four major wireless providers here.
Prepaid plans are eligible for Auto Pay, which is a feature in My Verizon that allows you to set up a recurring monthly payment for your wireless bill. Auto Pay can help you save time and energy when it comes to paying a bill, so you won't miss a payment.
Verizon Prepaid Phones
First thing's first: discussing the available Verizon Wireless prepay cell phones. These phones are no-contract cell phones that you can purchase directly from the Verizon Wireless online store.
There are several different types of Verizon prepaid smartphones and basic prepay cell phones. You can filter through these prepay phones by the following:
- Special Offers
- Price
- Brand
- Operating System
- Customer Rating
- Storage
- Color
- Camera
Types, or more specifically brands, of smartphones, include Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Apple, and Samsung. And yes, there are Verizon prepaid iPhones available. Yet, are there other Verizon wireless prepaid phones to consider? Of course! As I've mentioned earlier, the Verizon network carries basic prepaid cell phones. Unfortunately, there are only a few to choose from.
Read More: You can use our smartphone comparison tool to learn more about the specs and features of the phones mentioned here.
Verizon Coverage
When comparing Verizon's coverage maps, I noticed that Verizon prepaid customers receive roughly the same coverage compared to the provider's standard plan customers. And, well, the LTE network is incredibly strong with Verizon. In fact, the LTE network covers more than any other service provider.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to the prepaid coverage offered by Verizon: in some areas, you will face prepaid roaming charges of $0.20 per minute.
Read More: For more information and comparisons between provider maps, feel free to check out "Who Has the Best Cell Phone Coverage?"
Activation Kit
Considering bringing your own phone? Well, you certainly can, and you can either activate the phone with any of these Verizon BYOP plans, or you can simply purchase a Verizon prepaid SIM card. A SIM card, which we delve further into in this article, typically contains your network profile and data, but in the case of a Verizon 4G sim activation kit, you can activate a $45-per-month plan with unlimited talk and text plus 2GB of data on your phone. However, the latest phones are not exactly compatible with the activation kit.
Prepaid Cards
Perhaps you're considering a Verizon cell phone plan but are curious about the service's refill cards. Well, with a Verizon prepaid phone card, you'll be able to place more minutes onto your account or even gift more minutes to someone with a Verizon prepaid wireless account.
On the official Verizon store, you can purchase a refill card. More specifically, you'll be able to purchase up to five cards per transaction. These cards expire within 90 days, and the per-minute rates for Verizon prepaid service include roaming in all of the network cities and domestic long distance charges.
You can also purchase Verizon Wireless prepaid cards at certain retailers, including Best Buy and Walmart.
Verizon Customer Service
Need help with a prepaid plan? Well no worries, Verizon has you covered there with its customer service, which has scored a 71 with the American Customer Satisfaction Index. There is a support page purely dedicated to prepaid plans and services. There are FAQs, a community section, snail mail addresses, and a live chat feature in case you need support.
There are also device shortcuts to help you out, specifically designed for prepaid plans. Here are the following prepaid functions:
- *611 + Send = Check Balance
- *86 + Send = Voice Mail
- #PMT (#768) + Send = Make Payment
The most important number to consider is the Verizon prepaid customer service number. You can dial (888) 294-6804 to help you with your prepaid needs or dial *611 from your mobile phone. The prepaid customer service line is available from Monday through Sunday, between 6 AM and 11 PM local time.
Are Verizon Prepaid Plans Right For You?
Are Verizon prepaid plans suitable for your needs? Well, definitely.
After all, Verizon offers only the strongest of networks, excellent customer service, and speedy data. However, there are the roaming charges to consider, so please be sure to peer at the coverage map before you decide on whether or not to adopt Verizon's service. Not only that, but the Verizon network is not as affordable compared to other providers.
Looking to compare Verizon's prepaid plans with its competitors? Then please take a look at our buyer's guide to prepaid cell phone plans.
