Vitaforce

Newbie cell phone user with questions about the T-Mobile $3 month Pay As You Go Plan:

1) I am still confused as to whether you need to "top up" a $3 per month pay as you go plan every 90 days even if you have a $57 balance? I have around $200 worth of refill cards I want to add to a new phone/$3 month pay as you go plan I activated recently and don't want a $200 balance to "expire" because I didn't add anything every 90 days. I hope if I have $200 in my account that the account will last 5 years even if I don't use any minutes. Is this correct?

2) I have entered two $30 refill cards and when I enter #999#, it says my balance is $57, which makes sense. However, when I go to the "My Account" section on the telephone it says my balance is $27 and to use by May something? Which is it?

pseudoswede

Nope, just 365 days. If you can hold on to $100, then you can wait a year and refill and reset the counter. Otherwise, refilling with $10 cards will extend the balance another 365 days.

Vitaforce

That's true for the old legacy plans before the August 2014 change to $3/month auto deduction. I wonder if on the new $3/month pay as you go plan, one needs to refill every year to keep it going, even if you have a high dollar balance in the account?

weekilter

I guess this means that an account formerly under the old PAYG system that was $10/year after becoming a "gold reward" member is now $36 to keep an account active.

Vitaforce

If you are on the old PAYG plan (legacy) you are grandfathered in to the old plan/rates. The new $36/year plan is for people who activated after mid August 2014.

Loren Pechtel

As far as I can tell from the website I still have the old system and can pay $10/yr until I use up my balance. The plan isn't available to new customers, though.

Dubai Stu

Is it that clean. What if I'm legacy, temporary go to a pay by the day or buy a month of data? Can I revert back to $10 a year?

Letitride3c

Short answer is NO. I have one of those grandfather Gold status/$10 a year plan w. refills as a basic voice line/phone use for backup. Once you switch out to one of the currently offered options for new/current customers - you CANNOT switch back to the discontinued legacy plans online. It is possible to call T-Mo customer care and ask, and at their discretion - might be possible to switch you back one-time only (i.e. selected by mistake, etc. etc.) Grandfather legacy plan(s) are not shown or available as an option or choice from within T-Mo's online account management (just checked mine now & it's now also correctly showing my expiration date/next refill & remaining balance in the account.)

EmailKid

OK, it's that time of the year again - I don't see too many options on T-Mobile sites.

Is it safe to simply refill $10 and be good for another 365 days?

Thanks.

Letitride3c

Looks that way, just re-checked my PAYG - Legacy Gold plan is still there, 34 minutes/137 msg. remaining & used by March 2017 - did a $10 refill via Callingmart.

Been busy & should catch up some of the T-Mo changes in phrasing out other/older plans - but, we are grandfathered & just no switching back-n-forth. But, a carrier # now on a nano-Sim card for $10 a year is unbeatable as backup, coupled with WiFi calling on Skype & GV/Hangouts, for those infrequent SMS verification and 2-factors, while safeguarding my other numbers.

Otherwise, you are correct - not much, if anything frugal to switch to on my line/account page ... except for the $3 monthly plan with 30/30 and excess at 10 cents per minute or per text.

If yours is up for renewal, go ahead & refill and should be good for 360 days again - I put an alert/reminder in Google & Outlook calendar on the next refill day, it's then good to go.

weekilter

Make that 365 days. And always remember to take into account those years which are leap year which will throw off your anniversary by a day which happened last year I believe.

Next leap year is 2020.

EmailKid

Thanks, worked like a charm. Even has $1.00 Callingmart credit from before

364 by my count:

Or maybe it is 365

Letitride3c

Thank you kindly for the correction, technically accurate - of course.

But, sometimes being in the road & going thru multiple time zones - I might rather set that reminder/renewal earlier than late or just in time ... server down, credit card authorization not going thru (happened to me last year ... stupid * bank's early fraud detection system since I was logged in not from my usual IP on the travel notebook ) while trying to refill directly via CM to the T-Mo #. Much rather refill when there's still a day, or even a week remaining before it "expired" - with these grandfathered plan as I'm sure T-Mo don't exactly care if we are gone tomorrow or day after, hardly making money off a handful of us @$10 a year, LOL. Renewing early would reset the clock for 365 days of valid usage to giving up 5 or 6 days if I refill at 360 (unless I'm mistaken) and would reset it for another 365 days - so I'm out 5 days on the prior 365 days cycle.

For some reasons (I will and need to check this in about 60 days out) as T-Mo doesn't seem to be doing an expiration soon/renewal reminder on these 365 account w. Gold status, unlike other newer PAYG 30 or 90 days plan - making it easier to become as forgetful by missing the renewal cutoff and risk losing the mobile #, the Gold & grandfathered status and any credit/unused balance associated with the account (I typically/used to leave $5 or so in that, just in case - when it was possible to get data as add-on for the day @ $2 or $3, no longer offered) Of course, one can still do the short codes with the #* xxx # (or whatever combo as I wrote them down) to check on balance & expiration date, etc.

msp3

Just tried the activate, this plan is dead!

GUWonder

Tmobile still sort of has this but are peddling it this “ultramobile.com” way now: https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/?i...Q5RM3G9P617763