Cell Phones & Miles...
 

Currently, I have a Sprint PCS Corporate Plan where I pay about $38/month (after taxes) and I get 500 daytime and 1000 night's & weekend minutes. My N&W minutest start at 8PM - I usually use almost all of my daytime minutes & about 800 of my N&W minutes.

I'm tired of Sprint dropping my calls, but it's such as perfect plan for me & also it lets my earn UA Miles, so I haven't cancelled it. Now with the fact that you can change providers & keep the same number, I'm thinking about switching cell companies.

Any recommendations on service providers & plans? I live in the DC area (live in Arlington, work in Bethesda, go out in DC) & I would need something that has free long distance & can be used in major cities & on major highways.

I would prefer to earn either UA/NW miles, but would earn DL or BA miles if the plan was right.

I think that limits me to Nextel & Sprint - unfortunately, I haven't heard great things about Nextel in the DC area (although the NW Dial for Miles promo seems like it's a pretty good promo). Does anyone know if Verizon partners with any airline? I've heard great things about them in the DC area.

Thanks!

All cellphone providers suck, it's just that some suck more in areas you need coverage than others. I would NOT pick a carrier based on FF miles. I'd pick based on coverage and plan price. If you then discover two that are almost identical, use the miles to make the decision.

I'm partial to T-Mobile, by the way, because my GSM phone works all over the world.

I agree with that. I was just hoping there'd be something worthwhile that earns miles in the DC area.

How do you do that ?!

You wait until November 24, 2003 and then (assuming it's not delayed yet again) you can switch.

Do a search on Google for "Cell Phone Portability Number Switching" and it'll bring up more info...

very cool, too bad i switched providers yesterday http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

I've had a similar Sprint PCS corporate plan for about 4 years BUT I've never earned miles for it. Do you know if they are partners with any airline Freq Flyer plan other than UAL (used to be a 1K in the mid 1990's but haven't flown them for years so would prefer almost ANY other airline program)? If not do you know of a link that would point me to where I could get more info about how to get the UAL miles. Thanks

I actually will be ordering a new plan/phone on that date...I cannot wait. AT&T is an absolute joke here in NYC. My cell phone has no signal in my apt., yet my roomie's with Verizon works great.

http://www.attwireless.com/aa
AAdvantage miles for at&t plans, plus a nice bonus for signing up.

YANXFAN -

Here’s how to sign up for miles through Sprint partnerships:

United Mileage Plus: Call toll free: 888-645-3749 or register online at www.sprint.com/united.

US Airways Dividend Miles: Call toll free: 800-421-5989 or register online at www.sprint.com/usairways.

America West FlightFund: Call toll free: 877-382-8410 or register online at www.sprint.com/americawest.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Register online at www.sprint.com.

Midwest Express Frequent Flier: Register online at www.sprint.com.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Register online at www.sprint.com.

Got this from:
http://www3.sprint.com/PR/CDA/PR_CDA...111514,00.html

Also if you do a search on the Sprint Forum & the UA Forum with my username (on the UA forum do a search w/ my username & the term Sprint for better results) you'll see the number to call for corporate accounts.

If you decide to go with AT&T Wireless, good luck trying to get them to actually award you miles. It's been 6 months since I activated service and about a dozen calls and faxes to customer service and still no miles. On the plus side their coverage in my area is better than my former carrier.

NexTel has a US partnership as well. 5K miles per phone up to 25K miles.

Still, I'd only take the miles if that was the plan I would have bought anyway.

already have an account with sprint.2000 min @ 150$. IF I SIGN UP WITH UA WILL RATE BE SAME?

the price won't change - all that will happen is that you'll get 1000 miles for extending your contract 1 year & then 5 miles per dollar spent (750 miles a month for you)

is there an airline mileage plan associated with verizon?

Not that I know of - but if you or anyone else hears of one, please post it here because I am thinking Verizon is one of the better providers in the DC area...

Or you can go hotel points. I have my AT&T credited to Marriott, as I'm always mileage points high & hotel points short.

------------------
Sharon

I used to get NWA miles for SprintPCS but that ended 3/03. Since then I changed to YX (MidwestAirlines) & got a 1000 mile bonus, but nothing since. Does anybody know if YX awards SprintPCS miles for monthly usage?

I have been with Verizon & their National Plan for 5 years. I get double miles with DL SM AMEX each month. 250 anytime minutes 3500 nights & weekends & that is from anywhere in the USA to anywhere in the USA.

They also have America's Choice which is 80% of USA for loads of minutes but I haven't switched til its 100%.

Maybe I'm missing something, but this appears to be SPRINT only, NOT SPRINTPCS.
Correct?

bhatnasx,

I don't particularly care for Nextel, but they had an article in this past Sundays Washington Post on the different cell carriers and which ones performed better and were better values for the money. Nextel performed the best here in the DC area.

that may be the case - i didn't really 'research' it, i just did a quick online search - if you do search under my username & the sprint board, there's some phone numbers there for the UA contact & if you search my name and "Sprint" on the UA board, there may be some things there too.

dlnewbie - thanks, i'll check out that article online.

Just an aside, if you have a Delta AMEX card, charge your cell phone bill and get double miles. It's one of the double all the time promos.

Whoever you pick, do NOT pick Cingular, they BLOW!

Since nobody answered my 9/26 posting question, I contacted YX who referred me to SprintPCS, where I was told that there are no longer any monthly usage mileage credits on any airline program. The only PCS miles now are signup bonuses ranging from 1000 miles(existing PCS customer) to 5000(new PCS customer). Anybody hear anything different?

Anyone ever sign up (and receive) the 8,000 Continental OnePass bonus miles for service agreement with T-Mobile? I notice the 8,000 is no longer offered on the CO site, I believe it dropped down to 5,000.

I didn't look closely, but I think on the back of the Continental in-flight magazine, there was an add for 10,00 miles (but it may not have been for t-mobile - it may have been AT&T)

YANXFAN and KNOWITALL

Please e-mail me. I have something to send to you, but you do not have your e-mail posted.


[This message has been edited by bhatnasx (edited 10-03-2003).]

dupe.

[This message has been edited by bhatnasx (edited 10-03-2003).]

It looks like T-Mobile now has a 7500 mile offer for a cell phone ( http://www.continental.com/onepass/e...s/tmobile.asp? ), but now I am really confused. Would someone please explain to me exactly what T-Mobile offers? I was under the impression that the company's Hot Spots were for internet access from your portable computer only. True?

I need to know where to list the company's offers on my web site.

Thanks.

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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

http://www.t-mobile.com/ - they have cell phones as well as the internet hot-spots.

After 6 years of so-so service from Sprint PCS I finally decided it was time to change carriers as I wanted a phone with email, text messaging, web browsing, bluetooth connectability and, most importantly International capability.

My new home (in SRQ) is situated between 2 Sprint towers and I drop over 50% of the calls I make from home.

I chose to go with AT&T as they offered me the world and a great $300 Nokia phone for $49, no activation fee, free shipping (phone arrived in about 16hrs), several free accessories, 5000mi on AA and a very reasonably priced monthly plan.

Only thing they neglected to tell me is that they have NO SERVICE in SRQ so when I set up my phone it connected to T-Mobile. After a long phone call to customer service and a talk with a supervisor I was assured that they had an agreement with T-Mobile and I would not be charged roaming rates. WRONG. The entire 53mins I used the phone were charged at $.69/min plus additional long distance charges. When I called back I was informed that if I had purchased the phone by calling their 800 number I would have been warned about their lack coverage in SRQ but nothing was mentioned when you did the transaction online.

They were very good at reversing all the charges and they have a nice 30-day money back guarantee. Still it was a hassle and now I am once again looking for the right cellular provider.

If it wasn't for all the dropped calls and Sprint's overpriced phones I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Eric

I just received a mailer today from AT&T "Introducing the AT&T Wireless Recognitions Program". Supposedly it's gone out to less than 10% of AT&T Wireless folk?

Says reap the rewards:
- if you explore the site you can get up to 300 free airtime miles or 2500 airline miles
-entries into ongoing sweepstakes (things like best buy cards, AA miles)
--entry into grand prize sweep (gift certs for substantial $$ or trip for 24 on AA/cruise - both of which will have high taxes associated w/ it; the latter is my note).

Also, you can get 25% off wireless accessories.

I haven't had time to actually check it all out so don't know if it's any great shakes.

I have some of my AT&T go into my Marriott account; that's from the old AT&T True Rewards program. At one point (before AT&T & AT&T Wireless had to split), I had all my accounts combined into one & all those points went to Marriott (I'm top heavy on miles & usually less on hotel points), but now I think I only get points to Marriott off my landline w/ AT&T & AT&T Wireless split.

So this may be the only thing for my wireless.

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Sharon

I realize you are seeking miles for cellular service. However, Cingular currently has a promotion offering nationwide service at a reasonable rate. In addition, the unused minutes can be rolled over.

Cingular allows you to switch plans throughout your contract without penalty. Also, once you're on a plan you can stick with it even if it is discontinued at a later date. You remain locked in.

Why are you still looking for the right provider? Why not go with T-Mobile since they seem to have coverage where you need it? I've used them for ~2 years with out problems.

I just picked Cingular and since I couldnt find any mileage partnerships with them I signed them up through MyPoints. 2500 points and they had some good deals on phones.

Have gotten the points yet... I just signed up a week back.

http://www.mypoints.com/mp/dmp?objec...weboffers.jump

Sign-Ups Only
 

knowitall, i checked into this too and came to the same conclusion you did. Sprint PCS only offers miles for sign-ups, not monthly fees. And I think you have to contract for a year to get the 1,000/5,000 miles. The only good news is that that is for each phone number you have, so two phones is worth double.

Personally, I prefer the monthly usage deal, but what can you do?

Sprint Pcs Sucks!!!
 

It's good to see this thread bumped back up ;)

I am still with Sprint PCS - I had some concerns with them - and basically, I did receive a UA offer for 1000 miles + 5 miles per dollar spent a while back (see the beginning of this thread) and was getting that when Sprint was with NW. After a while (and after posting this thread) I noticed that I didn't actually get the miles that were promised due to my corporate affiliation. So I got in touch with them & offered to drop my % off discount (like 4 bucks a month) and opt for the miles instead. They told me that instead of doing that, I should stick with my Corporate discount and that they'd give me 15K miles for 2003 & 15K for 2004. I told another FT'er about this & because of his monthly spending, they offered him 20K per year as well. We both agreed. The other FT'er got his 20K for '03 & nothing for '04. I got 5K total for '03 and when I tried asking about the other 25K that they offered (which I proof of the offer, in WRITING from Sprint PCS's Executive Services team) I was essentially told that they weren't giving me jack-schnit. So I wrote another letter to Len Lauer - the CEO of Sprint PCS & am pressing this for 1 more month and if no results occurr - I'm leaving Sprint behind like a piece of used toilet paper. I've been loyal to them for 4 years (before I even had a corporate discount) & have made countless referrals of friends, family, and business associates - and this is how they treat their customers.

So basically...as my signature states...

:mad: :mad: SPRINT PCS SUCKS!!! :mad: :mad:

now that you mention it .... last summer I signed up for the United sign-on bonus and got confirmation through Sprint that my contract had been extended for a year, but didn't see any miles posted with United.. I wrote two letters to Sprint PCS but got not response. When I called (six months later), they said that there was no indication in my records that I had re-upped, but would gladly give me the miles if I extended for a year. That was 6 weeks ago and I assume I'm still within the "6-8 weeks" posting lag time, but if this attempt doesn't get the miles, Sprint is indeed full of bs and will lose my business as well.