scubadu

Just be aware, as discussed earlier in this thread, that Verizon explicitly disallows this approach and AT&T also disallowed it when they had this in place. Thus, it's very likely T-Mobile will also block this strategy. Obviously, we don't know yet, but Occam's Razor would say they'll do "what the other guys did," so I wouldn't get too excited yet.

One other method that will be interesting to see is that T-Mobile does allow you to setup autopay via Apple Pay (for those in the iOS ecosystem). However, there are several unknowns for that path; 1) will it trigger the autopay discount, 2) would it code as 5X for Chase Ink card or would the "vendor" be seen as Paypal not TMo and finally, 3) similar to #2 if using Paypal would that invalidate the Cell Phone insurance coverage as the "vendor" is Paypal not TMo? Just don't know the answer to these questions yet, but we'll find out soon enough.

Regards

lsquare

Interesting idea. Did your free lines and all your discount transfer over to your wife's account?

draver

This was before I gained 3 of the free lines in 2020 & 2021. The first one was in 2017 with the port in to open the account. I previously had 10 voice lines on Simple Choice. Some of those dropped off, and were replaced by free lines as they became available. 12 is the maximum total allowed on ONE accounts, so the new account port in + free line + 10 COR lines maxed me out until a few original lines quit. I currently have 5 family members on my account that pay me $12.50 a month for service. That reduces my personal bill by $62.50 per month. We have 7 lines for the 2 of us, and our charges for those is about $55 a month. That includes Netflix, airline data & global 5Gb high speed data per line and a few other perks. I have a sweet deal, but there are others that are doing MUCH BETTER.

scubadu

Just as an update to this, I've noticed two things:

1) The banners stating that the autopay discount would require a debit card or linked bank account seem to have gone away. Have no idea what that means. The app still says I'm saving "$15 per month via autopay" and I still have a credit card as the payment method. My payment for May should occur tomorrow, so I guess we'll see what happens.

2) I've reviewed the updated terms/conditions for Autopay and it seems to pretty clearly state that the Apple Pay idea (quoted above) likely will not work; it explicitly states digital wallets don't count for the Autopay discount.
Source: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/account/autopay
"Payment method must be a debit card or linked bank account. Credit cards and digital wallets (Apply Pay/Google Pay) are not eligible."

I thought the Apple Pay approach might actually work if for no other reason than T-Mobile has been consistently pumped as a partner for 3% cashback via the Apple Card, which is clearly a credit card. Seems like Apple wouldn't be to happy about this, but perhaps it falls too far below the "care about" line...

Regards

draver

I’ve had a personal cell phone since 1995, and have never broken one, so the credit card coverage is not too important to me. Also, my limited research indicates many cards coverage is limited to a $650 cap, regardless of the phone cost. My iPhone 14 Pro Max lists for $1,199 with 256Gb memory.

I have added a no overdraft debit card to a checking account I use at a credit union for small payments. It limits my liability to the amount on deposit, and I can make deposits via phone transfer. I will maintain my $40 a month auto pay credit this way with little fuss & bother.

Last summer T-Mobile gifted the 12 lines on my account with the free 5Gb high speed international data roaming for no apparent reason, so I’m not too upset by this minor speed bump of account features. There are only a handful of countries where I DON’T have free data service. I’m on a trip right now, and have free data roaming in the 7 countries on 3 continents we are visiting.

lsquare

Did you get 12 free lines in one summer? ​​​​​​

draver

LOL, in my dreams!

Let me clarify, I have 12 lines total, 8 paid, 4 free, $116.50 per month. 12 voice lines is the maximum allowed on personal accounts. I was in the right place at the right time for all the discounts I receive. 1 free line opening the account, 3 more added over the years.

lsquare

Are all of your lines Magenta Max? If not, do they all have free in-flight WiFi? My understanding is that my other Magenta Max lines all have unlimited free in-flight WiFi.

draver

I am on a ONE plan, and the account specifies 4 flights per year of unlimited airline WiFi. I have heard that the 4 flight limit is not enforced but even if it is, I can just use a spare free line if necessary. The reason my account gets some upgrade perks is due to a “ONE Plus Promo” add on. I get 10 Gb high speed hot spot from this too.

lsquare

TMO is now enforcing the limits. It just started recently. That's why I upgraded to Magenta Max to get unlimited.

It's per account? I thought it was per line?

draver

It is per line from all I have read on line. How did you hear about the 4 flight limit? I have seen several comments on Reddit recently about it not being enforced.

lsquare

Someone posted a screenshot from the UA forum. It wasn't enforced the last time I flew with UA and DL, but this was early spring.

galeaoguy

back to the autopay issue.. It still worked for me in May and this snippet is from my account as of 5 minutes ago. - "AutoPay scheduled for Jun 18, 2023 from ..."

scubadu

Yep, my payment posted yesterday and I received the autopay discount this month. Not sure what is going on...

Regards

Need

Same here, still on credit card autopay, and still getting the discount. It also seems like the switch to debit card warning is gone from my account. Maybe enough people switched, and they changed their mind to enforce it.