AT&T has launched a new promotion for its prepaid service. Those who activate a new line on a $65/month or higher AT&T prepaid plan will get a $50 bill credit when they bring their own phone to the network. The offer is set to last until June 8, 2018.
The Fine Print
To be eligible for the promotional credit, you can bring a phone that you already own to the network or purchase one at full price.
For some reason there are some phone exclusions with the offer. The following phones are ineligible for the promotion:
- AT&T Z223
- LG B470
- ZTE Maven 3
- ZTE Blade Spark
- LG Phoenix 3
- Samsung Galaxy Express Prime 2
- Alcatel idealXCITE
- Alcatel CAMEOX
- Huawei ASCEND XT
The ZTE Maven 3 is currently being given away for free, so that is probably why that device is excluded.
Additionally, AT&T Prepaid phones purchased at the time of activation are also ineligible. AT&T postpaid devices purchased at the "no-commitment" price are however eligible.
The account must remain active on the qualifying plan to get the $50 account credit. The credit will be applied within 21 days of receiving the first monthly payment. For multi-line accounts, the credit will be applied to the owner's account. AutoPay must be activated within 21 days of initial funding or the credit will be forfeited.
Qualifying Plans
There are only 2 AT&T Unlimited Prepaid plans eligible for the promotion and they are as follows:
- $65 ($60 with auto pay) - unlimited full speed LTE data with video streaming limited to 480p or about 1.5 Mbps. No mobile hotspot. Data speeds may be temporarily slowed down any time the network becomes busy.
- $85 ($75 with auto pay) - unlimited full speed LTE data and unlimited hotspot. First 6GB of hotspot at 4G LTE data speeds before throttling to 128 Kbps. HD video streaming. Once more than 22GB of data has been consumed in a month, data speeds may be temporarily slowed down during times of heavy network congestion.
Both unlimited plans include talk, text and data roaming while traveling in Mexico and Canada and unlimited texting to over 100 countries.
Taxes cost extra. The offer is available both in store and online.
Ineligible Plans
AT&T sells a few other prepaid plans, and they are not eligible for the promotional credit. The other plans are priced as follows:
- $30/month ($25 with auto pay) - unlimited talk and text with no data. Data is available on an as needed basis priced at $5 for 250 MB.
- $2/day - includes unlimited talk and text, but only need to pay on days that you use the phone.
- Pay Go - 25¢ per minute for all nationwide calls.
- $35 ($30 with auto pay) - unlimited everything with the first 1GB of data at high speed, plus the option to stream video in HD
- $45 ($40 with auto pay) - unlimited everything with the first 6GB of data at high speed, plus the option to stream video in HD. Phone can be used in Canada and Mexico at no extra charge.
Editor's Take
This promotion seems like a major dud. AT&T has another promotion that expires today, April 9th, that is being replaced by the new one just discussed. The old promotion gave new customers one month of free service just for purchasing a SIM kit and activating on any plan priced $35 or higher. It didn't come with all the red tape this new promotion includes. If you have been considering a switch to AT&T, you may want to do that before the old promotion expires in just a few hours.