Total Wireless Trials Two and Three Month Plans, Offers Multiple Ways to Get Samsung Galaxy A16 Free

Total Wireless appears to be in the process of launching and testing two and three month plans. The Verizon owned prepaid brand is also offering multiple ways to get a Samsung Galaxy A16 for free.

Multi-Month Plans

A Reddit poster recently stated that they contacted customer support over an issue with their service. As a result of their issues, customer support moved the subscriber to a two month plan.

Checks of Total Wireless's website including my own account dashboard, and Walmart.com, show that you can't order a two month plan online as it doesn't show up as a purchase option. So that raises the question of how this customer, who did post screenshots of their plan, actually ended up with it.

I did a little digging around the web and found that Total Wireless has a few webpages up that are supposed to be specific to what plans it sells in national retail stores. You can see what is supposed to be available at Walmart stores here: https://www.totalwireless.com/nationalretailer/walmart.

If you examine the page you'll see that Total Wireless has a broadband facts labels for one two month plan and one three month plan. These plans are really just Total Wireless’s flagship Total 5G+ Unlimited plan, which normally costs $65 per month before autopay discounts. The mutli-month plans don't appear to offer any discounts like other providers offer compared to just paying for them monthly.

Multi-Month Plans Tied to Discounted Phones

Digging into this a little further it appears that at least for now Total Wireless is just using these multi-month plans as a way to offer customers discounted phones. The only way I've found that you can get them is through Total Wireless dealers although you may also be able to switch to one like the Reddit poster did through a phone call to customer support.

• One dealer on Facebook posted in mid-January that you could get an iPhone 13 for $99 when you buy a two month Total Wireless 5G+ plan.

• Another dealer posted you could get a Motorola Razr for $99 with the purchase of the two month plan.

I have not seen any posts about deals involving the three month plan. If I had to guess, the three month plans will be used to offer higher priced phones at a discount.

Standalone multi-month discount plans, popularized by Mint Mobile and other providers like Red Pocket Mobile and US Mobile, have become a popular industry staple. It remains to be seen whether Total Wireless plans to compete in that space or if it will continue offering multi-month plans only as part of discounted phone deals.

'Free' Samsung Galaxy A16 Offers

1. Buy In-Store at Walmart

• Customers who purchase a Samsung Galaxy A16 in-store at Walmart for $129 (not available for online orders with in-store pickup) and activate it on a Total 5G Unlimited plan or higher will receive a $130 credit in their account.
• The credit is applied about two days before the third month of service begins, allowing Total Wireless to market it as a free phone offer in stores.
• The credit can be used toward future service payments.

2. Port-In Offer

• This offer is available online and in Total Wireless stores, but ID verification is required.
• Customers who port their number to Total Wireless and activate on either the Total 5G Unlimited or Total 5G+ Unlimited plan will receive the Samsung Galaxy A16 for free.

Customers Still Pay for Discounts

Total Wireless is experimenting with multi-month plans, likely as a way to introduce device subsidies to prepaid customers without directly discounting service. At the same time, they are also testing the reverse approach—offering free service with the purchase of a device. Ultimately, both strategies serve the same purpose: to entice customers to switch over and to try and improve customer retention. However, customers should recognize that these discounts aren’t entirely free; whether by paying full price for a phone upfront or committing to a flagship plan for several months in advance, they are covering the cost of their savings one way or another.