6 Ways Students Can Save On Phone Plans Across All Major Carriers

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile offer a huge variety of discounts for everyone, which students can take advantage of to score massive savings. While the Byzantine world of mobile phone contracts can tempt you to buy the simplest phone contract to save time, a little digging can save you potentially hundreds of dollars when buying a phone plan from any of the major carriers.

We’ve dived into the murky world of phone plans to help you find the biggest savings on your phone plans. No matter which carrier you choose, there’s a way to save money during your time at university, even if you can’t access a dedicated student discount.

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6 AT&T’s Unlimited phone plan discount is great for groups

Your whole family can benefit

AT&T’s Unlimited Premium phone plan is only worth the money if you share it with four or five others, but it unlocks a unique discount for students. You can save $10/month on any Unlimited plan once you provide proof of eligibility. Best of all, you can share this discount with non-students as long as you or another student is the primary plan holder.

AT&T’s Unlimited Premium plan starts at $45.99/month for four lines. This discount, therefore, brings it down to $35.99. Note that if you only buy one line, you get the same discount, but the starting price is $85.99. If you’re planning on buying a phone plan with one line, we recommend looking elsewhere

5 Verizon’s student discount is flexible, but it saves you less money up front

Perfect for one or two lines

If you buy one of Verizon’s myPlan phone plans with one or two lines, you can access its student discounts. You can save $10/month by buying one line, or $12.50/month if you buy two lines. Verizon’s cheapest plan, Unlimited Welcome, costs $42.50/line for two lines, or $55/line for one line.

This discount makes it slightly more expensive than AT&T’s similar offering, but Verizon’s is better if you only want to get a phone plan for one or two people. However, Verizon’s myPlan offerings come with more unique perks that can make it even better value.

4 Price locks can save you money in the long run

Budget out your phone plan for years

As a student, it’s a blessing to know exactly how much you’ll need to spend over the years, but changing rents and inflation can make a mockery of your plans. Verizon’s attempts to reverse its falling customer numbers have resulted in a unique price lock guarantee for its myPlan subscribers. It’s not the only one, as T-Mobile offers a similar guarantee for its Experience plans.

If you select a Verizon myPlan contract or a T-Mobile Experience plan, you get a three-year and five-year price lock guarantee, respectively. This means you can budget out your phone plan for this time, knowing there won’t be an unexpected increase in price at any point. Verizon also offers a free phone with your plan if you trade in your existing one. If you need a new phone, and you don’t like surprising price increases, a myPlan contract can be an excellent choice. If you already have your phone, you can sit tight for your entire university career knowing you won’t experience a price increase with T-Mobile.

However, despite the price lock, you’re still locked into a contract with these carriers. If you go through a period where you’re struggling to pay your phone bill, this can be a hindrance, not a help. If you think you might go through periods of financial instability as a student (who doesn’t?), a prepaid plan such as one offered by an ultra-affordable carrier like Mint Mobile can save you money and give you flexibility.

3 Prepaid plans keep you free of contractual obligations

Don’t miss out on limited-time deals

The big downside to Verizon and AT&T’s student discounts is that they’re locked to postpaid plans. These plans require a good credit score and can harm your score if you miss or are late on a payment. As a student, your credit score is low or non-existent, which can harm your chances of getting these discounts. However, all three of the major carriers offer prepaid plans, which are more affordable and don’t require credit checks.

If you only need one line, Verizon offers the $55/month myPlan contract we mentioned earlier. While this comes with a three-year price lock and a free phone, it’s still an expensive phone plan. Verizon’s prepaid Unlimited plan costs $50/month, and you can go down to $35/month with a data limit of 15 GB. Not only does this save you money up front, but you can opt out at any time.

With a prepaid plan, you’ll pay for each month before it starts. If you spot a better deal, you can let your month run out and cancel it, no questions asked. As you’re paying up front, you don’t need to pass a credit check first.

Loyalty won’t save you money

The three major carriers are constantly jostling to offer the best deals to entice you to their contracts. Part of this strategy is through switch and save deals. Essentially, if you leave a carrier for one of its competitors, the competitor will offer you extra savings.

For example, at the time of writing, T-Mobile offered a variety of free phones or significant discounts (e.g., $1000 off the Pixel 9 Pro) if you switch to them. On top of this, they’ll pay off the balance on your existing phone up to $800 per line. AT&T also offers to pay off your existing balance up to $800 per line, and they offer a variety of discounts on phone plans or hardware when you switch.

Taking advantage of these phone plans means being able to switch in the first place. Keep a careful eye on your contracts before you purchase so you don’t lock yourself into a multi-year contract. While carriers can pay off part of your outstanding bill.

1 Look beyond the big carriers for the best savings and flexibility

MVNOs offer flexible and cheap phone plans

Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T offer a bewildering array of discounts and deals, but they don’t offer the best deals in the long run. By layering their phone plans with bundled streaming services and hardware discounts, you may think you’re getting a great deal, but this isn’t always the case. While you can save money with a big carrier, you should always look further than the Big Three for great deals.

Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) lease network access from the big carriers so they don’t have to pay for expensive operational and maintenance costs. They then pass these savings onto you, resulting in plans that are cheaper up front. Best of all, all these plans are prepaid, so you can switch to a new MVNO (or back to a big carrier) whenever you want.

Save money as a student by staying aware of what the major carriers offer

Student-exclusive discounts, price locks, prepaid plans, and switch deals are all fantastic ways to save the most money with your phone plan as a student. We also recommend exploring discounts offered through your student union or university, as your institution may offer exclusive deals on phone plans.

However, the simplest way to save is to forget the big carriers and go straight for an MVNO. They offer many of the same hardware deals and perks as the plans offered by big carriers, but for less money.

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