Update: Sprint has replaced this offer with their Sprint Kickstart plan, which offers unlimited talk, text, and unlimited data for $25/month and does NOT go up in price after the first year. You also don’t have to port-in from a postpaid carrier – simply bring over any phone that works with the Sprint network.
Below is the original post about the expired Free Year offer:
Sprint has an EXPIRED promotion (no TV, radio, newspaper ads, not even mentioned on front page of website) that is only available online to new customers who use the right link. If you sign up at their special link, bring over your own eligible smartphone, and port-in your phone number, Sprint will give you a free year of unlimited talk, text, and data. There is no requirement to continue service past that. I did have to pay approximately $3 to $4 a month in taxes and fees per line.
My experience.
- Sprint will perform a hard credit check. They will check your credit, so be aware. It was worth it to me for the several hundred dollars in savings.
- My total cost for two SIMs was $15.98 + sales tax ($2.99 each + $10 flat shipping). If you order by 2pm EST, they will send the SIM cards that same day by UPS Next Day Air.
- Activation was quick and easy. The activation process was done 100% online, and it took under 20 minutes to swap SIM cards and port the existing numbers over. To complete activation after you get the SIM cards, you will need your SIM card #, phone IMEI/MEID #, and current carrier’s account number and PIN.
- Some people have been successful switching from prepaid service, especially Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Prepaid. However, they do state that they require port-in from a postpaid plan. Use the phone compatibility checker tool after you click “Get Started” here. Another tactic is to first move to T-Mobile’s cheapest prepaid $3/month plan ($10 minimum load) and then immediately port over to Sprint.
- My total monthly bill always ranged from $6.xx to $7.xx including all taxes and fees for 2 lines. This matches with the online reports of monthly bills in the $3 to $4 range (per line) including everything.
- No surprise fees or charges. We got what was promised for all 12 months with no funny business. I recommend their online Live Chat if you have any questions.
- Sprint coverage is worse than my previous carrier (Verizon), but it’s acceptable. I primarily notice this in terms of slower data speeds. Sprint is definitely slower than Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile in my area. I get fewer bars of 4G LTE and occasionally I can only get 3G. I am not a heavy data user, so I feel the inconvenience is worth the $100 a month in savings. I haven’t had any problems with dropped calls or a complete lack of coverage. Check OpenSignal for a better coverage comparison in your specific zip code.
Important requirements and fine print:
- You must bring over a phone that is already unlocked and compatible with Sprint (so that you just need to switch SIM cards). If you have AT&T or T-Mobile you may need to call them up and ask to unlock your phone. See list below, but be sure to use the phone compatibility checker tool after you click “Get Started” here.
- You must own the phone(s) you’re bringing to Sprint. (Not on a lease plan.)
- You must port-in a phone number.
- You must still pay a small monthly fee: “standard $1.99 admin fee, $0.40 regulatory fee and other taxes and fees apply.”
- The $30 activation fee is waived as part of this promotion. The fee will appear on your first bill and a credit will appear within 2 bills.
- Requires a Sprint SIM card ($2.99 each + $10 shipping), paperless statements and Sprint AutoPay ($5/mo./line discount applied within two invoices). If AutoPay and eBill are removed, a $7.99/mo. charge will apply.
- This deal is not available in any stores, you must sign up online through the special link above.
- According to the terms, you must port-in from another postpaid carrier. Sprint requires a hard credit check on all new postpaid customers, including this offer.
- If you keep the service past the first year, you will then start to pay $60/mo. for line 1, $40/mo. for line 2 & $30/mo./line for lines 3-5.
- This plan also comes with Sprint Global Roaming, which includes “data up to 2G speeds and text messaging in any of our 165+ Global Roaming countries at no charge, plus calling for just $0.20 a minute.”
Details about the Sprint Unlimited Plan:
- Unlimited talk, text, and 4G LTE data subject to the following limits below. Data deprioritization applies during congestion after 23 GB.
- Stream video at up to 480p (DVD quality), music at up to 1.5mbps, gaming at up to 8mbps.
Here are select eligible phones. (Not the entire list! Use the checker tool to be sure.)
- Apple iPhone 5c (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone 5s (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone 6
- Apple iPhone 6 Plus
- Apple iPhone 6s
- Apple iPhone 6s Plus
- Apple iPhone 7 (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone 8 (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone 8 Plus (Verizon only)
- Apple iPhone SE
- Apple iPhone X (Verizon only)
- BLU S1/VIVO S
- Essential Phone
- Google Nexus 5 (16 & 32 GB – black/white/red) (Verizon only)
- Google Nexus 5X (all versions)
- Google Nexus 6 (32 & 64 GB – black/white)
- Google Nexus 6P (all versions)
- Google Pixel
- Google Pixel XL
- Google Pixel 2
- Google Pixel XL 2
- HTC One A9 (Sprint Version only)
- LG X Charge
- moto e4
- moto e4 plus
- moto g4
- moto g4 play
- moto g4 plus
- moto g5 plus
- moto g5s plus special edition
- moto x pure edition
- moto x4
- moto z2 play
- Orbic Wonder
- Samsung Galaxy Note8 Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S8 (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile)
- Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile)
- Samsung Galaxy S8 Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S8+ Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ Special Edition
- Samsung Galaxy Note9 Special Edition
If you don’t have one of the phones above, you could probably buy a new Android model for under $300 or a used one for under $100. If you prefer Apple iPhones, on the cheap end you could get a used iPhone 6S 64GB from $230 or used iPhone 7 for $305 and then get a brand new battery for $30, which should last you a while. Alternatively, you could just take the hundreds of dollars in savings and buy a new phone with it.
Bottom line. Sprint WAS offering an unadvertised promotion of unlimited talk/text/data FREE for an entire year if you bring over your own phone and port in a phone number. My wife and I were able to save $1,000 over a year with this promotion. The coverage wasn’t as good as Verizon in our area, but the savings was worth it. All we had to pay was about $3 to $4 a month in taxes/fees per line. There were no surprise charges.
Sprint NOW offers a “barebones” but still unlimited talk, text, and unlimited data for $25/month via their Sprint Kickstart plan that doesn’t go up on price after the first year. You can bring over any compatible phone (check with them) from any carrier.
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Ok… I know that it’s early but this sounds way too good to be true.
Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something major here? I’m an existing Verizon customer who is just coming out of a 2 yr contract this month & with 4 eligible iPhones.
I am concerned that their network is going to be saturated with new customers.
Apparently no catch
https://www.cnet.com/news/sprints-free-year-of-unlimited-data-whats-the-catch/
I did this just to test it out see for myself what the charges were and if it actually worked and if the service worked and so far so good everything that he said above is true from my experience. One difference got me however is I don’t get mobile hotspot at all and they said I don’t even have the option to add it. At the end if the day though it’s like $3 a month and I get coverage everywhere I am and I didn’t have to Port from a postpaid carrier I could have but I didn’t want to move my number so I just ported over a Google Voice number which cost me $3 paid to Google to port the number out and that’s it. Easy peasy
how did you do that
I have use Sprint through a prepaid system (I like $7 a month) the network has a lot of spots where there is NO cell service.
What if I am transferring from Page Plus? How would they know I am not a postpaid Verizon customer?
I don’t know how they would tell or if they ask for proof. It does say “postpaid customers only” in their fine print. Maybe if you have a prepaid provider then it shouldn’t be a big deal to try and if it fails just go back?
It actually says “import from post-paid carriers”, however post-paid carriers provide prepaid services.
It doesn’t seem like it has the be Verizon. I use TING, and it says I am eligible.
Ting isn’t a prepaid service though.
Jonathan, Can you pls tell how us you knew that you are not eligible. Are you saying from the fine prints or you attempted to join using your IMEI and number and had a screen saying you cannot join? I am not from VZ/ATT or T-mobile. It allows me to. So wondering if I should go ahead and order the SIM.
Also on the SIM it doesn’t give an option to pick from the store. It only shows delivery with $10 shipping. Any trick to choosing pick from the store.
Thanks
The fine print says “Port-in from postpaid carrier” is required.
If the online website says you are good to go, I would give it a try. It doesn’t appear that Sprint can tell the difference between Verizon Prepaid and Verizon Postpaid. I’m not sure about every Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile MVNO though.
I think I was wrong as I know you can buy a SIM from a store and they just send you two generic SIM card in the mail, but online it appears to make you buy the SIM to process. I went ahead and paid $10 flat next-day air shipping for 2 SIM cards.
A quick 48-hour update. I turned off WiFi completely for 48 hours (I now have unlimited data!) and things went pretty well on Sprint’s LTE network. Calls, e-mail, web browsing fine. I usually only have 1-3 bars of signal but I was never without coverage. Speed is definitely slower and YouTube was a bit blurry at times, but so far quite acceptable for $4 a month.
Sprint’s site shows the deadline as July 30 now, not sure if that was a change, but I’m happy because I thought I would have to rush to get this done today. BTW, I love this blog, I appreciate the knowledge you share.
Yes, it appears the deadline has been extended again and again. My conspiracy theory is that Sprint is quietly racking up new subscribers to that they look better when they sell themselves to Comcast or whomever.
What a hassle. Tried to order on line and would not let me check out after pulling my credit report. Chat was useless and I am not sure exactly what happened by phone as the rep could barely speak english. They are sending me sim cards but also said I would need to go to a sprint store to activate. I am guessing that I will need to have my credit report pulled again.
I went ahead and took the plunge after reading this article. Ordered a SIM card for my unlocked Verizon iPhone 6s Plus. I could not get the SIM card to activate via the web tool. This called for a field trip to the nearest Sprint store. They were helpful and activated the phone, but not without charging me an activation fee. They told me to call Sprint to get that fee reversed. Annoying, but not deal-breaking. After a half-hour on the phone with two different reps and departments I was able to get the fee waived.
Not a tremendous first impression, but I am really looking forward to an almost non-existent cell phone bill for a year. Confident it will be worth it. Now to try and get the auto-pay working…
If any one still tracking it the deal is still on. I just activated Amazon version of MOTO X4 as an additional line (this has to be done over the phone) They could not order a sim for X4 over the phone (ay be because it’s not a listed device) and sent me to Sprint store. Sprint if supposed to be really picky about what SIM card goes to which phone so when the Sprint store guy wanted to sell me $35 sim with no questions about the phone I said no thanks and moved on. I then went to Best Buy and they asked the phone details, checked and gave me a Sim for free. The Sim works and now my phone bill is $4 instead of $60 and instead of 8 Gb I have unlimited data (it’s Sprint but still). I am thinking of getting rid of home cable too with 10*2 Gb of tethering but need to figure out how to do Chromecast with out Home Internet.
I’m a current Republic Wireless customer. I am often in areas with zero coverage (including my home and my work) from ANY cellular providers, so the ability of the phone to process calls and texts seamlessly (no action required on my part) is a significant benefit.
For those that use Sprint’s wifi calling/texting, is it seamless? Can folks send texts to and call your regular number, and the texts/calls come through without any additional steps needed on your part?
Republic Wireless uses the Sprint network, so I would not recommend switching to Sprint if you already have trouble with your coverage.
What I was trying to ask is if Sprint’s wifi calling is as seamless as Republic’s. Where I live, it doesn’t matter which provider I use. I won’t have cell service at home or at work, so the wifi calling is important, but I want it to be seamless.
Sorry, I misread your comment. I have not tested Sprint’s WiFi calling.
Wifi calling with Sprint is awesome and works flawlessly.
Jonathan, Did you use this service for the 1 year and then move providers? or are you saying when the year was up they offered a renew of the free unlimited data plan?
Jonathan,
What is the cheapest phone you can buy?
Deal is still valid and lasts till 1/31/20. 10 GB hotspot is not available anymore and video streaming is DVD quality and no longer 1080p. Coverage is surprisingly comparable to ATT and Verizon in my area. I actually had a difficult time setting my account and service up. Spent two hours all together speaking to customer service and techs.
@Sam. I’m not 100% sure, but any flagship Verizon 4g phone that is 4 years or newer should have decent hardware and be unlocked for any network. I recommend eBay for great deals from sellers who have ratings in the high 90s and several hundred sales should be a good source. You can purchase older flagship Android phones for as little as $130 like the Samsung Galaxy S7.
I tried to do this from T-mobile postpaid plan and Sprint wouldn’t allow it.
Thanks for the data point. I know they were allowing it in the beginning but it looks like they tightened it up to only AT&T and Verizon “conquests”.
I was able to switch from a T-Mobile prepaid account. I used the checker tool to validate my iemi then it had me fill out the credit check and application and I paid 10 for overnight shipping of my sim card. I received the sim card and followed activation instructions and kept getting an error stating that I did not pass the credit check , this is after I already applied and was told I was approved with a spending limit and purchased the required Sprint SIM. I called customer service and they too kept trying to get me to run a credit check again. Finally the rep said I was not going to be able to use the service as I was not approved at all as a customer. The next morning after sitting in my unlocked note 8 phone all night I noticed the LED light flashing on my phone. My Spring t service was activated anyway somehow. I have no idea how but that was a year ago and I have been on my free account for only the premium Insurance charge of 17.00 per month
I have been using it successfully for almost a year.
My year is up in April. Is there a way to extend it? I am already on Sprint..do you think i should go to something like Cricket and then again try coming back to Sprint or is there another way?
The only way I know to extend it is if you have multiple lines and you are the primary (which got the credit check), have your spouse/partner/etc open up their own line as the primary (and they will have a new credit check) and then you can be added as secondary.
Will that work? I think the basic requirement would be to port the number from other carrier. If spouse is already on Sprint network then this wouldn’t work, right?
Yes, you’d need to port it out temporarily and then port it back in. In the past, people reported success in the past porting to a T-Mobile prepaid account, canceling old Sprint account, and then opening a new Sprint account with new primary account holder and thus new Social Security Number. But then Scott above reports that he couldn’t even get a T-Mobile postpaid account to port over, which is new information to me. You could try to port it to an AT&T or Verizon prepaid account as well, again no guarantees. Sorry, this is just passed on from what I’ve heard (which is why I didn’t put it in the original post), I haven’t actually done this myself for a 2nd year (I decided to switch to Mint Mobile instead). I did a single free year with Sprint.
Sounds like a plan! One question- As the one with the original account, would I still need to buy a new SIM card to replace the one I already have?
Yes, you are both acting as new customers that are switching to Sprint. It just that FirstPrimary + someone turns into NewPrimary + someone.
if you did this promotion, and then signed up with another service after the year was up, can you switch back to Sprint with this free year offer again? (it’s been over 6 months since cancelling Sprint)
Deal now through 9/30/2019 and not 3/31/2020!
Just tried to sign up for 3 lines.
FAQ before checking lines/IMEI says the same.
Pl lmk if I’m missing anything…thx
Right after the second “Get Started” button on the linked offer page, it says “Savings until 3/31/2020”. After 3/31/20, plan will become Unlimited Basic plan.
Just a note that these numbers will vary. My bill just came in, and I have an extra $3.70 I need to pay for state fees (in Mass) and $5.09 I need to pay in surcharges (for 1 line, not sure why this varies).
I’m also uncertain why it varies. I’m in PA and have been paying <$5.00 a month for a single line since March '18.
My Sprint App tells me it ends in April of this year, but hopefully it stays until 2020.
To clarify, if you signed up in March 2018 then it will end in April 2019. If you sign up now (February 2019), then the free year of unlimited will last until March 2020.
Yeah, I was surprised that my bill is almost three times the cost suggested here (two lines for a little over $6 vs one line for almost $9). I’ve been having some problems with regular calling too and am not sure how I feel about making this change.
I took advantage of this promo back in Nov 2017. In Oct 2018 I was able to switch both lines to Mint for 3 months at the conclusion of the Sprint 1-year trial. I then switch back after three months to another Sprint 1 year trial with Spouse’s SSN. I was even able to use the old sim cards from the first free trial 🙂
For the second free trial, we did have to call and spend some time on the phone for the credit check etc. The online version did not work for me though.
You are missing a lot of devices.
For example : Moto G6, Moto G6 Play.
Are you sure about the 10 GB of hot spot data? I was unable to confirm this on the Sprint site or in the offer details. I chatted with a rep that said hot spot data was not included.
It looks like the hotspot feature was removed from this promotion a few months ago according to the comments. Sorry about that, I will remove that part from the post.
Thank you for the prompt response. I’ve been sticking with Mint (even though I have to pay) because of the flexibility to use as a hot spot. If the Sprint deal included the hot spot, I would have switched right away.
Jonathan,
Which cheap phone would you recommend? Android or Apple? I would go for the used least expensive, any advantage of apple over android?
I’m an Apple user and am simply not that familiar with Android. I’m sure Android phones are fine, but I don’t want to relearn a new system and already have some money invested in apps, etc. I’d rather have an iPhone 6 with a new battery than a similarly-priced Android phone. Old iPhones still work very well in my opinion.
Jonathan,
If this would be an entirely new line for someone, (phone bought from Amazon) , who would you recommend the existing service carrier be for the best deal? And how long would I have to be with that carrier before I could switch to the Sprint deal? I love your writings, thanks for all the work you do.
I’m honestly not sure what works as of this moment due to some of the conflicting comments. It used to be you could sign up for T Mobile prepaid, which was cheap as you just buy a sim card and load the minimum on there and then activate. Then you port to Sprint using this offer, and T Mobile counts as a postpaid customer. Some comments seem to indicate this still works, while others indicate it doesn’t work. If you don’t mind the hassle, you could just try it as the sunk cost isn’t that high.
I read all the comments and there is still something that is not clear to me. I am currently a Verizon user and seriously thinking about switching to this plan. What do you mean by hot spot data not included? I have an iPhone 5c and there is an option under settings that says “personal hotspot”. All I do is turn it on when I want to connect a device to my phone’s internet and there is no wifi. With this plan are you saying I will no longer be able to do this?
it will be disabled by the carrier. But there’s TetherMe if you want to go the unofficial way. It will work on this plan with no hard limit if you do it right.
I would like to port in my landline number. Has anyone tried this?
Any options for a cheaper, est smart phone?
Any options for a cheaper, est smart phone? Also, I’m planning to keep my flip phone on Verizon, but need to add a smart phone, any recommendations?
No hotspot!! No hotspot definitely kill it for me! I will be sticking with mintsim $15/month plan!