Here’s a quick update for the readers out there who joined the super-cheap Sprint SERO plan with me back in 2007. We got 500 minutes, 7pm nights, unlimited text, and unlimited data for $30 a month. But then Sprint started restricting the types of smartphones we could upgrade to.
As of October 1st, Sprint officially released the details of their SERO Premium plan for existing SERO customers only.
What are the plan details of the new SERO Premium rate plans?
As of 10/1/10, there will be two SERO Premium plans available, SERO Premium 500 at $40/month and SERO Premium 1250 at $59.99/month. SERO Premium plans will match current SERO rate plans with two added features, Any Mobile Anytime and Unlimited GPS Navigation. SERO Premium rate plans will be compatible with all devices offered by Sprint. Only customers on a current SERO rate plan as of 10/1/10 will be able to swap to a SERO Premium rate plan. SERO Premium rate plans will not be discountable – customers on current SERO plans receiving discounts above and beyond the already discounted SERO rate will lose those discounts when moving to a SERO premium plan. 4G handsets such as HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G will also require the $10 Premium Data add-on.
So for $10 a month more, you can choose any non-4G phone including Android and WebOS phones, plus you get GPS and free minutes to any mobile phone (not just Sprint customers). 4G phones cost an additional $10/month. However, you’ll probably lose any additional corporate/special member discounts.
Discounted Sprint Plans Open To All
Everyone can still get in on the newer Sprint Everything Plus Referral Program. Designed for friends of employees, you can use the following information to gain access:
Sprint employee e-mail address: Russ.S.McGuire@Sprint.com
Last 3 digits of employee ID (CID): 383
Monthly plans start at $59.99 for 500 minutes with unlimited text and data, which is $10 cheaper than their regular plans. In addition, check if you are eligible for a student or employee discount, or 10-15% savings for being a credit union member.
I’m personally not planning on switching. If I was going to change plans, I would use my available corporate discounts to get an iPhone from AT&T with enough data/text for my needs and tethering at $45 a month.
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Also note that for all SERO customers, overage charges have changed now. No more fair & flexible. If you go over your allotted minutes, you have to pay 45 cents per minute. This makes Premium more attractive with its free to any mobile calling.
Hi, so basically the upgrade is just if you want to get a better phone that previously wasn’t allowed? I had this problem back in June when I went with the HTC Touch Pro 2 because that was the best phone available to stick with the SERO plan.
-Rich
@David – Didn’t know that, thanks for the tip.
@Rich F. – Mostly, yes. I have the Touch Pro2 as well, and upgraded to Windows 6.5 recently. I’m still satisfied with it, although the camera is really poor in my opinion.
I went WAY over my Sprint minutes two months ago and found out you can buy extra blocks of minutes, I think in increments of 100 minutes. They’re not a great price but certainly better than 40 cents a minute.
Only catch is you have to buy them before the end of your billing cycle and have the CS rep retroactively apply them to that month. If you wait until after your billing cycle has closed they won’t sell them to you and you’ll owe a ton of money for overages.
@Rich F. – $10 premium gets you access to all Sprint phones (4G phones would require an additional $10, or $20 total), Unlimited mobile-to-mobile, and Sprint Navigation. For me, the access to better phones and Any Mobile Anytime justifies the upgrade. For others, perhaps not. It is nice, however, to finally have an option!
If anybody put off signing up for SERO until it was too late (like me), you can actually buy someone’s SERO plan on eBay. They run around $200. IMHO, it’s worth it considering Everything Plus (the new SERO) starts @ $60. The $200 pays for itself after about 6 months.
Been on SERO 500 since 2008 (thanks Jonathan!), and switched over to SERO Premium this weekend to get an Epic.
A word of advice: to make the switch and get a new phone, you MUST CALL *2. Can’t go into a store.
I got lucky and the process went very smoothly for me – I spent less than 15 minutes on the phone total: got a $70 statement credit for re-upping for 2 years, $150 upgrade discount, $100 MIR, free overnight shipping, and free activation. However, my wife had a terrible time getting her Epic. Had to call 3 times until we found a rep who knew the score!
It was hard to finally decide to take the $240/year plunge. The tightwad part of me will miss the old $30/mo. deal. OTOH, HOLY COW THE EPIC IS AWESOME.
@ Jonathan
I hope you were joking about the iphone and AT&T. AT&T has the most drop calls, the highest prices and iphone is horrible compared to android phones out there. I had every iphone that came out and finally switched over to an android phone and I can’t explain in words how much better it is than iphones. Android phones have outsold iphones for a reason and they aren’t slowing down.
Thanks for all the info
I think it might be incorrect that you can’t get the discount combined with the everything plan.
Hi Jonathan,
Can you explain how you could “use my available corporate discounts to get an iPhone from AT&T with enough data/text for my needs and tethering at $45 a month.”
Thanks!
AT&T actually does not allow you to use any corporate discounts with iPhone data plans, although it may differ according to which specific company you are with. I still get a corporate discount on plans through my university even though I graduated years ago, and as soon as I switched to an iPhone the 10% discount was no longer applicable.
It’s a bummer they don’t have any non-4G android phones that are actually good. The Evo’s pretty tempting, but it’s a little too big for me to want to pocket it, and I’ve read the battery life is relatively bad. The epic looks cool, but might be a little fat. Plus, I’d prefer an HTC just for the Sense UI. Too bad they don’t have the Incredible. That’s pretty much exactly what I want.
I had to leave SERO that learned about here in January when I was up for a phone and wanted the Hero. Sucks it is too late for me, but I still have a great deal – The Wife and I pay 120 for 2 phones sharing 1250 unlimited everything else (and some discounts from where I work)
I had the Sprint Sero plan with HTC Hero (Android) for $59.99, which after several fees and taxes turns into a $74 bill. But I’ve switched a year ago for a couple of iPhones at AT&T, which is costing me $144 (including all fees and taxes) for two iPhones and the following plan:
FamilyTalk Nation 550 Rollover & Unlimited Night/Weekend & Unlimited Mobile-To-Mobile Minutes, 200 text for each iPhone. Plus we still have 3,600 rollover minutes left.
We couldn’t be happier with our iPhones and service, and we’re paying less than the Sero plan. I have never experienced the call problems that many mention, although I don’t live in Cali or NY. I find the iPhone much better than my previous Android; it’s faster, the keyboard is better to use; and everything seems more polished, including apps. Plus we can use our iPhones in our trips abroad. We’re hooked on iPhone and iPad (not 3G). Since I had invested some money in AAPL @ $85, it helped to subsidize all these toys and many many more to come. 🙂
I signed up for the original Sero plan back in 2007 after reading about it on this site. It served me well until I decided to upgrade to an EVO 4g and therefore ditch the Sero for the Everything Plus plan. I changed plans on 9/30/10, one day before they started offering the Sero Premium plans! Imagine my disgust for missing out on the cheaper Sero Premium Plan by one day!
Luckily, I was able to reach someone in Sprint chat the first time who helped me switch back to Sero from Everything Plus, even though this wasn’t technically allowable. Maybe I got lucky or there is some unwritten grace period to switch back accounts?
i have a few questions:
1) will upgrading to the sero premium plan still allow you to receive the rebate you had while on the sero plan (either 75$ discount or 150$)?
2) can i upgrade to the sero premium plan through the online chat or must be through dialing *2?
thanks in advance!
Eve
@ eve – I was able to get the $70 for re-upping my contract, as well as $150 off my handset, but I made sure to get the $70 credit before switching plans. You have to switch to SERO premium by calling *2. You can’t do it over chat. Even calling in there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll get someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Let me get this correctly..If I were to get any other phone besides the 4G phones, I would continue to pay $30/mo.? or is it I have to switch over to the SERO premium ($40/mo.) no matter which phone I get? Thanks.
@Al: Your existing $30/month gets the same thing it got you before — certain phones are allowed (best available is Touch Pro 2). For an extra $10/month, all phones are allowed (among other benefits). However, Sprint’s 4G (HTC Evo, Samsung Epic) phones require a (further) additional $10/month “premium data” plan. This requirement is not exclusive to SERO — for *any* Sprint plan, if you want a 4G phone then you have to pay an extra $10/month.
This is actually an unfortunate situation — I want an Android phone with a 1GHz processor and currently the only phones Sprint offers with that are 4G phones. 4G isn’t even available in my area, so the 4G “tax” is straight up bullshit.
My friend just got the Samsung Epic…no 4G available…but the hardware is sex on a stick. Incidentally, someone complained that the Epic (aka Samsung Galaxy S) is too big — it is big, like the iPhone. But Samsung is coming out with a different Galaxy model that is smaller and intended to compete with Blackberry.
@ Al – If you want an Android or WebOS phone you have to switch over to SERO premium and pay $40 a month (that extra $10 also gets you Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, and unlimited Any Mobile Any Time). If you want a 4G phone, you will pay an additional $10 for a total of $50. Or, you can keep your current phone, or switch to any number of WM or feature phones and keep your current plan.
I just signed up! it works!!! make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing. went to a sprint store and they were idiots.
re: “Discounted Sprint Plans Open To All
Everyone can still get in on the newer Sprint Everything Plus Referral Program.”
Is this open to anyone including current customers?
If so will the info you posted allow me to change to this plan?
Thanks, Russ
Loving the EVO4G on the new SERO Premium Plan… also got a free Sprint AIRAVE with waived monthly fee. Now I get 5 bars in and around my home. Sprint has done a 100% turn around on CS in the past year or so. Still have to jump through some hoops but in the end it’s always worth it. Blogs like these help to keep abreast of the latest info. Thanks!
After multiple attempts at trying to upgrade my phone/plan both in-store and over the phone and being quoted only the current plan prices (minimum of $69.99/mo) I gave one last try after I found this post. Called Sprint Care and was able to upgrade my plan to the SERO Premium with no problem at all! Though I may have just gotten a very knowledgeable and helpful CSR, knowing what to ask for (“SERO Premium” for $40/mo) probably played a part. Was able to confirm that this opens up all Sprint Phones. Looking forward to being able to upgrade to the EVO 4G (with the added $10 4G data fee). Thanks for posting and sharing this information!
SarahM–which of their customer service numbers did you call? I’ve been trying to do this and keep hitting dead ends. I know it’s partially just a game of “get the right rep” roulette, but I’ll take any lead I can get.
Thanks!
Dear Russ how hard is it to take over some ones old SERO plan ?? will the Sprint number that came with that plan be required???? what department with Sprint must an existing customer of 10 years + call John @ jallenshan@gmail.com
Does the $10 per month data rate increaseFebruary 30,,2011 apply to the SERO PLAN
“Correction” Sprints January 30th $10/mo. data charge for any Smartphone esn swap or new activation on the Sero plans
can someone updates on the current sero premiumn plan pricing?
i heard there’s some $10 add-on fee now even if you are not getting a 4G phone.
btw, current Sero Premium users, what phones do you have with the plan now?
thanks in advance!
It is obvious my comments are being moderated (deleted). call Sprint *2 and immediatly ask to be connected to account services,,,,they will answer your questions fast. Your plan is an employee plan and there is a special department that handles this,,,,ask account services to transfer you to that department for exact knowledge. I may be wrong but I believe employee plans do not have to pay the extra ten unless upgrading to the sero plus and an extra ten for the Evo etc.
p.s. anyone had success as a new customer getting one of the old SERO pricing plans…..EDRP is decent but SERO is the best!
hey guys,
so i found this info that seems really helpful.
http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/buzzaboutwireless/plans/blog/2011/01/19/whats-there-to-know-about-the-10-smartphone-premium-data-add-on#ec5
Who does not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on?
* Existing customers with a smartphone will not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on; their existing rate plan (without the charge) will remain the same until they upgrade, perform an ESN swap or activate a new smartphone.
* A TEP, Service & Repair or Advanced Exchange scenario where a smartphone is provided as a warranty or insurance replacement does not qualify as a swap, i.e., $10 Premium Data add-on is not required.
* Corporate-liable accounts tied to a Corporate ID (under contract) are not impacted until contracts are renewed.
* Sprint Wireless Advantage Club and SERO accounts are not eligible for the charge.
Does this affect SERO subscriptions?
* No, SERO accounts are not impacted by this charge. Customers wanting to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone may need to leave their current SERO plan and change to the SERO Premium plan (this rule is already in effect), but do not need to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on charge.
* The $10 Premium Data add-on charge for the HTC EVO™ 4G, HTC EVO Shift™ 4G, Samsung Epic™ 4G a Galaxy S™ phone remain in place.
im batting for the htc arrive under the sero prem plan. has anyone upgrade/ pre-ordered htc arrive yet?
hey guys,
so i found this info that seems really helpful.
via sprint forum. idk if i can submit links so submission two.
Who does not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on?
* Existing customers with a smartphone will not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on; their existing rate plan (without the charge) will remain the same until they upgrade, perform an ESN swap or activate a new smartphone.
* A TEP, Service & Repair or Advanced Exchange scenario where a smartphone is provided as a warranty or insurance replacement does not qualify as a swap, i.e., $10 Premium Data add-on is not required.
* Corporate-liable accounts tied to a Corporate ID (under contract) are not impacted until contracts are renewed.
* Sprint Wireless Advantage Club and SERO accounts are not eligible for the charge.
Does this affect SERO subscriptions?
* No, SERO accounts are not impacted by this charge. Customers wanting to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone may need to leave their current SERO plan and change to the SERO Premium plan (this rule is already in effect), but do not need to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on charge.
* The $10 Premium Data add-on charge for the HTC EVO™ 4G, HTC EVO Shift™ 4G, Samsung Epic™ 4G a Galaxy S™ phone remain in place.
hey guys,
so i found this info that seems really helpful.
via sprint forum. idk if i can submit links so submission two.
Who does not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on?
-Existing customers with a smartphone will not have to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on; their existing rate plan (without the charge) will remain the same until they upgrade, perform an ESN swap or activate a new smartphone.
-A TEP, Service & Repair or Advanced Exchange scenario where a smartphone is provided as a warranty or insurance replacement does not qualify as a swap, i.e., $10 Premium Data add-on is not required.
-Corporate-liable accounts tied to a Corporate ID (under contract) are not impacted until contracts are renewed.
-Sprint Wireless Advantage Club and SERO accounts are not eligible for the charge.
Does this affect SERO subscriptions?
– No, SERO accounts are not impacted by this charge. Customers wanting to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone may need to leave their current SERO plan and change to the SERO Premium plan (this rule is already in effect), but do not need to pay the $10 Premium Data add-on charge.
-The $10 Premium Data add-on charge for the HTC EVO™ 4G, HTC EVO Shift™ 4G, Samsung Epic™ 4G a Galaxy S™ phone remain in place.
Hello,
I heard HTC arrived is coming out soon. Anybody knows about it ? do you know if HTC arrived is better than HTC EVO SHIFT?
Another Question :
for Premium SERO PLAn, do I have to pay extra ($10 , 50$ total like 4G phone) if i upgraded to BLACKBERRY PHONE?
thanks!
CTIA 2011/Sprint announcements Marcrch 22nd Sprint will have a 2.5 hour announcement concerning the Arrive
Google search Sprint announcements/CTIA 2011
i upgraded to the sero 500 premium plan. i bought the HTC Arrive yesterday. first one to buy it at the sprint corp store.
here are some tips:
i just called in to upgrade. i did not need to ask to any special department. the upgrade to sero 500 premium plan ($40) was easy. she mentioned how i will be charged a month in advanced though. i wasn’t too concerned about that.
then i headed over to a sprint store to buy the phone and they told me because i have a sero account i need to go to a sprint corporate store.
****** so beware. don’t just go to any sprint store. you have to go to a corporate sprint store which is just basically like one of those official sprint stores.
i bought the phone at the sprint corp store with no problems.
it took a bit to get the activation set up.
also when the guy was purchasing my phone and looking in my account he mentioned he might have to charge me an additional $10 on top of my already $40 plan. i told him he did not need to because the $10 does not apply to sero plan users unless you get getting 4G.
so overall i bought the HTC Arrive and switched my plan to $40.
good luck everyone.
Anyone know if you can go from being a “regular” sprint customer to the “Sprint Everything Plus Referral Program”. My wife is way past her two year contract and is ready for a new phone. She’s got one of the normal plans with way more minutes than she needs since they added the “any mobile any time” feature, so she’d like to upgrade her phone and switch to the 500 minute everything plus referral plan. Is that possible or do they only let new customers get that plan? Thanks.
If she wants to save her number,,she needs to port it to another carrier and back after opening the new EDRP,,,,,but its much easier for her to get the Everything Data 450, with some kind of healthy discount available,,,,research available sprint discounts that may apply,,,but by far Sprint Account services has the ability to give re occuring monthly discounts if you are totally out of your contract. Sprint will work with you,,,10 or 15 percent off your bill monthly is not uncommon,,,,but the 25 percent will require research
Did anyone try or considering Verizon iPhone 4 flash to use on sprint sero plan ?
Why would you want an iphone on Sprint when Android OS is doing so well,check out the Evo 3d on U-tube, and then u-tube the Motorola Photon. Answer to your question=possible.
John,
I just checked the evo 3d phone,but still like the iOS devices ergonomics. So,trying to see how to get the verizon iphone flashed to sprint sero plan. You said its possible to do that, can you please provide any details on it. Found some you tube videos on it,but not sure how reliable they are.
Jonathan, you anytime thought about replacing HTC TP2 with cdma iphone-4 on sprint sero? Appreciate your comments.
The Nexus S is pretty similar to the iphone as far as size and shape go. I think it looks a little nicer actually. I’m a fan of HTC Sense, though, so if I were getting a new phone right now, I’d go for the Evo 3D no doubt, even though I wish there was something just like it with a slightly smaller screen (3.8″ – 4″ is the sweet spot for me).
@MM – You can’t flash an iPhone to work on Sprint. Sprint no longer allows you to port over an ESN that did not originate with Sprint.
Besides, the rumor is that the iPhone 4S will be coming to Sprint and T-Mobile this fall. So just wait it out a few months and you can get a subsidized iPhone from Sprint.
Thanks Jon for your comments. I hope the iphone 4S will come to sprint and in some way sero plan users can get it.
Good News,,,,for those of you interested in the Sprint version of the Iphone Google search CTIA at Smartbrief.com/June 13th 2011 and read the paragraph that discusses the fall deployment of the iphone
Looks like its official now that Sprint getting iphone 5 in Oct, as per wall street journal. Any guess,if the sero plan or sero plan premium members would be allowed to get iphone5 ? I hope sprint doesn’t increase the monthly fees.
Yeah, I’m hoping they just treat it like any android phone.
Be prepared to pay $20 extra a month for the iphone 5,,,,,,,,we are lucky to be getting such a perfect device
@Shansero, what are you talking about? the iphone 5 is a 3G phone.
Allrightallready! iphone 5 will be 3g with 4g LTE capable (when available in the near future). The big question is whether Sprint will allow unlimited data on this phone. and at the same price as a 3g android device (with unlimited data). Sprint will make a big announcement October 6th 2011 concerning the iphone
Finally, $199 iphone 4S world phone on Sprint and older $99 iphone-4 on Sprint. Now, question is will sero plan or sero premium users can get it.
I see no reason why not. These phone are by no means going to be the most expensive phones out there and they don’t seem to tax the network any more than any of the others.
As of October 1st. 2010 Sero plans can get any phone Sprint offers for $50 per mo.
Jonathan,..are you considering to move from your sero/TP2 to to iphone4S with $50 sero-P? Do any credit union discounts work on $50 sero-P. Upto how much discounts can one expect?
iPhone, here I come! I don’t expect any other discounts on top of the $50 SERO Premium plan.
Updates on Sprint SERO and iPhone 4S:
Sprint SERO Premium + iPhone 4S = $50 a month
Cheapest iPhone Plan – $60 Sprint Employee Referral Plan
Thanks Jonathan for the updates
I just checked today, 10/11/2011 and you can NOT upgrade to an iphone 4s with a sero plan. The iphone4s has not been rolled out for availability to sprint employees, sero, etc.
Yes Laura you are correct,,,it could be months down the road,, but the good thing is Sero is eligible for the iphone 4s
A reader sent in that you should call Account Services at 1 877 775-4886 if the usual sales people won’t let you get iPhone 4S on SERO. Many people have already reported success, although right now the base 4S is sold out on preorder.
Many people can use there annual upgrade (now its “new for you” to purchase a phone that there plan does not support. The problem is when you go to activate the phone only qualified active plans will power up the iphone 4 0r 4s. Sprint Employees must wait ,,, “SprintEmployee” Refferal Offer . Its a good idea to purchase the phone now and use it as an ipod on wifi only.The advantage is the next upgrade is sooner. Also you can purchase the Galaxy S 2 now instead of iphone
I would like to sign up for the sero plan.
Called sprint they said i cant i need a link from the employee to set it up
Any more updates? I see that the Sero Plan is now 59.99 plus the 10 dollar data charge. I am currently in the 30/m sero plan and well…my original phone busted (4 times) and now I want an Android phone. Any help with this? I can not make calls because I am a deaf user and this basically royally sucks. Thanks!
@Cyndi. If you are Sero now, you can call and upgrade it to Sero premium. It will bump you to $40 per month and allow you to get a 3G Android phone. If you desire a 4G type phone you will have to add the extra data pack, which is another $10. I have done both upgrades with no problem. I myself upgraded to the EVO 4G and pay $50 per month and I upgraded my wife to the LG Marquee 3G and she pays $40.
@MattyG. I do not make calls. I do not have a tty anymore. I was wondering if if were possible to do it online some how???? And How do I go about getting the Sero premium plan for 4G phones??? Again…any other alternatives than calling? I simply wont be able to hear or understand anything they say… 🙁
Also…what number am I supposed to call? I dont have a cell anymore so *2 is out.
try 877 775-4886 or send an email to ecare@cc.sprintpcs.com
Yes I wrote the email address in the above post. ecare@cc.sprintpcs.com. You can also mail it to ecare1@cc.sprintpcs.com, or ecare3@cc.sprintpcs.com. Also SEROProgram@sprint.com would probably be helpful.
Be specific in what you are asking and provide your existing SERO account number and ask to be upgraded to Sero Premium. Then you can order your android phone via the sprint.com website and activate via the website as well.
@MattyG. Thanks SOOOO MUCH Matt! 😀 Hope I get a response, lol. Thanks again.
The iphone is now available for SERO customers, along with Sprint employees
looks like sprint upped the price by $10 on each plan?!
at Rathna,,,,,,,explain upped the price by $10 on each plan?
i would like to know since I have an Iphone4 with sprint already can I transfer it and get the SERO. And how do I go about doing that???
@ Envylv_3 I suggest you research getting the EDRP. This is the only road open that might still get to Sero, Good luck to you and those who follow.. Sprints LTE is so FAST!!!! This link might also help if you hit the wall.. ….http://sprint.p.delivery.net/m/p/nxt/dev/wdyw.asp