Porting active Verizon number to Tracfone

[andrew2]

I don't even know if this is the best forum to ask on. I may be doing an early termination on my Verizon account, depending on how well Sprint works out for me. My Verizon number can not be ported to Sprint at this time, due to affiliate market issues, but I would like to keep the number.

How do I port my Verizon number to a Tracfone? Do I tell Verizon first (I am aware of the etf) or do I contact Trac, and let them handle it? Anyone done this before? Thanks.

[dd78749]

NEVER contact your carrier with whom you have your current number!

They may misinterpret your intentions and simply close your account before you have had the chance to port out the number.

Just contact Tracfone and tell them that you want to port a phone number in from Verizon. Be sure to have your correct account information as any wrong detail can derail a port.

After Tracfone ports the number in to your Tracfone, your account will be closed by VZW.

Once you are certain that your number has been ported (i.e. you can make AND receive calls with that number), then contact VZW and wrap up your account closure re: ETF, final bill, etc.

[andrew2]

Thanks for the good info dd78749!

[SixSix]

I second what DD said.

I ported my Verizon number last October to Net10 (Net10 == Tracfone), and it was seamless. About a week after I contacted Net10 to arrange for the port, I received a new SIM in the mail. I swapped the SIM that my phone came with for this new SIM. From my landline, I then dialed my Verizon number and the Net10 phone rang. Yeah! A week or two later, I received a final bill from Verizon. (By the way, there was a WTF on Verizon's part, in that, while I could still log on to my VZW online account, I could not pay my final bill on the web site — I had to call them.)

There was one snafu on the Net10 end, however. After the port, the airtime and expiration date did not automatically update when I purchased new cards — I would have to call customer support, who would give me codes to type in to the phone (ala old school, analog phone style). After this happened the third time, I expressed my frustration (nicely, of course) to the rep, who, after some typing, discovered that the new SIM that I was sent for the Verizon number port had not been associated with my phone in their system. Hence the airtime not auto-updating. He expressed amazement that my phone had worked at all with the new SIM! At any rate, he updated it in the system, so, supposedly, my airtime should auto-update the next time I purchase a card.