Question about Overage Billing

[rcentros]

Okay, the time is getting nearer to moving from Sprint to Page Plus on my main phone. (My Page Plus phone is currently in "idle" mode, $10 for three months to keep the number and my kid carries it sometimes as an "emergency" phone.)

The question I have now is ... if I go with the 12 Plan I would want to back it up with at least a $25 pin for overages. I would stack my 12 Plan pins (at least one ahead of the cut off date each month).

The question is, if I have a $25 pin to back up the 12 Plan, but don't use all (or any) of that time in 3 months, will it still go away? Or will it stay active (as a cash balance) because the phone is still active? It's quite possible that there would be months (or months in a row) without any overages.

I guess that's it. I figure the $25 pin would probably handle overages for four or five months, unless I was travelling -- but if it's going to disappear every three months (use or it not) then I would probably have to stick with $10 pins.

Thanks for any pointers.

[Boz1]

Okay, the time is getting nearer to moving from Sprint to Page Plus on my main phone. (My Page Plus phone is currently in "idle" mode, $10 for three months to keep the number and my kid carries it sometimes as an "emergency" phone.)

The question I have now is ... if I go with the 12 Plan I would want to back it up with at least a $25 pin for overages. I would stack my 12 Plan pins (at least one ahead of the cut off date each month).

The question is, if I have a $25 pin to back up the 12 Plan, but don't use all (or any) of that time in 3 months, will it still go away? Or will it stay active (as a cash balance) because the phone is still active? It's quite possible that there would be months (or months in a row) without any overages.

I guess that's it. I figure the $25 pin would probably handle overages for four or five months, unless I was travelling -- but if it's going to disappear every three months (use or it not) then I would probably have to stick with $10 pins.

Thanks for any pointers.

First, just for clarification, a $10 Standard Plan PIN will last 120 days, which is about 4 months, not 3.

Second, on The 12, if you have a $25 cash balance, the next monthly renewal will come out of your cash balance, even if you have a The 12 PIN stacked. so, you would need to only use $10 PINs for overages on The 12. There is at least one dealer that offers auto-pay for the monthly PINs PLUS on-demand replenishment for your cash balance, so you could set it up so that if your cash balance ever reaches $1.99, an new $10 PIN would be automatically added by the next day.

The other option besides auto-pay PLUS on-demand replenishment would be to use $80 PINs. Your The 12 plan would renew out of that $80 PIN for 6 months, assuming only a very small amount of overages or roaming. But you'd have to mark your calendar AND keep an eye on your balance if you go with the $80 PIN option. The first option of auto-pay PLUS on-demand replenishment is best for your situation, in my opinion

Regarding the expiration of the cash balance when you are on a monthly plan, it would never expire, because every time you buy and add a new monthly PIN, the Standard Plan PIN expiration date is pushed out 30 days, keeping the expiration date at 120 days out.

[rcentros]

First, just for clarification, a $10 Standard Plan PIN will last 120 days, which is about 4 months, not 3.

No wonder I didn't become a math major.

Second, on The 12, if you have a $25 cash balance, the next monthly renewal will come out of your cash balance, even if you have a The 12 PIN stacked. so, you would need to only use $10 PINs for overages on The 12. There is at least one dealer that offers auto-pay for the monthly PINs PLUS on-demand replenishment for your cash balance, so you could set it up so that if your cash balance ever reaches $1.99, an new $10 PIN would be automatically added by the next day.

Okay, thanks. Was worried about this. So, the key, is to have less than the $12 required for my renewal pin in my overage pool. (I'm not a big fan on automatic payments.) So this means I'll have to watch my account a little closer than I was hoping I would have to. It would be nice if Page Plus could give priority to the stacked pin, but it is what it is.

The other option besides auto-pay PLUS on-demand replenishment would be to use $80 PINs. Your The 12 plan would renew out of that $80 PIN for 6 months, assuming only a very small amount of overages or roaming. But you'd have to mark your calendar AND keep an eye on your balance if you go with the $80 PIN option. The first option of auto-pay PLUS on-demand replenishment is best for your situation, in my opinion

Okay. Not too sure I would want to go with this plan. I like a little more flexibility to change plans on the fly.

Regarding the expiration of the cash balance when you are on a monthly plan, it would never expire, because every time you buy and add a new monthly PIN, the Standard Plan PIN expiration date is pushed out 30 days, keeping the expiration date at 120 days out.

Okay, that's what I hoping I would hear. The only real issue -- for me -- is not giving stacked monthly plan pins priority over the cash balance (standard) pins. It would be nice if Page Plus could give you the option to change the priorities.

[HF305]

The monthly plan PINs do nothing special at all while the same plan is already active. They redeem for cash with a 120 day expiration. You can just use standard cash PINs instead.

What Boz was saying in the first point is that as long as you have more than $12 balance at the end of the month, the plan will automatically renew by taking $12 out.

[Boz1]

Okay. Not too sure I would want to go with this plan. I like a little more flexibility to change plans on the fly.

Just to make sure I was clear, you can change PPC plans at any time you want, either with a phone call or using online chat available through the account section of the PPC website. You would not lose any of the cash balance if you switch to a different PPC plan.

[Boz1]

The monthly plan PINs do nothing special at all while the same plan is already active. They redeem for cash with a 120 day expiration.

I may be misunderstanding what you're saying, but this doesn't sound right. Monthly plan PINs do not "redeem for cash with a 120 day expiration".

[rcentros]

Just to make sure I was clear, you can change PPC plans at any time you want, either with a phone call or using online chat available through the account section of the PPC website. You would not lose any of the cash balance if you switch to a different PPC plan.

I guess what I meant is that, should someone else (like TFG) come up with a fantastic plan tomorrow, I would like to have the flexibility to change carriers more quickly by not having too much money tied up with PPC. To me the $80 pin is great for those who know their talk usage is going to be light every month, but it tends to tie you in to one carrier when used for overage purposes.

[rcentros]

What Boz was saying in the first point is that as long as you have more than $12 balance at the end of the month, the plan will automatically renew by taking $12 out.

I understand. My issue is, if I have already have a 12 Plan stacked behind the 12 Plan I'm using, I would rather Page Plus used that pin rather than the Standard pin's reserve. But I guess, now that I think about it, a better way to do it when expecting overages each month, is just to keep enough reserve money in the Standard pin "area" and never worry about buying another 12 Plan pin after the first one.

I think this may be another one of those "like, duh," moments for me.

[TheMountainMan]

I guess what I meant is that, should someone else (like TFG) come up with a fantastic plan tomorrow, I would like to have the flexibility to change carriers more quickly by not having too much money tied up with PPC. To me the $80 pin is great for those who know their talk usage is going to be light every month, but it tends to tie you in to one carrier when used for overage purposes.

Good point. We will be moving all our phones to Talk For Good, but unfortunately, 2 phones have 1 year pins on them, so have to wait until those balances are used up rather than lose the money.