Stacking unlim talk/text on a limited talk/text plan

[pitflyer]

I've heard that if you apply a plan with unlim talk/text to a TracFone, the 'bucketed' minutes you have before you apply the plan 'hide' behind the scenes and will come back if you ever go back down to unlim talk/text.

But how does that apply for the time you have already used? So example, I have a phone with limited talk/text/data till the end of the year. I will redeem an unlim talk/text w/ 3GB plan against that phone. Will unlim talk/text only apply after the limited buckets that are paid for the end of the year get used?

I really don't care about the talk/text (very little usage) but want to use the 3GB plan as it will extend 30 days at the same price as the $10/gig you'd pay anyway. So as long as I have *some* talk/text after it's all set and done I'm fine

[Jairzinho]

But how does that apply for the time you have already used? So example, I have a phone with limited talk/text/data till the end of the year. I will redeem an unlim talk/text w/ 3GB plan against that phone. Will unlim talk/text only apply after the limited buckets that are paid for the end of the year get used?

The 3GBs/Unlimited talk/texts takes precedence over whatever you have on your regular data/talk/text buckets for the 30-day period that monthly plan applies. So no minutes or texts are discounted from the regular buckets until the monthly plan expires and you revert back to you regular "PayAsYouGo mode". And you expiration date gets extended for 30 days too. That's been my experience.

If you have some data left from the monthly plan when it expires, it will roll over for 30 additional days. But in this case I believe you get data discounted first from your regular data bucket before you tap into the leftover data from the monthly plan. Not sure if that's how it work though. I think I read it somewhere.

[pitflyer]

Thanks. So it is Feb now. Let's say my current plan has 1000 talk, 1000 text and 1gb of data and expires in April. So if I apply an unlimited monthly plan now with 3gb of data I would expect a total of 4 gigs of data expiring in May. Do I get unlimited talk and text all the way till then? Or it only kicks in April? That's where I am confused. It doesnt matter to me but the only thing I don't want is to lose the service days or gigs I already paid for.

If no one knows I will just eventually try and tell people what happens

[hpham]

So it is Feb now. Let's say my current plan has 1000 talk, 1000 text and 1gb of data and expires in April. So if I apply an unlimited monthly plan now with 3gb of data I would expect a total of 4 gigs of data expiring in May. Do I get unlimited talk and text all the way till then? Or it only kicks in April?

I've never used the Unlimited Plan, but this is my understanding of how it works....

Let's say your current phone has 400 minutes, 500 texts, 2.5GB of data, and expires on 4/15/21. If you add a $30 30-day Unlimited Plan TODAY, you'll have unlimited talk/text from TODAY until 30 days from now (3/13/21, because there are only 28 days in this month), with 3GB to use. Your current buckets will be set aside from today until 3/13/21, and your expiration date is extended by 30 days until 5/15/21.

Let's say you do not add any more Unlimited Plan after 30 days, and used only 2GB from 2/11/21 through 3/13/21, then on 3/14/21 the left over 1GB is added to your old balance of 2.5GB, totaling 3.5GB. I'm not sure if that carry-over 1GB has a time limit on it. Also, on 3/14/21 when your 30-day Unlimited Plan was over, your talk/text/data usage will be deducted again from a balance of 400/500/3.5GB.

[pitflyer]

Thanks. That all makes sense. The big thing I want to know is if the left over from the data on the unlimited plan keeps rolling over like they promise. I have a lot of reward points and want to go for 3 gigs a month at a time and bank considerable amounts for the future since I average closer to a gig per month

[hpham]

The big thing I want to know is if the left over from the data on the unlimited plan keeps rolling over like they promise.

I don't know if the left over data will keep rolling over, or you'll have to use it up within 30 days after the Unlimited Plan ended, like Jairzinho said.

[Jairzinho]

Thanks. That all makes sense. The big thing I want to know is if the left over from the data on the unlimited plan keeps rolling over like they promise. I have a lot of reward points and want to go for 3 gigs a month at a time and bank considerable amounts for the future since I average closer to a gig per month

I'm not sure. It may.

What I do know (because it is my situation now with one of my lines) is that the left over data expires after 30 days from the date the monthly plan expires (i.e. if you don't renew it). That data is kept separate and not combined with your regular data. After those 30 days, the left over data is gone and you are left only with whatever data you had in your regular data bucket.

So even if the data keeps rolling over while you maintain a monthly plan active, if you accumulate too much data this way and you ever stops renewing the monthly plan, all that data will be good for only 30 additional days. That's my understanding.

The regular 1GB add-on data doesn't have this limitation. It doesn't add service days, but in doesn't expires while the line remains active.

Edit: And I was wrong in my previous post: During the 30-additional days grace period for the left over data, that left over data is supposed to be consumed first before the regular data bucket (until depleted or expired, whatever comes first), not the other way around as I had said. I just read a note by tracfone when checking the balance of the line I had in that situation. I haven't paid attention what bucket the data is being deducted from.

[pitflyer]

I don't know if the left over data will keep rolling over, or you'll have to use it up within 30 days after the Unlimited Plan ended, like Jairzinho said.

I think once you go unlimited you have to stay unlimited to keep rolling that data bucket.

https://www.tracfone.com/shop/plans/...-3gb-unlimited

The question is wil existing buckets be avaiable. I'm getting the impression that the system will keep my unusued data + talk + text in reserve while I am in unlmited + data mode and only when I drop out of unlimited wILl i see those again.

[Jairzinho]

The question is wil existing buckets be avaiable. I'm getting the impression that the system will keep my unusued data + talk + text in reserve while I am in unlmited + data mode and only when I drop out of unlimited wILl i see those again.

Yes they are available "in reserve". You will still see them there when checking your balance. You will not lose anything you have already paid for. They will be "dormant".

[Jairzinho]

two sets of buckets:

Top “current plan” is the monthly plan being currently used and expires on March 10

Bottom “Other plan” is the regular plan I had before and will revert to if I don’t renew my monthly plan.

Data from the monthly plan will expire 30 days after March 10

[pitflyer]

Thanks! So the MB on the bottom half of your screenshot stays separate. And the GB at the top stays separate, and disappears if you ever swap back tot he MB plan. That makes sense, then I would just wonder in my original scenario (Apr expiration with limited talk/text, extending with unlimited month) when my 'flip' to the unlimited plan across the board would go into place. Sounds like immediate and my existing plan is all put 'dormant'?

[Jairzinho]

, then I would just wonder in my original scenario (Apr expiration with limited talk/text, extending with unlimited month) when my 'flip' to the unlimited plan across the board would go into place. Sounds like immediate and my existing plan is all put 'dormant'?

Yes, immediately.
You can add the unlimited monthly plan anytime. You don't have to wait until April. It will take effect immediately and your current expiration date for the "limited buckets" of that line will be extended 30 days.

Sent from my moto g(6) (XT1925DL) using HoFo mobile app

[pitflyer]

Yes, immediately.
You can add the unlimited monthly plan anytime. You don't have to wait until April. It will take effect immediately and your current expiration date for the "limited buckets" of that line will be extended 30 days.

Sent from my moto g(6) (XT1925DL) using HoFo mobile app

Thank you very much, now I understand the unlimited plan goes to the 'front' of the line and basically remains a separate bucket from the limited plan in 'reserve'. Appreciate it!

[Jairzinho]

hpham gave a very good detailed explanation on how the mechanics with the dates would work.

I wonder if one changes of monthly plan to another cheaper unlimited plan (i.e. with less data) would have any effect on how things work. I'd imagine that data would keep rolling the same, one just gets less data added. It'd be an option to start reducing the amount of data being rolled over (vs what one uses in a month) if too much have been accumulated and thus don't expending that much to keep it rolling over. Not a very economical alternative though, but I don't see other cheaper option.

That's why I'd be a little more inclined to get data with the 1GB add-ons than with the monthly plan. But all depended of each one situation though.

[pitflyer]

Basically I'm reading that the 'unlimited plans' have their own data bucket and the 'limited' plans have their own data bucket. So once you go unlimited, you have to stay unlimited to keep rolling over THEIR data bucket. To get the best value from the unlimited plan (3GB for $30) you have to continue to use that, and if your usage is less than 3GB I'd hope you get to keep rolling over the extra as long as you stay on an unlimited plan, even if you go down one month because you've accumulated so much data .. but if you flip to a limited talk/text plan all that bank would disappear.

I am using TracFone as a secondary phone right now, down the road it will become my primary, so that's why I'm flipping to unlimited later.