New iPhone Data Plans

After my last post I found out a few of my friends had not heard about the new iPhone Data Plans, so here it is: on June AT&T announced new data plans for iPhone and iPad users.

There are now two separate plans available:

a) 200MB Data Plan for $15.00 per month
b) 2GB Data Plan for $25.00 per month

AT&T is giving current iPhone owners the option to keep their unlimited plans if they so choose. Basically, anyone with an iPhone before the plan went into effect gets grandfathered in.  And even when they renew their contract they can keep the $30/unlimited plan. But, if they choose, they can switch to one of the new plans and save some money.  In fact, curent subscribers can update their data plan at any time without affecting their contract. This is actually important to know.  More on this later.

Any new iPhone/iPad subscribers will not have the option to get the unlimited plan.  They will have to select one of the two new plans.

What does this all mean?  Well for me it means I now can save $15.00 per month on my iPhone plan. That's $180.00/year savings.

When the plans were announced I checked out my data usage history (you can do this on the AT&T website).  Turns out on average I was using less than 200MB per month.  With only a month here or there where I went over. I also found out that AT&T would let you switch plans back and forth as often as you want, with no penalties or contract additions.  So I updated to the 200MB plan.

Now here's the important part.....

AT&T let's you switch plans at will.  So if one month I use more than 200MB of data, I can simply update to the 2GB plan, just for that month.  As long as I update before my billing cycle ends.

So say in August I check and see that I have used 560MB.  I can simply go to the AT&T website, update my plan to the 2GB one and for that month I will just pay $25 for my data plan.  Then say on September I check and I only use 160MB, then I can just switch my plan back and only pay $15 for that month.

The key is knowing when your billing cycle ends (mine is on the 25th of every month) and updating your plan before that day.  So I always make sure to check my data consumption on the 24th of the month and adjust as necessary.

Checking your data usage is as easy as calling a number from your phone.  Just call *3282# and you will get a text message back telling you what your current data usage is.  Go ahead, try it.  It even tells you when your billing date is.   Pretty easy and convenient.

So as long as you remember to check your data usage before your billing cycle ends, you are good to go and can potentially save a lot of money on your cell phone plan.

So that's the deal with the new plans.