Start or join a quartet – friends, roommates, even strangers – to save big on Visible.
Giuseppe Elio Cammarata / EyeEm / Getty Images
When is a family plan not a family plan? When it comes to Visible, a prepaid Verizon service provider that offers unlimited phone service at reasonable rates. How reasonable? Individuals pay $ 40 per month. But groups can get service for only $ 25 per person by signing up for Party paid. Note, however, that I said ‘groups’, not ‘families’.
This is because Party Pay is really not meant for people living under the same roof (unless we are talking about roommates in an apartment, for example). Instead, each person is billed separately; you actually do not have the option to have a single person pay for all the lines, this is how a traditional family plan works.
CNET’s John Falcone heard this first hand last year when he set up a ‘party’ consisting of himself and his mother. (This will reduce the rate to $ 35 per person per month. For three people it drops to $ 30; by four or more, $ 25.) Although she has a separate home, he wanted to cover the bill for both lines. But he could not put it on the same credit card; Visible requires separate billing. The solution was to use two different cards.
Strangers with benefits
So what happens if you can not bring friends to your party? Believe it or not, you can do the same with strangers. In fact, there is a whole community on Reddit that helps people find Party Pay parties. This is where Mike Sorrentino of CNET turns in hopes of getting the $ 25 rate – and it works. He has been in a group with total strangers for the past few months. “So far, so good,” he reports. (Your mileage may vary.) There is also a new portal for visible communities where strangers can join for the same purpose.
If you are the group starting the group, there is surprisingly little risk. Each person is not only billed separately, but also gets his own account with unlimited calls, text messages, data and mobile hotspot. There is no overlap, no possibility of interference. Someone may suddenly decide to sponsor the group, but this allows you a higher monthly rate until you can get a replacement.
In the meantime, if you are a participant, the main computer holder may decide to start you at any time, without any warning or explanation. (In fact, according to Sorrentino, party members have no direct way of communicating with each other.) In an ideal world, your party would consist of people you know, the better it is to reduce any “flake” risks.
One recent update that is noteworthy: Visible no longer holds parties with four members; you can bring an unlimited number of people to your circle. And when someone logs in with your referral code (whether you’re part of a party or not), your next month’s service drops to just $ 5.
Other things you need to know about Visible
Party Pay is not the only thing that visibly distinguishes it from other entrepreneurs. One important difference: if you need help, there is no physical store you can visit or even a customer service number to call. Instead, every visible business – billing, technical support – is handled via the visible app. It can be a difficult pill for some to swallow.
On the plus side, Visible is not a traditional MVNO; a company representative “sits on top of the Verizon network”. This means that you get exactly the same network coverage as Verizon customers, and now there is also support for eSIM devices (which means you do not have to wait until a SIM card arrives in the mail).
But do you also get the same performance? Visible now offers 5G where available (and on compatible phones), though it has a speed limit of 200 megabits per second. (It is still extremely fast.) Also new in service: call to Canada, Mexico, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Check here to make sure your phone is compatible, unless you plan to buy a new one from the carrier. At the moment you can get a prepaid Mastercard of $ 100 if you bring your own phone and up to a $ 200 card when purchasing certain models.
It’s strange that Visible Party Pay is no longer accessible to those living under the same roof. In fact, it is borderline friendly to families in this regard. But for groups of friends, co-workers, and even strangers you meet on the interwebs, Visible’s group plan is one of the best deals out there.
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