Family Plans… Good or Bad Idea?

Welcome back to the Tech Kid blog

Today I want to discuss the pros and cons of having a family plan.

Family plans always seem like a good idea but what you don’t realize is that your actually being charged the same amount of money you would be charged on an individual plan and you get a lot less.

Being able to share you minutes and data is a pro and a con. If you have an unlimited plan then sharing you minutes won’t be a problem but if not then you don’t really know where you stand. You always have to check with the carrier if you and your family went over your minutes. Data also plays a big part in a family plan as most people think you have individual data plans but some carriers do what’s called a shared data plan. Meaning you have to share all your data between multiple people on the plan. Another thing about having a family plan is that sometimes the whole family is on one contract and sometimes each line is on a contract so you never really know when you have an upgrade available. Additionally when you call in to the carrier to see if you have an upgrade they will usually just use any upgrade that’s available on the account, basically just trying to extend the families obligation to the company for as long as possible.

Now when you sign up for a family plan you have to pick your base plan. The more lines you add to your account cost additional fees per line. Each carrier is different but usually if your adding a smartphone line to an account it comes at a cost of $30-$40 a month extra on your bill PLUS the data charges and any other features you add with that line. And when adding a line the carrier will ask you to change the base plan to something higher. In the end this is all coming out to be the same price or MORE then what you would normally pay if you have an individual plan. Plus having an individual plan you can choose something that’s right for YOU. There is no need to go on an unlimited plan just because you have multiple people on the account. You can get your own individual plan with your choice of minutes per month and add features that only you would use.

Remember next time one of your family members asks you to join their family plan to save some money, you’re not really saving money and you will realize this when the first bill comes in.