There are new data points from 9/14/23 on which seem to indicate that the BYOP SIM trick below no longer works. (i.e. Even though the deal is still available to people who have been Fi members for a while, someone who just activated a BYOP SIM won't see the instant discount and only see the 24-month credit offer). Therefore, I'm crossing out the info about the BYOP SIM trick.
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* Added on 8/1/2023 by hpham_53: It's still 3-4 months away until people doing this deal will be close to completing their promotion. But I'll go ahead and add the info below on how to verify that your promotion was Earned, and how to Cancel/Pause Fi service after that.
* How to Verify that your S23 promo was Earned:
There's a countdown in your Billing-->Fi Savings-->In Progress that shows how many more days your Fi service has to remain active. The countdown will never say zero day. On the 120th day, it will stay at "1 more day". On the morning of the 121st day, the countdown should say "Stayed (past tense) active on Fi for 120 days in a row". Then later in the day, the In Progress column disappears, and the promo discount gets moved to the Earned column. At that time or later, it's safe to Cancel or Pause your Fi service.
You can use this Date Calculator: https://www.timeanddate
Enter your activation date as the Start Date, select Add 121 days and it'll show the date when it's safe to cancel/pause your Fi service.
* How to Cancel your Fi service:
In your Fi account, click on Account-->Your Plan, scroll down until you see "Leave Google Fi". Click on that and follow the on-screen instructions. You'll have the options to Let Go your Fi phone number, or Transfer To Another Provider. (There used to be an option to port it back to Google Voice, but I think it's no longer available). If you choose to let go your Fi number, your Fi service will be cancelled IMMEDIATELY. If you choose to port out, your Fi service will remain active until your Fi number has been ported out to another provider.
* How to Pause your Fi service;
In your Fi account, click on Account-->Your Plan, scroll down until you see "Pause Service". Click on that and follow the on-screen instructions. Your Fi service will be paused and Automatically Resumed after 90 days, unless you cancel it before 90 days are up. Once it's Resumed, you can leave it Active, or Cancel it, or Pause again (I don't know how many times you can Pause). If you have a lot of remaining referral Fi credit (which is not refundable), you can choose Pause instead of Cancel to wait and see if there will be new Fi promotions in the future to use up your Fi credit.
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When activating your S23, make sure that the Fi app mentions that your current service is on another phone (the BYOP) and wants to do a transfer. If it does not, do not go through with the activation, come back here and ask for help.
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There's a way for people who are not current or past Fi members to do this deal.
1. Buy a BYOD Fi SIM from your local Best Buy, or Amazon, or Fi. Costs $10 plus tax.
2. Activate the BYOD Fi SIM with a Fi-Compatible phone. When creating your Fi account, use a Fi referral code. I have a bunch.
3. The BYOD SIM needs to be activated with at least the Flexible Plan that costs $20/month for unlimited talk/text + taxes. Any Data used will cost extra (prorated at $10/GB). You'll get $10 Fi credit for the cost of the BYOD Fi SIM. Using a referral code will get you another $20 Fi credit after 30 days of service.
4. You can select a new phone number when activating the BYOD Fi SIM.
5. Wait 2-3 days until your 1st Billing Cycle has started (typically 2 days after activation). At that time, you're considered an Existing Fi Member.
EDITED: It's recommended that you wait 2-3 days after activating the BYOP SIM before placing your order for the S23. That is to make sure that Fi system FULLY recognizes that you have an active Fi line. Otherwise, although you can order the S23 with the discount, Fi might ship the S23 without assigning your current Fi phone number to the SIM. If that happens, when you activate the S23 it will show in the checklist that the phone was activated by a NEW member and your promotion discount is in jeopardy.
6. Log into your Fi account-->Shop-->Order the S23 phone, you should see/get the promotion for existing Fi members.
7. When you receive your S23 phone, the SIM should be already installed. Install the Fi app from Google Store and run it to activate the S23.
8. The Fi app should display a message saying your current Fi service is on another phone (the BYOD phone). It'll ask for permission to transfer service from the BYOD phone to the S23. Give it the OK. Your current Fi service, phone number, billing will be transferred to the S23. That will start your required 120 days of service for the S23 deal.
9. In your Fi account, click on Billing-->Fi Savings. It should display under the In Progress column a checklist of tasks like Buy an S23, Receive a promotion discount, Activate the S23, and there's a count down of how many more days you have to keep your Fi service active. The count down is updated every 24 hrs.
10. If you want to use the S23 with Fi service, fine. If not, remove the Fi SIM from the S23 and stash it away. DO NOT use the S23 Fi SIM in any other phone. You can now use the S23 phone with a physical or eSIM of another provider.
11. When your required 120 days of Fi service get close to the end, check back and I'll post info on how to verify that you've completed the promotion and cancel/pause your Fi service if you don't want to stay with Fi.
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On the Billing tab of the app, it says "first statement available July 23" so will wait for that.
i can return it and get the 256 s23 ultra for approx $150 more once i minus return shipping plus cost of case and screen protectors for the note 20
my question is ?
the note is the last note ever and it does have a memory card slot
what yall think ? keep the note or get the s23 ultra for approx 150 plus the 3 months service on fi
or just wait another year or so and hope the s23 ultra drops in price even more
thoughts?
TIA
i can return it and get the 256 s23 ultra for approx $150 more once i minus return shipping plus cost of case and screen protectors for the note 20
my question is ?
the note is the last note ever and it does have a memory card slot
what yall think ? keep the note or get the s23 ultra for approx 150 plus the 3 months service on fi
or just wait another year or so and hope the s23 ultra drops in price even more
thoughts?
* Upgrading to the S23U which is 3 years newer, fresher battery, faster, get software update longer...for $150 is a "no brainer".
* 4 months of Fi service are required, not 3 months. Although using a referral code will get you $20 Fi credit to lessen the cost.
* What's the total storage usage (internal + external) on your current phone? Is it close to 256GB? If it's a lot less than 256GB, then the SD card option isn't that important for you.
* Of course price of the S23U will go lower over time, but will Fi offer the same promotion then? Without the Fi promotion, prices at other places like Best Buy, Amazon will be much higher.
* Upgrading to the S23U which is 3 years newer, fresher battery, faster, get software update longer...for $150 is a "no brainer".
* 4 months of Fi service are required, not 3 months. Although using a referral code will get you $20 Fi credit to lessen the cost.
* What's the total storage usage (internal + external) on your current phone? Is it close to 256GB? If it's a lot less than 256GB, then the SD card option isn't that important for you.
* Of course price of the S23U will go lower over time, but will Fi offer the same promotion then? Without the Fi promotion, prices at other places like Best Buy, Amazon will be much higher.
So at what point do I create the new second line on my account for the S23 Ultra? Do I do that online before going through the Fi app?
So at what point do I create the new second line on my account for the S23 Ultra? Do I do that online before going through the Fi app?
How many more days left on your other promotion? If 30 days or less (which is what Fi gives you to activate the S23U), wait until the other phone has met its required 120 days then activate the S23U. If more than 30 days, you'll have to cancel the S23U order, or decide which promotion (for the other phone or the S23U) to give up.
How many more days left on your other promotion? If 30 days or less (which is what Fi gives you to activate the S23U), wait until the other phone has met its required 120 days then activate the S23U. If more than 30 days, you'll have to cancel the S23U order, or decide which promotion (for the other phone or the S23U) to give up.
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So at what point do I create the new second line on my account for the S23 Ultra? Do I do that online before going through the Fi app?
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