* Activating the Fi S24 phone
When you get the phone:
1. The SIM is already installed in the phone, although the phone box is sealed.
2. Turn on the phone, connect it to WiFi and log into the same Google account that was used to purchase the phone.
3. Download and install the Fi app from Google Play Store.
4. Leave WiFi ON. Run the Fi app. It will insist that you turn Data ON. Go ahead and turn Data ON. It might use a few MB of Data before switching to WiFi. If FI charges you for that Data at all, it will be 1-3 cents added to the 2nd bill.
5. Go through the activation process with the app which will transfer your Fi service from yourl old phone to the S24.
6. Your S24 phone should be activated on Fi then. Make some test calls/texts to make sure that the phone is working on Fi.
* Tracking Your Promo Discount
Log into your Fi account on the web site. There's a countdown in your Billing-->Fi Savings-->In Progress that shows how many more days your Fi service has to remain active. About 24 hrs after you activated the Fi SIM, the In Progress Tracker should show a checklist with entries like: Bought a phone, Got a discount, Activated the SIM, Stay xxx more days on Fi. Make sure the "Activate the SIM" entry is checkmarked and it shows 120 days to go. Then for a few days after that, keep checking the In Progress to make sure the countdown is decreasing each day. The countdown is updated at the same time each day (around the time of day that you activated the Fi SIM).
* How to Verify that your S24 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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Steps I took as a former Fi subscriber to get this deal: https://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=
Strong recommendation: For people who activate service on a BYOD device to become an existing customer, wait a minimum of 24 hours (recommended 48 hours) before purchasing the S24. Those who activate and purchase the same day usually have major issues. The countdown timer will not be triggered and you will have no choice but to forfeit the discount or return the phone. You can try to contact support and ask to escalate to a specialist which may or may not have success and will likely eat up your return window.
For those that purchased same day, it seems that given early data points including mine that
Fi has manually approved the promo after escalating. Unknown if this will consistently be successful by others in future, though.
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Thought it's a 24 Month Bill credit?
"Get reimbursed over 24 months
Receive $27.09 off each bill for 24 months
The credit is tied to the person who activated the device"
Sorry for the ignorance but I'm new to Google Fi deals!
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1. Sign up as new customer and activate your line with eSIM. I did this on 1/22.
2. Pre-order the Galaxy phone of your choice with the new customer promo of $650 off in 24 mos. Ordered on 1/22. Cancel this order once it shows up in your Manage Order history.
3. Wait one day. Today, on 1/23 when I am now eligible for the $650 off existing customer promo. My bill is not generated but I was still able to claim the promo and order.
Unfortunately, I am a day or two late as the delivery dates have moved significantly now. S24U Black was showing mid-Feb delivery dates.
Google Fi:
$650
$41 tax
$70-$80 for 4 month service (I am pessimistic as to getting enough referral credit to cover the next 4 months)
Total cost = ~$765 (or at best $725 if I can somehow get $40 referral credit)
Samsung EDU:
$710.51 (after $600 trade in credit for Galaxy Flip4, which I bought on ebay for $276 last week after seeing the launch day trade in credits). Tax included as I am picking up from a non-tax state Best Buy
$276 Flip4 cost
-$50 Rat**en CB
-$249 (approx) profit after flipping the included Watch6 Classic
Total cost = $682
Sure, buying from Samsung involves more work to resell the Watch 6 but there's the 711 Samsung rewards points, 6 month/2 month Microsoft 365/adobe Lightroom to consider. Plus the phone will be 100% unlocked with 0 risk on day 1 and it will be available to pick up on 1/31 (allegedly). versus 2/14-2/18 estimated shipping date for Google Fi and 4-month to wait to unlock.
Just putting this out there for others weighing their options.
On another topic, how easy is it in general to get 4 months of referral credit? I guess the best way to do it is advertise on reddit / ebay but seems to be a shot in the dark. You've been super helpful here so I know it was easy for you
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Google Fi:
$650
$41 tax
$70-$80 for 4 month service (I am pessimistic as to getting enough referral credit to cover the next 4 months)
Total cost = ~$765 (or at best $725 if I can somehow get $40 referral credit)
Samsung EDU:
$710.51 (after $600 trade in credit for Galaxy Flip4, which I bought on ebay for $276 last week after seeing the launch day trade in credits). Tax included as I am picking up from a non-tax state Best Buy
$276 Flip4 cost
-$50 Rat**en CB
-$249 (approx) profit after flipping the included Watch6 Classic
Total cost = $682
Sure, buying from Samsung involves more work to resell the Watch 6 but there's the 711 Samsung rewards points, 6 month/2 month Microsoft 365/adobe Lightroom to consider. Plus the phone will be 100% unlocked with 0 risk on day 1 and it will be available to pick up on 1/31 (allegedly). versus 2/14-2/18 estimated shipping date for Google Fi and 4-month to wait to unlock.
Just putting this out there for others weighing their options.
For me personally it's about $80-$100 cheaper with Samsung EDU offer
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