I'm on grandfathered Simple Choice plan and received this text from T-mobile:
iPhone 17. Your exclusive offer is here and it's just for you.
You're eligible. Get iPhone 17 On Us. For a limited time, trade in any phone, in any condition, on your current plan, and get it On Us, up to $930 off. With up to 36 monthly bill credits. For well-qualified customers; plus tax. Limit 1 per account.
I had received this text from T-mobile last week and replied "YES":
T-Mobile: This year's most hyped device drop is almost here! As a thank you for your loyalty you are eligible to receive an exclusive offer. On your current rate plan, no changes needed. To get on the list for this limited time deal, reply YES by 9/7.
It may explain why some of you don't see this deal if you didn't receive or respond to that text.
Depending on your account's financing plan, you may see
24 or 36 monthly bill credits.
I got the $930 discount through 24 monthly credits with
waived activation fees with trade-in of a broken iPhone 6.
On Us (or Get up to $930 off) with any condition trade on most plans.
With
up to 36 monthly bill credits when you trade in any phone in any condition on a qualifying plan. For well-qualified customers; plus tax & $35 device connection charge.
How to get this offer:
Buy a new phone On Us:
Apple iPhone: 15, 15 Plus, 16, 16 Plus, 16e, 17, 17e
Google Pixel: 11, 10, 10a, 9a
Motorola: edge 2025, moto g 2025, moto g 2026, moto g play 2026, moto g power 2025, moto g stylus 2025, moto g stylus 2026, razr 2025, razr 2026, moto razr+ 2025
Quality One: Siyata SD7 Ultra 5G
Samsung Galaxy: XCover7 Pro, A16, A17 5G, A36, A37 5G, A57 5G, S25 5G, S25 Edge, S25 FE, S26, S26 FE
Sonim: XP Pro, XP3plus 5G, XP3plus 5G NC
T-Mobile: REVVL 8, REVVL Pro
TCL: NXTPAPER 70 Pro, Flip 4 5G
or Buy a new phone Get up to $930 off:
Apple iPhone: 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, Air, 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max
Google Pixel: 10 Pro, 10 Pro Fold, 10 Pro XL, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Fold, 11 Pro XL
Motorola: razr ultra 2025, razr Swarovski, moto razr+ 2026, razr fold 2026
Samsung Galaxy: S25 Ultra 5G, S25+ 5G, S26 Ultra, S26+, Z Flip7, Z Flip8, Z Fold7, Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra
Trade: Any phone in any condition. You must be able to retrieve the IMEI for trade in phone to be accepted.
Have a line on a qualifying plan.
Existing members: See qualifying plans below.
Receive up to $930 back via up to 36 monthly bill credits.
Terms
Qualifying plans
Existing members: Click
here [t-mobile.com] to check your current plan.
- Experience Beyond 2.0, Experience More 2.0 or Essentials 2.0.
- Experience Beyond, Experience More, Experience Signature, or Essentials.
- Legacy/Older Plans: Go5G Next, Go5G Plus, and most older plans, except promo plans.
Contact us before cancelling entire account to continue remaining bill credits, or credits stop & balance on required finance agreement is due (e.g., $929.99 - iPhone 17 256GB). Bill credits end if you pay off device early. Tax on pre-credit price due at sale. Limited time; subject to change. Qualifying credit, service ($60+/mo. plan w/AutoPay; plus taxes/fees) & trade-in any device required. Trade-in terms and conditions apply. If you don't meet promo requirements, your price/promo will be impacted. Up to $930 via bill credits; line with promo must be active and in good standing to receive credits; allow 2 bill cycles. Max 1 discounted device/account. May not be combinable with some offers, discounts, or promotions.
OFFER ID R848
Smartphone Promo with Trade (ID260780)
Link to T-mobile store:
https://www.t-mobile.com/purchase/shop
For Costco members:
Login to Costco, then go through "Upgrade device" on this page to make the deal sweeter ($100 Costco shop card): https://www.costco.com/f/-/t-mobi...d-showcase
I don't see a place to add a trade-in device when I go through Costco. It replaces the $930 promo with $100 Costco shop card promo which is not worth it. Likely because promo terms say "May not be combinable with some offers, discounts, or promotions"
Some users reported success by adding the new phone with trade-in device to the cart first, then following the Costco link to check out. I didn't try that as I didn't want to risk losing the $930 off.
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243 Comments
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Interestingly, I've got a $500 trade-in offer for the S26 on my Magenta Max plan, and although it says over 36 months, when I go to the product page, it's saving it's over 24 months (and the math agrees).
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But a lot of people should know the MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) have become insanely competitive over the past few years, and the best data plans for the price, for >90% of people, are there. MVNOs use the same towers as the Big 3 (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile), and the higher tier plans often have the same QCI (Quality of Service Class Identifier) priority as the the premium big carrier postpaid plans. However, they usually come with a significant price discount. MVNOs are often owned by the Big 3 carriers themselves, just different branding, pricing, and customer service departments.
The danger with these "$800 off", $1000 off" or "X phone on us" plans is that you are technically financing a phone at 0% interest on an EIP (equipment installment plan) and then getting monthly bill credits over 36 months. While they can claim you are not paying for the device, you are really paying for it with your (almost always overpriced) service plan. Furthermore, your hands are tied for 36 months, and the phone is locked for 3 years unless you decide to pay it off directly at the prorated full price.
There are two key things to keep in mind if you like fast, unlimited data and you're shopping around:
1) Many or most plans on MVNOs or Big 3 Carriers have "unlimited data" but will either deprioritize, severely throttle, or cut off your data after a threshold (25, 30, 50 GB, etc). There are higher tier plans on both MVNOs and Big3 Carriers that won't do this, and they generally advertise "unlimited premium data" at highest speeds.
2) Some MVNOs have standard or lower prioritization across all their plan tiers. For example, Metro by T-Mobile and Mint use the T-Mobile network towers, but get QCI 7 (standard/de-prioritized data) and will always be less prioritized than people on QCI 6 (Google Fi across all tiers).
Don't compare QCI between different networks (Verizon, TMO, AT&T) but rather within the network among its postpaid, prepaid, and MVNO plans.
This comment is already way too long, but most people are better served by a plan that 1) has best QCI prioritization (lower number is better) for their premium data allotment, or ideally, unlimited premium data at lowest possible QCI number for best priority. Off the top of my head, the Visible+, Visible+ Pro, and the US Mobile higher tier plans will do this and give you unlimited premium data.
Go ask your favorite AI/LLM/search engine/omniscient oracle and do your own research. Just don't blindly pay $50, $60, $80, $100 for a line every month when you could get something that's equal or better for way, way less.
Great information. The cell companies have made this a pain. I'm not a fan of MVNO because of bad experience with prioritization in a crowded major urban area. It's a shame that now postpaid too requires a ton of investigation for quality service .
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