Free Cell Phone Family Plan

Free Cell Phone Family Plan Combos

Yes, you can get free cell phones with family plans. In some cases, you can even get all of your phones for free when you sign a two-year contract. In other cases, you may get the second phone free but have to pay a discounted price for the first one. (Please note that cell phone prices, when accompanied by a contract, are deeply discounted from their regular retail rates.)

Free In-Store

These are the best deals! You pay nothing up front - what could be better than that? These are instant rebates and your wallet can stay in your pocket or purse aside from showing your ID.

When you're signing up for a family plan, keep in mind that you may not be able to get all phones for free this way. If you're looking at a buy one, get one deal, only every other phone will be free.

Still in some cases, you may be able to get your first two phones for free but be required to pay for all subsequent phones.

Mail-In Rebates

Those mail-in rebates can be letdowns when you see "free phone!" advertised, rush into the store, and then realize—oh, you have to pay $200.00 and then wait eight weeks to see your money again. If you see it again.

Be sure to get all of your receipts before leaving the store. Get multiples while you're there or make copies of the receipts before you send them in. Make absolutely sure you cut out the proper UPC codes to mail to the right place. Even if you make copies of the UPC, cell phone companies generally only accept the original, cut straight off the box, when it comes to cutting you a check. Check the mailing address where you're sending the rebate materials. Check it again. Hundreds of dollars could be at stake.

The plus to mail-in rebates is that you may end up getting as many as five phones for free. You'll pay a great deal when you sign up, but assuming you accurately complete the paperwork, you'll get all that money back. Cell phone companies don't usually do "buy one, get one free with a mail-in rebate" deals.

Finding the Plans and Free Phones

Since what's free changes almost monthly, it's impossible to list all the free cell phone family plans. There are a few ways to check, though, aside from the general footwork and phone calls to each store.

• Wirefly lets you look through multiple carriers' family plans all at once. More interested in starting with the phone you get? You can start there first instead. Another search option is based on the carrier you're most interested in. You can start there and have a look at all of their plans, eliminating the clutter of other service providers' information on the screen.

• Free Cellular Phone Deals does exactly what the name suggests—they tell you what's free, where, and how to get it. You'll have to order through their site, of course. What's free on their site isn't necessarily what's free on the service provider's site.

Notes on Choosing Your Family Plan

There are a few things to look for and consider when you're choosing your family plan.

1. Mobile-to-mobile minutes could free up quite a few minutes you'd have had to pay for otherwise. If mobile-to-mobile is free (it quite often is), you'll be able to sign up for a cheaper plan with fewer minutes. Verify whether mobile-to-mobile for your phone company includes only people on the same plan or everyone on that particular network.
2. Free nights and weekends allow you to talk as much as you want—as long as it's after 9:00pm. In several instances, you'll find that you can pay an additional fee to have your nights start at 7:00 or 6:00 instead. You will have to weigh the benefits of that based on how much talking your family does between 6:00 or 7:00, and 9:00.
3. An average individual user needs roughly 500 anytime minutes. Weigh that with the number of people on your plan, but don't forget to factor in how often your family members will be talking to one another (or even people on the same network), or talking after the nighttime minutes kick in. You will probably find that you don't need 500 separate minutes for each person on your family plan.
4. Don't forget to ask about free texting, media package options, and more.

Arguably more important than the free cell phones are the free minutes, so make sure you ask all the right questions about the plans and the phones! You'll be surprised by what you can get for free.