All the major cell phone carriers are now pushing unlimited wireless calling plans. These can include Unlimited Minutes or Unlimited Minutes AND Messaging or in Verizon's case unlimited Minutes, Messaging, and with VCAST.
I am highly skeptical that most people would need an unlimited plan, especially in the case of a family plan. Let's take a look at what you can get with a traditional family plan with allowance minutes versus an unlimited plan.
For comparison purposes we will use the Unlimited calling plan without messaging. This because either plan is going to charge you extra for text message packages. Adding into into the unlimited plan has a similar extra charge as purchasing a la carte and really provides no benefit. Take a look at Verizon Wireless.
The traditional family plan for Verizon is the nationwide Family SharePlan. For example the 1400 provides 1400 shared minutes for 89.99. Keep in mind this includes unlimited IN Calling. This means you can call anyone with Verizon without using any minutes. Of course this applies to others in your family plan. Call each other with no charges for minutes. The standard Free Nights and Weekends applies. Call anyone then for free.
The Unlimited Family Plan is $199.98 per month. So you are paying $110 more per month to call numbers that are not in Verizon's network. At 40 cents per additional minutes there is a 275 minute break even point. The only way this unlimited plan makes sense is if someone is going to use over 1675 minutes a month with NON-Verizon calling.
In addition there is a 2100 minute plan for $109 and a 3000 minute plan for $149. Evaluating the 3000 minute plan, this tells us someone could use over 3100 minutes while still paying less.
So there you have it. Looking at Verizon Family Plans, does it make sense to purchase an Unlimited plan? The answer is Maybe, IF you use over 3100 minutes per month. Keep in mind this is not including Nights, Weekends, and IN Network usage.
