It’s impossible to properly thank veterans for the service they’ve rendered, but cheaper military cell phone plans is a start.
Pretty much every wireless carrier offers military cell phone plans, but which one is best for you and your family? It depends on your situation.
Best veteran cell phone plans:
- Verizon Go Unlimited Plan for Military: Best overall phone plan
- T-Mobile One Eligible Military Only: Best family plan
- Unlimited &More for Military: Best budget buy
- Sprint Unlimited Military Plan: Best for couples
All right, you’ve got options, so let’s take a snapshot of all the best wireless providers for military cell phone plans.
Best veteran cell phone plans comparisons
Are there free phones for veterans?
Verizon Go Unlimited Plan for Military: Best overall
The best coverage for an affordable price.
Verizon Beyond Unlimited plan features
What we like about the Verizon Go Unlimited Plan
Top-rated performance
Out of all the providers, Verizon has the best coverage.1,2 Wherever you may be adventuring, you can rest assured that you won’t be completely off the grid. If anybody needs to reach you or you need to make a call, Verizon is your most reliable option.
Streaming and hotspot
Your Verizon plan gets you DVD-quality streaming and unlimited hotspot coverage.
Let’s say you’re out adventuring again. It’s time to sleep, but you’re in the mood to watch a little Brooklyn Nine-Nine on your laptop before bed. Verizon’s speeds and hotspot access make this dreamy situation possible.
Verizon’s coverage is so broad that no matter where you are, you’ll probably be able to create a Wi-Fi hotspot and stream what you want .
Get the whole review
What we don’t like about the Verizon Go Unlimited Plan
A few bucks more
Though you’re saving money with your Verizon military cell phone plan, you’re paying a little more than you would with another provider. Over the course of a year, those extra bucks certainly do add up.
If you want a cheaper deal, you might want to consider AT&T or T-Mobile, but just be aware you won’t have the same coverage or internet speeds.
Other Verizon veteran cell phone plans
There are two other Verizon military cell phone plans you can choose from. Both are more expensive than Verizon Go, but they pack a lot of data.
If you’re on the go a lot and need the best coverage, consider the Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited Verizon plans.
T-Mobile One Eligible Military Only: Best family plan
Add lines for the whole family.
T-Mobile family plan features
What we like about T-Mobile One Eligible Military Only
Cheap to add extra lines
The bigger the family, the better T-Mobile sets up its family plans. With your veteran or active duty status, adding lines costs 50% less. Seriously, call up grandma, call up your grandchildren, call up your siblings and get them on your T-Mobile veteran plan.
Your 50% off maxes out at five different lines, not counting your own, so make sure to take full advantage of those open slots. (The family that pays together stays together, right?)
Breakup made easy
T-Mobile wants your business. So much so that it’ll cover your remaining payments with your current provider (AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint). As long as you trade in your old phone and opt into a new contract, you’ll be free to join T-Mobile without forking over a bunch of money on cancelation fees with your old provider.
Scope out more prepaid plans
What we don’t like about T-Mobile One Eligible Military Only
Less coverage in rural areas
T-Mobile’s coverage isn’t quite as reliable as Verizon, but it’s still pretty good.2,3 Just don’t be surprised if your network drops while you’re out in the wilderness.
We recently took a T-Mobile phone out into the wilderness of Yellowstone to see if we could find any bars. About 10 minutes after we passed through the national park gates, our bars started dropping like flies. Coverage crept back up from time to time, but the coverage was far from reliable. Still worth it to see the bears and stuff.
Likewise, if you live in a more rural area, or camping is your family vacation of choice, you might run into low bars with a T-Mobile plan.
Does T-Mobile have any other choices for veterans?
Sadly, no. The only T-Mobile veteran plan is the One Eligible Military Only.
Unlimited &More for Military: Best budget buy
For vets looking for the cheapest military plan.
What we like about Unlimited &More for Military
Cheapest price
Out of all the military discount cell phone plans, AT&T will save you the most money month after month. No matter what veteran cell phone plan you opt for, you’re saving money, but AT&T takes it to another level. Over the course of a year, you can save nearly $100 with AT&T. (Hey, $100 can go a really long way!)
Now you’re probably wondering—what’s the catch with AT&T? We’ll get there. But the long and short of it is higher activation fees and coverage that isn’t as good as Verizon.
Free TV
A cheap military cell phone plan with free TV is a pretty hard combination to beat. You get 35 channels of TV to watch on the go—but unfortunately, none of those channels are ESPN. So if you’re hoping to watch Monday Night Football while waiting in line at the grocery store, you’re out of luck.
Check out the channels you do get with your AT&T veteran plan (love me some Food Network!)
Check out AT&T
What we don’t like about Unlimited &More for Military
Higher activation fees
You probably noticed that AT&T has higher up-front costs than other wireless providers. Yes, it’s a one-time fee, but it’s annoying that you have to shell out some extra bucks to start your military plan.
If you’re anything like me, spending those extra bucks will make you feel guilty about buying lunch and so it’s another day of ramen. Don’t be like me. (Unless you like ramen—then by all means!)
Coverage is . . . eh.
There’s a small gap between AT&T and Verizon,1 but AT&T’s coverage is still second-best. Putting it in this section sounds a bit nit-picky, and it probably is, but you should know that the cheaper monthly price comes with coverage that’s less than the best.
If you live in a big city, though, and you don’t go out in the country too often, AT&T should provide you with solid coverage.
Alternative pick
AT&T has one other military cell phone plan that specializes in HD streaming. You also can get HBO for free.
Sprint Unlimited Plus: Best plan for couples
Just the two of us (and our Sprint Unlimited plan).
What we like about Sprint Unlimited Plus
Cheap second line
It doesn’t cost much to add a second line to your military plan. Besides, nothing quite says you’re in love like getting a joint cell phone plan—and if you or your beloved is a veteran, you’re in luck: the Sprint Unlimited Plus Plan is the most affordable way for you to put two cell phone plans together.
You can add an extra line to your Sprint plan for less than what any other wireless provider will charge you. You’ll be saving somewhere in the neighborhood of $5–$10 a month with Sprint. Oh, and there’s no activation fees with Sprint, either. By the end of the year, you’ll have saved well over $100.
Free Hulu subscription
You get a free Hulu with Limited Commercials subscription when you sign up for the Sprint military plan. If you’re already paying for Hulu, add that to the equation of how much you’ll save over the course of a year.
What shows are on Hulu? We thought you’d never ask. You can watch Seinfeld from start to finish. How about seeing what all this Rick and Morty hubbub is about? Or maybe you’re in the mood for the much heavier (but still very good) Handmaid’s Tale?
There’s a lot to love on Hulu, and it’s even more enjoyable when you’re not paying for it.
Read the review
What we don’t like about Sprint Unlimited Plus
Weaker speeds
Sprint doesn’t have the quickest speeds in the world. If you raced a Sprint phone and a Verizon phone in an app-downloading race, the outcome would be laughable. Verizon would win by a lot.1
Sprint may test your patience from time to time with its slower speeds, but at least you’re getting a bargain for you and your partner.
Alternative picks
Sprint doesn’t have any alternative military cell phone plans—just the one. But we’ll let you know if that changes.
Recap
- Best overall veteran plan: The Verizon Go Unlimited Plan for Military plan gets you amazing coverage and speed for an affordable price. It’s not the cheapest military cell phone plan, but it’s got the most bang for your buck.
- Best family plan: We recommend the T-Mobile One Eligible Military Only plan for the whole family. It’s the cheapest way to add multiple lines to an existing military plan.
- Best budget plan: The Unlimited &More for Military plan is your bargain-basement option for frugal vets. You get decent coverage and free live TV channels as well.
- Best plan for couples: The Sprint Unlimited Military Plan is your cheapest option to add a second line to your existing military cell phone plan. You can even watch Hulu for free with your partner. How romantic!
Sources
1. RootMetrics, “Mobile Performance in the US Part 1: Performance across the Entire US – 2H 2017”
2. OpenSignal, “The 4G Battle Continues between T-Mobile and Verizon”
3. Speedtest, “United States”