Churning Mobile Phone Carriers

[Curious_George2]

There are two mobile phone carriers that I view as adequate for my needs and basically equivalent. Last year, one of them offered me a few hundred dollars to switch to them if I brought my own device (BYOD). Now, the other one is dangling an even better BYOD deal to lure me back. I'm considering taking it because it's free money. 

Has anyone seen any downside to churning these bonuses and switching back and forth between carriers every few years? The upside is comparable to credit card SUB's, but there are no pesky credit inquiries. I'm not aware of any issues compable to Amex's popups or Chase's 5/24, but curious if there are other potential problems lurking. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

[DaveInAZ]

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

No, only "post paid" with major carriers pull your credit, most MVNO prepaid carriers don't. MVNO- Mobile Virtual Network Operators, they don't have their own network, they use Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.

[DaveInAZ]

---

@Curious_George2 wrote:

There are two mobile phone carriers that I view as adequate for my needs and basically equivalent. Last year, one of them offered me a few hundred dollars to switch to them if I brought my own device (BYOD). Now, the other one is dangling an even better BYOD deal to lure me back. I'm considering taking it because it's free money. 

Has anyone seen any downside to churning these bonuses and switching back and forth between carriers every few years? The upside is comparable to credit card SUB's, but there are no pesky credit inquiries. I'm not aware of any issues compable to Amex's popups or Chase's 5/24, but curious if there are other potential problems lurking. 

---

Not at all, competition is fierce between so many MVNO companies, so take advantage of it and may the best company win. I live in a rural area where cellular is my best option for internet so I regularly churn. I've done Visible a couple times for a $100 Visa card, and this spring I did Google Fi for a free phone to use as a hotspot and 3 months of 50; off their overpriced 22gb "unlimited" plan

[pizzadude]

I've also switched carriers a few times in the past 2 years, and agree it's a mostly painless process, assuming you have your port-out PIN and you time it with the end of a billing period, otherwise you could be paying both the old carrier and new carrier for first few weeks / month of service.

[Curious_George2]

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

I should have chosen my words more carefully. I should have said "no effect on FICO scores" because, in contrast to churning CC SUB's, there are no HP inquiries or new accounts reported to my EQ, EX or TU files. 

I have seen some soft pulls from mobile phone carriers, but never an actual or attempted hard pull. Have you seen HP's?

I think I recall that SageStream or one of the other lesser used credit reports uses phone-related stuff as an indicator of credit risk, but I'm choosing to ignore that because it doesn't seem to matter much and I think it's dumb. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

No, only "post paid" with major carriers pull your credit, most MVNO prepaid carriers don't. MVNO- Mobile Virtual Network Operators, they don't have their own network, they use Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.

---

He never mentioned pre-paid so the assumption was it was post-paid like the majority of users.

[Curious_George2]

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

No, only "post paid" with major carriers pull your credit, most MVNO prepaid carriers don't. MVNO- Mobile Virtual Network Operators, they don't have their own network, they use Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.

---

The particular carriers I'm toggling between are both majors, and my plans have all been post-paid. But no HP's for me. Are you saying they sometimes do HP's or did you mean SP? 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

---

@Curious_George2 wrote:

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

I should have chosen my words more carefully. I should have said "no effect on FICO scores" because, in contrast to churning CC SUB's, there are no HP inquiries or new accounts reported to my EQ, EX or TU files. 

I have seen some soft pulls from mobile phone carriers, but never an actual or attempted hard pull. Have you seen HP's?

I think I recall that SageStream or one of the other lesser used credit reports uses phone-related stuff as an indicator of credit risk, but I'm choosing to ignore that because it doesn't seem to matter much and I think it's dumb. 

---

Carriers do a hard pull any time you apply for a post-paid line. Even if you byod, there's a possibility of a hard pull by them to see if you'll qualify for device financing in the future, though that seems to be more of a problem when you go to an affiliate. The only time there isn't a credit check is if you're doing pre-paid or an existing account holder, and even then, depending on how many lines or devices you're trying to get, they may HP to give you an increase on your line of credit. I believe T-Mobile is doing pre-approval now though.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

---

@Curious_George2 wrote:

---

@DaveInAZ wrote:

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

I thought carriers pulled your credit every time you switch?

---

No, only "post paid" with major carriers pull your credit, most MVNO prepaid carriers don't. MVNO- Mobile Virtual Network Operators, they don't have their own network, they use Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.

---

The particular carriers I'm toggling between are both majors, and my plans have all been post-paid. But no HP's for me. Are you saying they sometimes do HP's or did you mean SP? 

---

Either you missed them or have been extremely lucky.