Verizon is offering a free line for 36 months to select customers, but what's the catch?

Android Authority

2 days ago

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Verizon is offering a free Unlimited Welcome line for 36 months via monthly credits to select existing customers as a loyalty offer.
Unlike past 'free' lines that merely masked multi-line discounts, this BYOD offer appears to be legit.
While the main line is free, it still carries taxes and fees (around $6–$10 per month), and after 36 months, you must cancel the line or pay the standard rate based on your total lines.
If you're a current Verizon subscriber, you may have received an email or text alert about a new promotion that lets you add a free line for the next 36 months via monthly account credits. Not only have I seen a few reports about this offer on Reddit, but my wife received the same text offer last night. It's unclear how widely this loyalty offer is being circulated, but if you're one of the lucky recipients of the deal, you might be wondering if there's a catch. As you'd expect, there's definitely some fine print here, but this is actually looking to be a solid deal.
While Verizon has advertised 'free' lines before, usually it turns out that it's just for the fourth line and is only free because your discount is now high enough to cover the difference. This offer is a bit different, as the loyalty reward will cover the entire cost of an Unlimited Welcome plan for a three-year period, after which you'll be responsible for paying the difference minus any multi-line discounts.
For Verizon customers seeing this offer, do you plan to redeem it?
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Keep in mind this is a BYOD (bring your own device) line, meaning you can't finance a phone on it while the promotion is active. Don't want an Unlimited Welcome plan? You can upgrade to Unlimited Plus or Ultimate, but the credit will only cover part of those plans' costs. You can also cancel the extra line at any time, but you'll lose the account credit if you do.
Now for the fine print. First, the free line will still incur taxes and fees, likely around $6–$10 per month, which aren't covered by the credit. You'll also need to add the new line to one of the three MyPlan options, though your existing lines don't necessarily have to be on this plan. In other words, legacy plans are eligible here, too.
To redeem the offer, I recommend going to your local corporate Verizon store. While my text message did have a link, following it only led me to a general BYOD page, and I had trouble getting the offer to come up. According to various Redditors, trying to use the app or talk to customer service remotely will likely only lead to more headaches. It is recommended that you visit the store for this promotion, as this seems to be the safest and easiest route.
If you haven't received the offer, keep in mind that it's a targeted loyalty deal and isn't necessarily available to all Verizon customers. It's also distinct from your typical 'free fourth line' offer, as mentioned above. If you weren't contacted directly, check the Verizon app or website for any offers tied to your account. If nothing turns up, you can try reaching out to customer service, but there's no guarantee they'll extend the deal to you.
Should you sign up if you received the loyalty offer? Honestly, that's up to you and whether you want to tie yourself to Verizon a bit longer, though technically you can cancel the promotional line at any time, so even that's not a major factor here. For what it is worth, I plan on redeeming our free line, and if you have a kid or someone else you've been thinking about adding, I'd do the same if I were you!
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