AT&T's New Senior Mobile Plan Offers Big Discounts -- and Sorry, 55 Counts as a 'Senior'

CNET

3 days ago

AT&T has unveiled a new phone plan for seniors, offering mobile service at a discount for customers 55 years old and up. (Yes, Gen X, that's you -- or some of you, at least.) True, the new plan is a bit bare-bones without the fancier features of the carrier's pricier offerings, but it's also cheaper than those and notably more affordable than its former senior plan.
Carriers typically offer several plans to satisfy a range of customers, from the frugal to those that are willing to pay for every perk and bundled streaming service they can get. But plans targeting older Americans are often more bare-bones offerings, offered at lower prices to appeal to customers on fixed and limited incomes. AT&T's new AT&T 55 Plus plan is the most affordable it's offered in years.
In exchange, the AT&T 55 Plus plan is pretty basic. For $40 per month for a single line (or $35 per month per line with two lines), you'll get unlimited voice calls, texting and data in the US, Canada and Mexico, and though AT&T's senior plan page indicates it has "5G access included," there's no clarity on which circumstances will enable high-speed data downloads and uploads on the senior plan.
The plan also has 10GB of hotspot data per line per month, which is more generous than some other carrier offerings on our best senior plans list, along with a maximum 720p (SD) streaming speed for video. The plan also provides access to AT&T's free ActiveArmor app that blocks spam calls.
Previously, AT&T offered a slightly discounted senior phone plan at $62 per month that was only available to customers living in Florida. Verizon retains a similar Florida-only senior plan. T-Mobile has several plans for seniors, from an older and basic Essentials Choice 55 plan starting at $45 per month up to Experience Beyond w/ 55 Plus starting at $85 per month and offering all the perks and extras of T-Mobile's other plans, including a five-year plan price guarantee, streaming services and satellite service beyond T-Mobile's network.
Here's a breakdown of the best senior plans carriers offer 55-years-old and up customers:
Best Senior Plans: T-Mobile, AT&T, Mint Mobile and Verizon
Plan Cost 1 line (AutoPay) Cost 4 lines (AutoPay) High-speed data Hotspot data limit Price guarantee Max number of lines Streaming resolution T-Mobile Essentials Choice 55 $45 N/A 50GB Unlimited 3G N/A 2 480p (SD) T-Mobile Go5G 55 Plus $75 N/A Unlimited 5G 50GB N/A 2 Up to 4K T-Mobile Experience Beyond w/ 55+ $85 N/A Unlimited 5G 250GB 5 years 2 Up to 4K AT&T AT&T 55+ $40 $140 Unlimited 10GB N/A 10 480p (SD) Mint Mobile Mint 55 $15 N/A 5GB Shared 5GB main data budget N/A 5 480p (SD) Verizon Verizon 55 Plus $62 N/A Unlimited 4G LTE Unlimited 3G N/A 2 480p (SD)
It's worth noting that every carrier plan's listed lowest price requires customers to sign up for autopay -- otherwise, the plans are more expensive every month. Customers must also prove their age by submitting an identification document to their carrier.
Later this summer, AT&T will also offer a bundle combining two lines of AT&T 55+ with the customer's choice of either AT&T Fiber or AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless access internet, according to the carrier's blog post.