Which Cell Phone Carriers Offer Military & Employee Discounts?

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Whether you’ve selflessly served our country, or you work tirelessly as a teacher or first responder, you deserve a little something in return. Thankfully, wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular all offer generous discounts to active military, veterans, and employees of participating companies. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through which U.S. cell phone carriers offer military and employee discounts, what kind of deals they offer, and who can qualify for them. 

Read on to find out what military or employee discounts you might be eligible for!

Phone plan discount eligibility

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Whether or not you qualify for a military, employee, or first responder discount is highly dependent on your carrier and their specific eligibility requirements. In general, though, phone plan discounts are typically offered to:

• Active duty and veteran military members
• Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals
• Firefighters, police, and additional first responders
• Teachers
• Government employees

Usually, to get the discount, the primary account holder must be the military member or employee who qualifies.

For military discounts, you’ll generally need to be an active duty service member or reservist, in the National Guard, or a veteran of any branch of the U.S. military. You’ll also have to provide the carrier with your military ID, veteran ID, or DD214 paperwork as proof of your service. 

For other discount types, you’ll similarly need to offer proof of your ID and documentation showing your professional status. For example, first responders may need their employee ID or volunteer card, or an EMT certification, while educators need to show proof of current employment to qualify for teacher discounts. 

Take a look below to see the military and employee discounts each carrier offers.

Verizon Military and Employee Discounts

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Military Discounts

Active-duty members and veterans of all branches of the U.S. military are eligible for wireless discounts from Verizon. Eligibility verification must be done through MilVetID, then you can register for your discount on the Verizon website.

Verizon’s military discount applies to its entire suite of unlimited plans. The cheapest one, Unlimited Welcome, starts at $60/month for a single line. If you’re grabbing a plan for the whole family, that monthly price drops as low as $25/line (4 lines). All of Verizon’s unlimited plans include unlimited talk, text, and data, plus 5G access and optional entertainment perks. 

Since your monthly discount depends on the number of lines you have, let’s take a look at the per-line cost of Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan with and without the military discount as an example.

Apart from military discounts on their unlimited plans, Verizon also gives a 15% off discount on most of their other advertised plans, apart from prepaid and already discounted plans. Additionally, select accessories are 25% off online or 10% off in stores for service members and vets.

During military deployment, Verizon will allow you to temporarily suspend your wireless service.

Employee discounts

Verizon has monthly discounts available for corporate and federal government employees, teachers, nurses, and first responders. Discount amounts and eligibility depend on the agreement your organization has with Verizon. To register for the discounts, you’ll have to confirm your eligibility with the ID.me verification tool, provide any necessary documentation, and then add the discount to your Verizon account.

AT&T military and employee discounts

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Military discounts

AT&T gives active-duty military personnel, veterans, and their families a 25% discount on their unlimited plans. With the military discount, AT&T’s unlimited plans start at $37.50/month for a single line. If you’re getting a plan for the whole family, that monthly price drops to $22.50/line (with 4 lines on Value 2.0). The Value 2.0, Extra 2.0, and Premium 2.0 plans all include unlimited talk, text, and data, with 5G access included. To help military spouses and families keep in touch with loved ones overseas, these plans also include unlimited texting from the U.S. to over 120 countries.

To sign up for the AT&T military discount, you’ll have to verify your eligibility and provide proof. You can do this at an AT&T retail store or online. If you’re on active duty, you can sign up here with your .mil email address. Veterans can sign up here. 

If you’re deployed, you can cancel and reactivate your AT&T service easily.

Employee discounts

AT&T gives savings to employees of participating corporations or organizations through the AT&T Signature Program. AT&T is offering $10 off per line each month on the AT&T Unlimited Premium PL plan, which gives you completely unlimited premium data plus 60GB of hotspot data. Enter your work email address to check your eligibility and see what discounts you qualify for.

Corporate employees, military personnel, and veterans aren’t the only ones getting great wireless plan discounts from AT&T. The carrier shows their appreciation to nurses, physicians, first responders, and teachers by offering 25% off unlimited plans. 

T-Mobile military and employee discounts

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Military discounts

For active-duty military and veterans with family plans, T-Mobile offers military discounts  on their unlimited Experience More and Experience Beyond plans. T-Mobile’s two military plans include unlimited talk, text, and data, along with Netflix, Apple TV+, access to 5G, plus data and texting abroad. With a single line on Experience More Military, you pay $70/month, compared to the regular Experience More plan which costs $85. With 4 lines, your family will only pay $35/line each month.

The amount of savings you can get with your military discount depends on the number of lines you have on your account. To illustrate this, we’ve added a table below which shows per-line pricing for the Experience More plan with and without the military discount.

To get the discount, you have to first sign up for one of the Experience Military plans, then confirm your status on the military verification page before your first bill. 

If you are deployed, you can suspend your account with T-Mobile for up to 39 months without incurring any charges or extending your contract.

Employee discounts

Through the T-Mobile Work Perks program, T-Mobile gives special discounts to employees of organizations that have an agreement with them, including healthcare, government, business, and education employees, as well as first responders. Employment must be verified online within 30 days of activation. 

Through Work Perks, it’s possible for employees to save $5/month per line up to two lines on one of T-Mobile’s plans. This plan includes unlimited talk, text, and data, 40GB of premium data, Netflix, HD video streaming, and more.

U.S. Cellular military and employee discounts

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Military discounts

U.S. Cellular has a 15% off military discount on their cell phone plans. The discount is available for active-duty members with valid military ID and veterans of all branches. You can confirm your military status by calling U.S. Cellular or dialing 611 from your U.S. Cellular phone.

You can use the 15% off with any plan, including U.S. Cellular’s popular Everyday and Even Better plans. These come with 25GB and 50GB of premium data respectively, plus unlimited talk, text, and data plus HD video streaming.

If you are deployed, you can choose to suspend your wireless service with U.S. Cellular and still get your military discount again upon your return.

Employee discounts

Discounts are available for employees of organizations with business, education, or government accounts with U.S. Cellular. The amount of the discount will depend on your employer’s agreement with U.S. Cellular. To verify your eligibility and see what discounts you can get, provide your work email address here.

MVNOs and military offers

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There aren't any MVNOs offering actual military discounts. However, there are several MVNOs out there with special programs and processes in place to support deployed military personnel and offer them service suspensions.

Boost Mobile military discounts

Boost does not provide discounts specifically for military service members or retired military. However, Boost will let you suspend your cell phone service while deployed through their Deployed Military Program. You get to keep your account and phone number while deployed for up to 990 days, and then reactivate service seamlessly when you come home. You won’t get any service charges while deployed or reactivation fees after starting up your service again.

Cricket Mobile military discounts

While Cricket doesn’t offer any ongoing discounts to active military, military veterans, or military reservists, they do have a Military Deployment Plan. If you’re deployed, Cricket will hang onto your phone number for up to 36 months. When you’re back home in the U.S., you’ll have a 90-day grace period during which you can subscribe to your Cricket cell phone service again and restore your phone number.

Xfinity Mobile military discounts

Xfinity Mobile doesn’t have military discounts, but they will allow members of the armed forces to suspend service for up to 39 months if deployed or transferred. They’ll keep your phone number for you and you won’t be charged any service fees during that time. To verify your eligibility, you’ll have to bring your valid military ID and a copy of your orders to a store in person. After verification is done, you’ll be able to call Xfinity Mobile to suspend your service.

Spectrum Mobile military discounts

While there are no military or veteran discounts with Spectrum Mobile, the carrier will let you suspend your service if you get deployed. To suspend your account for up to 39 months, just call their customer service number

and have your deployment papers ready. When you’re back, you can just call to reinstate your service and start using your phone number again.

Military wireless discounts: FAQs

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Who offers the best military phone plan discount?

What about internet companies with mobile plans—does Spectrum or Xfinity offer a military discount?

Can military members get a discount on unlocked cell phones?

Are there any military Veterans Day discounts on phones or plans?