AT&T has announced it's raising prices on most of its grandfathered unlimited plans. These are retired plans that AT&T has allowed long-time customers to continue using after they've been discontinued. The changes are going into effect immediately and will be reflected on your August 2024 bill.
The price increases will differ between single-line and multi-line plans.
- Single-line plans are getting a $10/month increase
- Multi-line plans are getting a $20/month increase
If your plan is impacted by the change, you do have options to avoid the price bumps. AT&T is encouraging customers to upgrade to one of its newer plans, but that may not be the best option. If you're tired of sneaky price increases—this is the third AT&T price increase since last August—it might be time to switch to a cheaper carrier like Mint Mobile that hasn't been increasing prices every few months.
What AT&T plans are getting price increases?
The new price increases apply to most of AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plans. These are retired plans that some people still use but aren't available to new customers.
According to the AT&T press release, the plans impacted include:
- AT&T Unlimited Choice
- AT&T Choice II
- AT&T Choice Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited &More
- AT&T Unlimited Value
- AT&T Unlimited Plus
- AT&T Plus Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited &More Premium
- AT&T Unlimited (with TV)
The increases are uniform across the board regardless of the original cost or how many lines are included in your family plan.
- Single-line plans will increase by $10/month
- Multi-line plans will increase by $20/month
Note that for multi-line family plans, the $20/month increase is added to the final cost of the plan. It's not a per-line increase.
Other AT&T plan changes
In an attempt to soften the blow, AT&T is offering customers extra high-speed data and mobile hotspot to accompany these price increases. This brings the plan features roughly in line with the current Unlimited Extra EL and Unlimited Premium PL plans.
The following plans will now offer 75GB of priority data and a 30GB mobile hotspot:
- AT&T Unlimited Choice
- AT&T Choice II
- AT&T Choice Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited &More
- AT&T Unlimited Value
These plans will include 100GB of priority data and a 60GB mobile hotspot:
- AT&T Unlimited Plus
- AT&T Plus Enhanced
- AT&T Unlimited &More Premium
- AT&T Unlimited (with TV)
Why is AT&T raising prices?
Carriers generally raise rates on old plans because operating expenses have increased or they're trying to force customers onto new plans. We've seen this multiple times with AT&T over the past year. The carrier pushed up the price of its current unlimited plans by $.99/line in January and raised the prices of its old Unlimited Elite plans by $2.50/line last August.
This year's increase is more substantial and will significantly impact long-time customers using these older plans.
Switch phone carriers to save
You don't have to put up with these price increases. AT&T is encouraging customers to upgrade to one of its new unlimited plans to avoid them, but the best solution for many customers is to simply switch carriers.
AT&T is not the only carrier to jack up prices over the past year. Verizon and T-Mobile have also repeatedly shuffled around their plans and prices. If you're fed up with price increases, a big carrier that loves to tweak plans may not be the best option.
Smaller carriers called Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) offer cheaper plans and tend to change prices less frequently. They operate on the major carrier networks, so they offer the same coverage for much lower costs. One of the few carriers that has not raised prices recently is Mint Mobile. In fact, Mint increased the data allotments for all its plans last year without raising prices at all.
Mint operates on the T-Mobile 5G network, so it offers more 5G coverage than AT&T. Mint Mobile's Unlimited Plan includes 40GB of high-speed data and a 10GB mobile hotspot starting at a super affordable $30/month. It even offers the Modern Family Plan that guarantees the lowest price available for each line, no matter the length of your plan.
Mint Mobile Unlimited Data Plan
| Carrier | Mint Mobile |
|---|---|
| Data | Unlimited Data |
| Type | No Contract |
| Current Deal | Get this plan for just $25/mo. when you switch to Mint Mobile using promo code 15OFF at checkout. Upfront payment required |
| Total Price |
$25 per month
$75.00 upfront payment for 3 months (equals to $25.00/month). Intro pricing for new customers only.
|
| View Plan |
Mint's 40GB of high-speed data easily meets the needs of most customers. AT&T's addition of more data to its grandfathered plans to match the new higher prices means you're being forced to pay extra for data that you probably won't use.
If you're interested in leaving AT&T behind, our data usage guide can help you figure out how much data you actually need. The average customer only uses 10-15GB of data every month, so you may not even need an unlimited plan. If you don't, check out the 20GB Plan from Mint or these other options from carriers like Twigby and US Mobile.
AT&T limited plan alternatives
| Mint Mobile 20GB Plan | US Mobile 10GB By the Gig |
Twigby 20GB Plan |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Data | 20GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| Mobile hotspot * | 20GB |
10GB | 20GB |
| Network | T-Mobile | AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon |
Verizon |
| Price | $25/month | $20/month | $25/month |
| Shop plan | Shop plan | Shop plan |
* Hotspot usage draws from overall data allowance for each plan
Max McCaskill
Sr. Staff Writer
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