Cell Phone Family Plans: What You Need to Know

So you’ve finally bowed to the inevitable and decided to equip your child with his or her very own, grown-up cell phone.

Now comes the hard part: figuring out the pros and cons of the various family plans that allow you to pick and choose from a perplexing array of anytime and rollover minutes, monthly fees and charges for additional phones. (See our article "Cell Phones for Kids: Important Buying Advice" if you're still on the fence.)

In a family plan, all phones used by family members are covered under the same billing account. The pool of calling minutes is shared by all members, and additional phone numbers can be obtained for a reasonable fee (about $10 extra per month for most plans). Also, many family plans allow for unlimited calls between approved members (that is, calls between members don't count against your pool of minutes). Most plans start at about $60 for two lines.

Cell phone companies don't restrict family plans to family members -- at least, not yet. This means that you can team up with friends or business associates, which can save money if you talk to them frequently. (We found reports describing how some cost-conscious consumers are enrolling in family plans with complete strangers in order to save money. The downside of this, of course, is that only one party receives the bill and is at the mercy of the other's behavior.)

Experts say you should keep these considerations in mind:

What kind of minutes are you being offered?

The sources we consulted warn against taking "anytime minutes" at face value. You need to read the fine print to verify how many of your minutes really do apply to any time of the day, and how many are clustered on weekends or late evenings at the expense of weekday mornings and afternoons, when many parents and kids are most likely to be using their phones.

Can you make unlimited calls to your favorites?

Many cell phone carriers offer a variation of T-Mobile's popular myFaves plan, which allows unlimited calls (not counted against your pool of minutes) to the five numbers you call most frequently. However, don't assume that your family plan provides this option, which you may not need, depending on the total number of minutes you buy and the number of times you're likely to call family members. On the other hand, a favorites plan might work better for you than a family plan.

Do you, your kids or other family members need multimedia capabilities?

Any cell phone carrier will be more than happy to add texting, email, web access or image-sending capabilities to your family plan for a price, usually in the neighborhood of $10 or $20 extra per month. If you're enrolling in a family plan for purely logistical reasons -- such as arranging play dates or keeping track of your spouse -- you can probably skip these multimedia perks, but if you like to text your kids or send photos to your relatives, they may be worth investigating.

Choosing a carrier and family plan

All service providers, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Alltel and U.S. Cellular, have some sort of family plan, and most carriers have multiple options. You'll want to do some shopping around before you commit to a plan. Carriers change their pricing often, and there are often deals during certain times of the year such as back-to-school time or around the holidays. Check out some of the plan calculators listed in the Useful Links section below to see what each carrier has to offer. Some plans may seem like a better deal but may not offer features like unlimited text messaging or web browsing, whereas other slightly more expensive plans do.

Customers 65 or older can take advantage of the Verizon Wireless 65 Plus Family SharePlan. This two-line calling plan is $59.99 a month for 450 minutes, and offers 1,000 shared night and weekend minutes and unlimited calling to Verizon customers.

Finally, prepaid plans are always an option. That way you know exactly how many minutes each person in your family has each month, and it's easier to contain monthly costs. Most prepaid carriers now offer unlimited plans starting at $50, but you can also buy "buckets" of minutes for as little as $10. See our report on prepaid wireless for reviews and recommendations.

Make sure to inquire about cell phones when you sign up for a new plan. Most companies offer free or steeply discounted phones when you sign up. Check out our cell phone reviews to find the best phones for each carrier.

Most family plans include unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls and unlimited night and weekend calls, but Alltel and Sprint start their nights at 7 p.m., while the rest start at 9 p.m. Alltel and T-Mobile have the lowest cost per additional minute at 40 cents, while U.S. Cellular has the highest at 49 cents. Alltel, T-Mobile and Verizon also offer "favorites" plans that let you make unlimited calls to 5 or 10 numbers that won't count toward your minutes.