Mint Mobile: Discounts & Perks You Should Know About

You've most likely seen ads of Ryan Reynolds promoting the cell service Mint Mobile with his characteristically brutal honesty and charm. But are all the benefits that he speaks about real? For those of us used to paying high variable rates to other providers, $15 a month seems too good to be true. When T-Mobile announced it was purchasing the Mint Mobile parent company Ka'ena Corporation in 2023 for a cool $1.35 billion, many expected those rates to rise.

But Mint Mobile users may have nothing to worry about. T-Mobile claims that the monthly rates will remain in place, and Mint Mobile will continue to operate under its original leadership, practically independent of the T-Mobile titan. Although you won't get the same perks as T-Mobile's new Magenta Status plan, Mint Mobile has a variety of discounts and benefits, so make sure you take advantage of what TechRadar awarded the "Best for overall value" data plan in 2024.

The first and foremost way to save with Mint Mobile is to understand how their basic plan works. For 5GB/month and 5G coverage, the basic plan costs $15/mo. However, that $15/mo is only good if you pre-pay for 12 months. Should you buy the basic plan for 3 or 6 months, you'll end up paying $25/mo or $20/mo, respectively. But there's a catch (in a good way).

Mint Mobile is currently offering a limited-time promotion for new customers. For your first three months, you can buy their basic package at that coveted $15/mo rate. In other words, you don't have to sign up for a full year to enjoy the low rate of the full-year plan. Instead, you can pay $45 to try out the basic package for three months. If it's not to your liking, you don't have to renew. Once those three months are up, you can decide to change plans, switch coverage, or renew the basic package.

We aren't sure how long the offer will last, so it's well worth trying out now if you're in between carriers. Mint Mobile is already the top choice for budget-friendly service, and this three-month promotion gives an additional boost to its attractiveness. 

Such promotions aren't uncommon for Mint Mobile. In December of 2023, it announced a deal to save up to $200 on a Google Pixel 8 Pro with additional savings on the Mint Mobile data plan. It wasn't the first opportunity to save with Mint Mobile, and it's doubtful it will be the last. 

Mint Mobile might not be as recognizable of a name as Verizon, but it still offers extensive nationwide coverage. We're talking about 5G wherever it's available and with every plan. For the places not yet covered by 5G, Mint Mobile has 4G LTE coverage across 99% of the populated US. 

Once you're connected, there are no restrictions for setting up a mobile hotspot with your Mint Mobile data. It also has free calls to Mexico and California, two places where some US-based service providers tack on fine-print caveats and fees.

But Mint Mobile's biggest perk of all can't be quantified with dollar amounts. Its transparency for rates eschews the complicated contracts of the big-name providers, simplifying the overall subscription process. This is best exemplified by their one-time payment plans. Instead of monthly bills hitting you in the family budget, Mint Mobile plans are purchased in a single payment. If you want six months of service, for example, you simply pay the cost upfront. That means there's no need to wait and worry for the bills to arrive — once they're paid, they're paid.

Even more unorthodox, Mint Mobile sends out monthly emails detailing your data usage. If they detect that your data usage is low enough for a cheaper plan, they'll inform you about more affordable plans to help you make sure you're not paying for data you don't need. For wireless service providers, that level of honesty is exceptionally rare. With Mint Mobile, however, transparency is the name of the game.