The Deal Hack for Porting Numbers: US Mobile [Hard to Game Now, Not Recommended]

[Update] US Mobile has probably been gamed to death. It’s now very hard to get. Even after you get the card, it’s also hard to port away.

Every year, major telecom carriers roll out pretty strong promotions to win customers, and many of the better deals often require porting in a number. In most cases, we can use Google Voice. If you’re not familiar with it, see the previous intro:

• Introduction to Google Voice and Hangouts [2020.10 Update 2: Hangouts service ends on January 19, 2021]

However, not all carriers support Google Voice port-ins. For example, the newly available Cricket iPhone SE offer. You can also refer to the thread below:

• Recent phone deal roundup [Cricket: buy an iPhone SE2 for $75-$100, can be exchanged for a $210 Apple gift card]

Since Cricket does not support landlines, and Google Voice is considered landline-like, you need to think about other methods in this case. There are many ways to get a new number, and here I recommend two that are fairly practical: China Telecom Americas $1 phone card and US Mobile phone card. I previously introduced the former; see the link below:

• Recommendation — China Telecom Americas Fall $1 phone card

US Mobile is a relatively niche carrier. You can choose a plan based on your monthly needs, and the cheapest plan is under $5 per month. Right now, their SIM cards are free. Link below:

• US Mobile free SIM card claim link

Using the discount code FREESIM, you can get a SIM card for free. I tested it myself and successfully placed an order. Normally the SIM card costs about $4, and students can get one free with an .edu email address. What I received is shown below:

It includes two SIM cards, both usable. When needed, insert one into your phone’s SIM slot and go to the US Mobile SIM activation link to complete activation. You can simply choose the cheapest plan based on your needs:

I chose the 50-text-message plan, and the final cost was $4.48.

The advantage of US Mobile is that you don’t have to worry about the SIM card expiring; you can activate it whenever you need it (after activation, you can immediately contact customer service to get the Account number and PIN, which can be done through online chat). By contrast, a China Telecom phone card becomes invalid if it is not activated within three months. So it’s still a good idea to keep a few of these SIM cards on hand, in case you miss a good deal because you don’t have a number to port in. Now that the SIM card is free, you may want to stock up on a few.