Cricket Wireless Promotion: Adds 50GB of Bonus Data to Simply Data Plans

Cricket Wireless, a prepaid subsidiary brand owned by AT&T, quietly rolled out a promotion for its Simply Data plans, adding 50GB of "bonus" data to the 50GB and 100GB plan options. 50GB is a substantial increase in data for the same cost and makes these Top Pick options even better.

Promotion Details

The promotion only applies to the two top plan options - the 20GB Simply Data plan is not eligible for the promotion. Here are the pricing and data allotments, including the promotional data (prices include taxes as fees):

• 150GB (100GB plus 50GB Bonus) - $90/month
• 100GB (50GB plus 50GB Bonus) - $55/month

A Cricket sales rep told us the promotion is expected to last through the month of July 2023. Those who sign up during the promotional period should be able to keep the bonus data as long as they keep the line active.

The promotion does require a new line of service, however. So if you already have the 50GB or 100GB plans active, you may need to cancel those lines and get a new line to take advantage of the bonus data promotion. However, the reps we spoke to were inconsistent, so the eligibility of existing customers isn't completely clear.

Note: We've now heard scattered reports of some existing customers with these plans getting the bonus data.

Cricket Simply Data Terms

Cricket Simply Data plans can only be activated on a limited number of AT&T-compatible mobile hotspot devices. Cricket also sells the Tubo Hotspot 2 mobile hotspot - an entry-level device that only supports LTE.

Customers who want to bring their own mobile hotspot should utilize Cricket's BYOD checker to ensure device compatibility because not all AT&T hotspot devices work with Cricket. For example, the popular M1 LTE Nighthawk and the MR5100 5G Nighthawk are both listed as compatible in our checks, but the newer Netgear M6 hotspots are incompatible with the BYOD checker.

Simply Data plans also come with Canada and Mexico usage, and 10GB of additional data can be added for $15 if needed.

Cricket Simply Data plans do not have any data throttles, except streaming is limited to 480p (1.5Mbps) when the "Stream More" feature is enabled.

Concluding Thoughts

This bonus data promotion is a fantastic deal, as 50GB is a huge increase in monthly data for no additional cost. However, the downside to Cricket plans is the restricted list of compatible hotspot devices, which does not include mobile routers.

By comparison, AT&T Prepaid has historically mirrored the data amounts and pricing of Cricket Simply Data plans, but at press time, AT&T Prepaid is not offering a bonus data promotion. However, AT&T Prepaid plans can be used in routers, but don't include Canada or Mexico use.

Nomads looking for an AT&T tiered data plan for a mobile hotspot device should consider taking advantage of this promotion.