T-Mobile's new policy will make you pay full price even when you voluntarily pause your plan

Key Takeaways

T-Mobile users have previously been able to voluntarily suspend their mobile plans while traveling abroad to avoid paying full price.
T-Mobile’s new policy changes the way holds works, with the carrier now charging users the full plan price for suspensions.
The change reportedly went live on October 10, following similar price gouging earlier in the year.

Suspending your mobile plan is a prudent decision for those traveling abroad. Utilizing a voluntary plan hold allows you to retain your phone number and the associated plan, which is a game-changer if you got a decent deal on your plan during Black Friday, as part of a different promotion, or if you’re holding onto a grandfathered plan.

Without suspending the plan, you’d pay the full price for it every month throughout the duration of your stay outside the country, without being able to use any of its benefits. T-Mobile, which holds almost one-third of the entire US carrier market share ~~offers~~ used to offer a competitive $10 per month base rate for suspended numbers, though that seems to have recently changed.

According to a Reddit post by user toyodaforever (via PhoneArena), T-Mobile’s “policy regarding temporary suspensions and promotional offers has been updated.” Seasonal suspension on the carrier giant’s network will now result in users having to pay “the full monthly recurring charge,” making the once useful option mostly redundant.

As spotted by PhoneArena, the change has already made its way to T-Mobile’s support page in writing. Those who put their mobile service on hold voluntarily must note that:

The account will be billed the plan’s regular monthly charge, including any data add-ons or additional features.
AutoPay discount will be applied while on suspended when an eligible payment method is used.
Suspending and restoring your lines is available through T-Life app and myT-Mobile.com.

There’s a pattern here

Users, rightfully so, aren’t happy with the ‘un-carrier’s’ decision, with many on the Reddit thread calling T-Mobile out for being greedy. “Wow, how low can they go?” wrote one user, while a different one was left asking “then what’s the point?”

This isn’t an isolated incident — the carrier has been trying to squeeze out as much profits as possible. For reference, it recently reduced trade-in discounts specific to Military and Veteran, First Responder, and Age 55+ versions of its regular plan. More importantly though, the carrier increased the price of most of its plans earlier this year, breaking its ‘Un-Contract’ and lifetime price lock promises on certain plans for certain customers — sparking widepsread backlash with more than 2,000 complaints made to the FCC.