Wing (also known as Wing Alpha and Wing Tel) is a relatively new cell phone carrier founded by Jonathan Francis, David Arabov, Ilan Yarden, and Greg Dybec in January 2017. They were tired of high cell phone bills and poor customer service. They set out to create a cell phone carrier that was a better, cheaper version of AT&T.
And I think they’ve done it.
UPDATE 3/11/2020: Wing's plans have changed since writing this review. Wing AT&T is now capped at 50GB. After 50GB of data usage, your data will be shut off. Wing still offers a good experience and supports the same features, but the plan has changed. Watch the video below to see what's new:
Not only does Wing use the AT&T network for coverage, but they offer the same great features and performance. I had consistently reliable service and fast data speeds in my area. That’s because Wing is essentially selling repackaged AT&T business plans. You get higher data priority than AT&T prepaid, which helps out during times of network congestion.
Network performance does vary by location though, so consider talking with your friends on AT&T or checking a site like RootMetrics or OpenSignal to see how coverage is in your area.
Along with great data speeds, Wing supports also supports the features you love. You have full support for WiFi calling, VoLTE, visual voicemail, and the personal hotspot. They even support eSIM, making Wing perfect for dual sim phones like iPhone 11 and Pixel 4.
It was great seeing all these features available on Wing, and I enjoyed my experience using their network.
Wing also offers a super clean application for managing your account. At a glance you can see your data plan, how much data you’ve used, when your plan renews, and your total bill.
Toward the bottom of the app, you can tap to view your data usage in a monthly chart, and you can even add an international day pass.
Yes, Wing supports coverage internationally. This is amazing to see from a prepaid carrier. The international day pass is actually the same one AT&T offers. $10 per day let’s you use your minutes, texts, and data in over 100 countries.
If you sign up for one of Wing’s other plans, you can also purchase additional data. This is expensive though, so it’s best to sign up for the plan with the data you need.
The app also has a helpful billing page. Here you can see your upcoming amount due, your payment history, and your payment method. The way Wing’s billing works is they bill all customers on the 5th day of every month. This makes things pretty easy to keep track of.
It doesn’t matter when you sign up for Wing because you’ll receive prorated credit depending on when you do.
The way it works is you pay for a full month of service when you sign up. That’s the $60.78 transaction you see toward the bottom of the app screenshot.
Then, depending on what day during the billing cycle you signed up, Wing will prorate the service and issue you credit to make up the difference. You’ll be able to use this credit your second month of service. On the second month I had $44 of credit and only paid $14.You can check your available credit in the piggy bank.
I think it’s a simple system and it makes things easy.
The last page in the app gives you the option to call or message Wing support. From my experience, Wing support has been great. I wanted to switch my eSIM from my iPhone 11 Pro to my iPhone, and I had a response in under a minute. The rep was easily able to help me activate my iPhone 11.
I got interested in Wing because I was trying AT&T’s $80 Unlimited &More Premium plan, and I was wondering what the best cheap alternatives were. And this is it.
Wing offers the same 22GB of priority data, the same features, uses the same network, and has the same 15GB of hotspot data. And comes in at a fraction of the cost.
I’ll also mention the hotspot data used to be unlimited too, which gave Wing a leg up over AT&T. While the hotspot data was capped at 15GB when I was using the plan, Wing says they are trying to bring back unlimited hotspot support.
And yes, AT&T did introduce a new, cheaper $75 unlimited plan with 50GB of priority data, but Wing’s plan still saves you over $240 per year. There is no $40 activation fee, and I was able to seamlessly switch my AT&T phone number over to Wing in just minutes.
And that’s the other thing. Wing’s activation process is easy.
Wing has a clean, dedicated website for activating your service, and you get a personal support agent who will you to walk step by step through the process.
All you do let the chat agent know which device you’ll be activating and whether you’ll be using eSIM or a physical SIM card, and then fill out a form. You’ll create your account, provide your phone number information if you’re keeping the same number, enter your address, confirm your device information, add a payment method, and then hang tight.
Your personal wing agent will review your information, ask you which plan you’d like to sign up for, and then activate your device.
And that’s it! It’s really that simple. You can sign up from the comfort of your home, in your pajamas, at a time that’s convenient for you. No traveling to a store, no waiting in lines, and if you’re like me and activating your phone on eSIM, you don’t even need to wait for a SIM card to ship.
In fact, when you sign up for AT&T’s plan on eSIM, they will ship you a physical card, but with Wing they had the brilliant idea to simply send you a picture of the QR code.
I’ve gone through a lot of activation processes, and I actually enjoyed signing up for Wing. Denver and Dallas were with me the whole time, and even though those aren’t their real names, they were super nice and the activation process was kinda fun. Is that weird to say? Or maybe it was just fun watching my AT&T bill drop from $96.26 to just $60.78.
Now, Wing isn’t for everyone. Families may consider Cricket, and lighter users may consider Pure TalkUSA for more affordable options.
But for single-line unlimited data plan with full feature service and that supports eSIM, I think Wing is my new favorite option.
I loved their easy activation process, their clean application, and the great performance of AT&T’s network. Their online support agents were nice, and I love the option for international traveling.
Wing may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed my time on their network, and if one of their plans meets your needs, I think you will too. Especially their $55 unlimited plan.
