Examined Sep 25, 2026 Prepaid card, not cash Port-in required Metro pays you $25 on a prepaid card for bringing your number through a customer's link, and its binding terms say you wait 35 days, whatever its FAQ says.
The program's terms, which govern the promotion, set the card and how it arrives: a link to claim the card, “delivered by email to the email address used to register for the promotion”. The card is not a discount on your plan. It is virtual, it has no cash access, and the landing page says it expires in 6 months.
What pays what
| You, bringing a number from another carrier through a customer's link and activating with Metro | $25 virtual prepaid Mastercard |
|---|---|
| Buying a phone from Metro, or bringing your own that works on the T-Mobile network | $25 either way |
| Anyone currently with Metro or T-Mobile (the FAQ adds Sprint), or a Metro customer in the past 180 days | $0 |
| Joining someone's existing account instead of opening a new one | $0 |
| Buying through a third-party seller, or returning, disconnecting or falling behind on the account | $0 |
| Opening the account before the referral is accepted and registered | $0 |
A ‘Qualifying Purchase’ is the porting of a qualified phone number from an eligible carrier and activating a number on voice plan from Metro by T-Mobile within 15 days of using the referral link to register your information.
The terms’ reward clause warns that the claim link may expire: “you must use the reward link to claim within 12 months of the link being sent to you”, and “Rewards may be subject to availability and/ or rewards link may be active only for a limited period.” Claim it the day it arrives.
Do this, in this order
- Check you can qualify before anyone registers you. The terms say: “Qualified phone numbers are those who are porting their phone number from any carrier other than Metro or T-Mobile.” The FAQ also shuts out Sprint customers. A past Metro customer can come back, but not within 180 days of leaving. Neither document lists which brands count as T-Mobile, so ask Metro before porting from a prepaid brand on its network.
- Get the link from a Metro customer of 30 days or more, and register first. The customer joins at Metro's referral page and receives a unique link. You open it and enter your full name, email address and the number you are bringing. Use an email you read: the terms send your claim link there.
- Open a new account with Metro and port that same number within 15 days. Join in a Metro store or online, not through another retailer. Buy a phone from Metro or bring your own if it works on the T-Mobile network. Being added to someone else's account does not count: “Friend who joins an existing Metro Account will not be eligible.”
- Stay a customer in good standing for 35 days, then claim. The terms add: “Purchases that are returned during the change of Mind Period or otherwise disconnected or in arrears do not qualify.” The FAQ says: “Please allow 1-2 business days after the referred friend or family completes the process for delivery.” Spend the card inside 6 months: the landing page says it has “no cash access and expires in 6 months”.
Where Metro's FAQ contradicts its own terms
How long the new account must stay active. The binding terms say each Friend must remain a Metro by T-Mobile customer “for at least 35 days”. The landing page agrees: “Referred person must maintain service for 35 days after plan activation to be eligible for promotion.” The Refer-a-Friend FAQ says something else, twice: the referred friend “needs to stay a customer for 65 days”. The terms are the document that governs. If no email has come by about day 40, contact Metro and point to the 35-day clause.
Two clocks on one card. The terms give 12 months to use the claim link; the landing page says the card itself expires in 6 months. Neither says when the 6 months start, so claim early and spend early.
No end date. The landing page says “Limited time offer; subject to change.” The terms let Metro change them “without giving prior notice”. Metro's general Terms and Conditions carry the line “Effective September 1, 2026” and require individual arbitration of disputes.
The deal that needs no invitation
Metro's free-phones page, read the same day, offers a Galaxy A17 5G on a new line when you bring your number: “Your phone is FREE via instant discount at checkout plus any applicable sales tax.” You pay the first month of the plan, and the page says eligible plans start at $40 a month, on up to 4 lines. It is not available if you are currently with T-Mobile or have been with Metro in the past 180 days. Whether the $25 stacks with it is not settled: the referral terms say only “This offer may not be combinable or available with certain other offers and promotions.” Do not count on both until Metro confirms it in writing.
Is it worth your time?
If you had already decided to bring a number to Metro and you know a customer who has been there 30 days, take the link. It costs nothing. Then watch your email from about five weeks in: the binding terms say 35 days, the claim link can lapse, and the virtual card dies 6 months on.
Do not switch carriers for $25. The bigger money on Metro's site is in the device deals, which need no invitation and carry the same 180-day exclusion. If the only Metro customer you know joined last week, wait: they cannot refer anyone until day 30.
