Examined Sep 18, 2026 Program ended Nothing to claim Verizon ended its Refer a Friend program. No code can be generated or redeemed as of 10/20/24, so the $180 in bill credits is no longer on offer.
The program was real and it was generous: $180 for a new customer, paid as a $15 credit on the monthly bill for 12 months. Fifteen dollars times 12 months is $180. Posts describing it have outlived it, and Verizon still hosts the full terms, reward amounts included, under a short notice saying it is over. We read 10/20/24 as October 20, 2024.
What pays what
| You, joining Verizon with a friend's code today | Nothing. Codes cannot be redeemed |
|---|---|
| A Verizon customer trying to refer you today | Nothing. Codes cannot be generated |
| What a new customer got while the program ran | $180, as $15 a month for 12 months |
| Credits that started before the cutoff | Continue for the promised 12 months |
| Business accounts, at any time | Never eligible |
The Refer a Friend program has ended. No referral codes may be generated or redeemed as of 10/20/24.
Do this, in this order
- Do not switch to Verizon for a referral credit. There is none. Price the plan you want as if the program had never existed, because nothing will come off the bill.
- Ignore any code you are sent or find. The terms say codes could only be redeemed through a digital order on verizon.com or in the My Verizon App, and the FAQ says they can no longer be redeemed at all. Nothing we read describes a way around the cutoff.
- If you redeemed a code before the cutoff, check the dashboard once. Verizon's FAQ says: “Any Refer a Friend bill credits you or your friends may have already received will continue for the promised 12-month period.” It also says the Refer a Friend dashboard in My Verizon still tracks them. By our own arithmetic the last of those credits has probably finished. A code redeemed on the final day, plus the 30 days the new line had to stay in good standing, plus the one to two billing cycles the terms allow before a first credit, plus 12 monthly credits, comes to about 15 months, which lands in early 2026. Verizon does not say this; your bill is the record.
- If a credit is somehow still running, do not disturb the account. The terms say canceling or transferring all lines ends the referral rewards on an account, and that they cannot be restored once removed; that applies to the referred line on the new customer's side. The FAQ adds that a referred line moved to a non-qualifying plan stops getting its credit.
- If you want a carrier that pays for a referral today, use one that still runs a program. The carriers at the foot of this page had programs when we last read their terms.
What the $180 was, if you are reading an old post
Who could get it. The new customer had to be 18 or older and enroll digitally in a new postpaid Verizon Unlimited phone account and port in at least one line that had not been active on Verizon's network within the last ninety (90) days. The referral counted only once that customer had stayed active and in good standing for thirty (30) days. The terms add: “Consumer accounts only. Business accounts are not eligible to participate”. Verizon employees and third-party agents paid to sell Verizon service were excluded too.
How it was paid. As a bill credit, never cash. The credits could not go toward security deposits, down payments on device payment plans, late fees or unpaid balances from an earlier cycle. The terms also put any tax on the credits on the recipient.
How long you had to stay. You had to remain with Verizon in good standing for twelve (12) months to receive the full reward, and credits stopped for a terminated account or line.
Where Verizon's own pages disagree, and why no site could carry a code
Ended, or ending. The top of the FAQ says the program has ended. One answer further down the same page still reads: “The Refer a Friend program is ending. The last day for your friends to redeem their promo code was 10/20/24.” The date is in the past tense, so the meaning is clear, but the page was not fully updated. Below their notice, the terms still describe the rewards in the present tense, as though they could be earned.
No document date. Neither the terms nor the FAQ prints a last-updated or effective date. The terms did reserve the right to alter, modify, suspend or terminate the program at any time upon notice, and the notice on these two pages is the only one we read.
Codes were never meant for a site like ours. The terms limited referrals to friends and family and said: “Referrers may not promote the Program through paid media, by posting referral codes publicly on social media, or through an arranged agreement with sales agents or other third parties that provides compensation for distributing or providing referral codes from the Program”. A code posted in public was outside the program's rules even while it ran.
What Verizon offers instead. Neither page names a replacement for Refer a Friend. The Save menu on Verizon's plan page lists switching offers, phone deals, a loyalty program, a Verizon Visa card and plan discounts, with no referral program. The nearest thing to a sign-up reward is a price cut: the Simplicity Plan is $30 a month for one line “After AutoPay and $15/mo switch discount.” The page's fine print says the switch discount “requires smartphone line port-in (excludes Verizon Prepaid lines) or an uploaded mobile bill from an eligible carrier dated w/in the past 45 days.” It does not say how long the discount lasts.
Is it worth your time?
No, because there is nothing to claim. The only readers with something at stake are those who redeemed a code before the cutoff, and by our arithmetic even their 12 months have most likely run out. For everyone else the lesson is the usual one: the number that survives online is the number from the program's best day. Verizon's terms are still up, still say $180, and sit under a notice saying none of it can be earned.
If you are choosing a carrier anyway and a referral credit would help, the carriers below had programs when we last read their terms, though Spectrum’s help article was gone on October 2, 2026. Their rewards are smaller than $180, and each has conditions of its own.
