With the prepaid tariff plans all set to increase a price hike on December 1, telecom subscribers right now are in sight of bother. Even Reliance Jio prepaid customers are sitting on the edge because the telco already announced a price hike. But Jio customers are enjoying an advantage as they can queue prepaid plans of unlimited number. Majority of customers are unaware that even Bharti Airtel allows its prepaid users to queue the plans. Similar to Jio, Airtel is also allowing users to queue unlimited prepaid plans so that the next recharge activates once the current recharge expires. That said, Airtel is allowing users to queue only the unlimited combo plans right now, similar to Reliance Jio. Continue reading to know more about prepaid plan queuing on Bharti Airtel network and how to do it.
Bharti Airtel Prepaid Plan Queuing: What You Need to Know
Starting December 1, prepaid tariff plans are expected to receive a hike of at least 15-20%, meaning the currently Rs 199 plan may retail at Rs 219 or more than that. As we always say, Reliance Jio has been the leader in the prepaid segment, not only in terms of recharges, but the telco does not miss out on small benefits. For example, it was the first operator in the country to come up with the prepaid plan queuing feature, which is being followed by Bharti Airtel.
Bharti Airtel has been allowing prepaid plan queuing for a while now, but the majority of Airtel users are not aware of this feature. We have managed to get official information from Airtel on how the plan queuing on its network works. For example, if an Airtel customer is already on the Rs 399 prepaid recharge and the validity of the pack is left by two days. So if the customer goes ahead and recharges the same Rs 399 plan ahead of the current plan expiry, then the newly recharged pack will be queued and it will be activated after two days.
That said, Airtel customers can even queue the yearly prepaid plan of Rs 1,699. This news is officially confirmed by the Airtel customer care executive. But there's one catch. To queue a prepaid plan, Airtel customers must have to be on an unlimited combo plan. For example, an Airtel customer on Smart Recharge of Rs 245 can not queue an unlimited combo plan of Rs 199 or Rs 399 or any other denomination. If an Smart Recharge user performs an unlimited combo plan recharge, then the newly recharged plan will be activated immediately.
Some of the readers at TelecomTalk recently said that they couldn't queue long-term recharges like Rs 597, Rs 998 and Rs 1,699. While Airtel is not allowing users to queue Rs 597 and Rs 998 prepaid plans, the Rs 1,699 recharge can be queued, subjected if the customer is already on an unlimited combo plan. In addition, if the customer faces any issues with this feature, they can get in touch with the company via Airtel Thanks app or website to get the issue resolved.
How to Queue an Airtel Prepaid Plan?
The process is pretty simple and straightforward. If you're an unlimited combo plan user and want another recharge to be queued, head over to any recharge portal (Airtel Thanks app or Paytm or any other recharge portal) to complete the recharge. Airtel will not activate the newly recharged prepaid plan, instead, it will display the validity of the current plan and says the upcoming plan will be activated in so and so days.
We have tested this feature on one of our Airtel prepaid mobile numbers. As you can see in the image, our Airtel number is already on the Rs 399 unlimited combo plan and it will expire in 78 days. Today, we performed a recharge of Rs 199 which will be activated after 78 days. Airtel Thanks app shows the 'Upcoming Packs' section and says the next plan 'Activates in 78 days.'
If you're worried about the upcoming prepaid tariffs hike, this feature comes in extremely handy as you can even queue the yearly pack of Rs 1,699.
