All things InReach

[uglymoney]

PSA On June 5th Garmin reinstituted the ability to suspend your contract. Shitbags were losing their shirts over this.Can I Still Suspend My Service on the New Plans?As of June 5th, 2025, all consumer inReach subscription plans have the option of suspending service for up to 12 months with no re-activation fee, except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans. Suspending is not available for new activations and will only be available when making changes to an existing plan.

[ASmileyFace]

That might make me re up my garmin subscription again when I have a trip or something bigger coming up, garmin has to have been losing their ass since phone Sat texting rolled out. I had not restarted my subscription since my accident two springs ago since I have been keeping it mellower and the iPhone SOS texting had gone live. I've used the sat texting a ton and even had to use the SOS feature when I came up on a bad car accident way out of service. Every time was quicker and easier than my similar experiences with my inreach. I like the idea of having an SOS/Sat text that is more durable than my phone for specific cases and having the ability to turn the subscription on and off will potentially bring me back for those specific use cases.

[zion zig zag]

Do you need an active subscription to use the SOS feature on InReach? I thought no, but the Garmin website says yes?

[singlesline]

PSA On June 5th Garmin reinstituted the ability to suspend your contract. Shitbags were losing their shirts over this.Can I Still Suspend My Service on the New Plans?As of June 5th, 2025, all consumer inReach subscription plans have the option of suspending service for up to 12 months with no re-activation fee, except for inReach Annual Contract subscription plans. Suspending is not available for new activations and will only be available when making changes to an existing plan.

That last sentence is unclear. My inreach is currently inactive but I used to have a subscription under the old system. If I sign up again (wouldn't that be a "new activation"), does that mean my plan won't have the "suspend" option?

I almost reactivated it a couple weeks ago, but couldn't stomach the activation fee plus subscription options (with mandatory non-suspendable monthly fees). Especially since I now have a newer iphone that can do satellite texting/SOS: not as reliable as an InReach, but I've tested it and it works, even in moderate tree cover.

Do you need an active subscription to use the SOS feature on InReach? I thought no, but the Garmin website says yes?

Yes, you need an active subscription, that's kind of the whole business model. If you could use SOS for free (like 911 on cell phones without active service), then almost nobody would pay for InReach. All the extra little addons like tracking beacons, texting, weather, are secondary. People buy them for the "oh shit" button.

[uglymoney]

I agree that the last sentence is unclear. I wonder if it means you have to reactivate, pay for at least a month before you can suspend.

The basic plan that keeps it activated is $8.55 per month with tax for me fwiw.

It looks like you could just pay for that once a year, then suspend, to keep your account active.

I pay for a month at time and usually get the $30 plan for ten second tracking and a bunch of texts a cpuple months per year.

Where I live we have no public land and cell service everywhere except the occasional river valley, but then a hike to the top of a hill will get you back online so the monthly no frills $8.55 was a waste of money for us.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[406]

^^^That is my understanding, can suspend the new subscription plan(inReach Enabled). That is pretty nice, basically the same as old plan but half price and no longer includes free preset messages. Could send 80 of those before costing more.


"Your anniversary date is 7/10/2025. On that date, you will be moved from Suspend to the new inReach Enabled Plan, which keeps your device active and includes unlimited SOS and pay-as-you-go for other features. You will not be charged an annual fee.Once moved, you will have access to the new Suspend option, which lets you pause your service for up to 12 months at a time with no annual or monthly fee.inReach Enabled has a monthly cost of $7.99 USD. Customers who are migrated from Freedom Suspend will receive their first 2 months of inReach Enabled for free"