Verizon wants to give you a free Galaxy S26 Ultra AND a $100 gift card, just for kicks — here's the deal

The back of the blue Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — (Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

For the past couple of weeks, Verizon has been running a deal that gets you a free Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra when you add an eligible line to your account. That's a great offer on its own, but the carrier has apparently decided to up the ante for online customers.

Add a line on the Unlimited Ultimate plan and Verizon will now give you $1,300 over 36 months (enough to cover the full price of the S26 Ultra) AND a free $100 gift card if you place your order online. No trade-in required!

To be clear, the free gift card promotion is available with ALL smartphone purchases when you add a line on the carrier's myPlan system, so you can choose the Verizon deal that works best for you. That said, I'd argue that the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers the best value, since you don't have to worry about processing a trade-in to receive the oodles of credit.

The device in question is easily one of the best Android phones that money can buy today, with a gorgeous 6.9-inch AMOLED display, built-in S Pen stylus, and the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite processor. Like the rest of the Galaxy S26 series, the phone also comes with seven years of guaranteed OS/security upgrades and all of the latest AI-boosted software features.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra testing on Android Central — (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

The only real issue that I have with the Galaxy S26 Ultra is its price tag, which is why deals like this are so important. The catch is that you'll need to sign up for Verizon's Unlimited Ultimate plan to enjoy the savings, and that's the carrier's most expensive offering.

Still, you are getting a lot of value for the money, as the data plan comes with unlimited talk, text, and 5G Ultra Wideband data, a ton of international benefits, and an unlimited mobile hotspot. You also get the ability to mix and match additional perks for a small fee every month. These benefits range from discounted streaming services to cloud storage and beyond.

Unlimited Ultimate starts at $90 per month for a single line, although you can drop that price considerably by adding multiple lines and using AutoPay. Sure, the phone plan isn't cheap, but throw in a free Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra AND a $100 gift card? Now that's what I call softening the blow.

TOPICS

After almost a decade of working in the e-commerce space, Patrick Farmer (he/him) began his career at Android Central as a Deals and Commerce Writer before moving into a new role as AC's eCommerce Editor in 2023. When he's not hunting down the best deals and offering shopping advice for our readers, you'll often find him listening to music, camping out at a brewery, or treating his cat like a human child.