I just read a thread that was dissing the useability and cost of the On Star phone, and it occurred to me that the following info might be valuble and not widely known.
This works if you use Verizon as a cell phone provider. Verizon has an agreement with OnStar that lets you add your car as a second line for $10.00/month.
You will share minutes and cost with your main cell phone at your normal plan rates.
I have had this set up for over a year and it is extremely cost effective as compared to inflated On Star rates.
Hope this is usefull to someone.

Jack

Thank You!

I am so tired of playing the OnStar 100 disappearing minute game.

Lola's Mom

We have done this with all of our Cadillacs. We switched the onstar phones to verizon phones . The cars share the minutes with our cell phones and you don't have to renew minutes every year and the minutes don't expire like onstar minutes. We have found it to be a lot cheaper to have verizon service over purchasing onstar minutes.

Does this require subscription to OnStar?

Does this require subscription to OnStar?

Yes - you need Onstar..

As far as the cost effectiveness is concerned, it depends on how many calls you will make from your car (Onstar) phone. Taking it to extremes to prove a point, if you make 1 call a month then that call costs $10. Assuming the call was for 5 minutes, it would have cost $2.00 (5 x $0.40/min.) with the Onstar 100 minute plan ($40.00). The Onstar account cost is not included in the above nor is the cost/minute for your Verizon account, if any. So more than 5 - 5 minute calls per month, then you are ahead of the game.

I tried the Verizon plan for awhile but gave up because I was not making many calls from the Onstar phone. With the top down people could not hear me when I was driving. I use a high quality BT headset (Jawbone 2) which works fine with the top down using my cellphone, so I opt for that all of the time.

Bill