AT&T Upgrade Eligibility Without AT&T Next?

Did you try calling them? or visiting a ATT store?

AT&T Upgrade Eligibility Without AT&T Next?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1734004/


Check out post #28

Having just done some upgrades on AT&T and grappling with this exact question, I can confirm post 28 in the other thread. If you're eligible for the standard 2 year contract pricing, it'll say that along with the wording about Next. If it just mentions Next, you haven't hit your upgrade date yet. Keep in mind AT&T also changed the standard upgrade period from 20 to 24 months.

Also, if you have certain plans and you do a standard upgrade, the price per line goes up relatively speaking, because AT&T gave all customers on eligible plans the Next discount on their current lines when they started the program, which you'll lose if you do a standard upgrade. Next might actually wind up saving money in the long term (depending on the phone you choose, the discount for doing Next plus the per-month charge of the phone might be less than the line without the Next discount).

illegalprelude said:

Hey guys and gals,

So we have the new AT&T Family Share plans and I was attempting to look at to see what numbers on our line are eligible for upgrade or mid-upgrade plans. Before, you could simply use the AT&T app or go to the AT&T website or heck, dial a number in that would send you a text back with the information.

Now, no matter the method I try, AT&T tries to force their AT&T Next program for upgrades. If you turn down their to join Next (pictured below), you're taken back to the previous screen.

How can I find out my phone line eligibility without getting pulled into some program?

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On your AT&T iPhone, dial *639#

illegalprelude said:

Now, no matter the method I try, AT&T tries to force their AT&T Next program for upgrades. If you turn down their to join Next (pictured below), you're taken back to the previous screen.

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Not sure if you knew this, but going with Next can actually be cheaper than the 2 year contract pricing depending on the plan you have.

T5BRICK said:

Not sure if you knew this, but going with Next can actually be cheaper than the 2 year contract pricing depending on the plan you have.

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Can't imagine how it would be cheaper. Don't they charge extra for next?

617aircav said:

Can't imagine how it would be cheaper. Don't they charge extra for next?

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No - they give you a discount for each line with a Next phone - you pay a fee for the phone, however. Usually the discount is greater than the per month charge for the phone, so often the Next plan is cheaper. Plus, after the phone is paid off, the per month phone charge goes away but you keep the discount.

Just did some calculations between next 24 months and regular 2 yr contract with 1gb data plan.

Next
[$78 x 24 ]= $1872

2yr
[$65 x 24 + $200 + $40]= $1800

With two year contracts you can get deals where the phone is $100 or even free. Next gets no such deals.

617aircav said:

Can't imagine how it would be cheaper. Don't they charge extra for next?

Click to expand...

No...

617aircav said:

Just did some calculations between next 24 months and regular 2 yr contract with 1gb data plan.

Next
[$78 x 24 ]= $1872

2yr
[$65 x 24 + $200 + $40]= $1800

With two year contracts you can get deals where the phone is $100 or even free. Next gets no such deals.

Click to expand...

That single permutation may be more expensive with Next, but with family plans and higher data limits, Next is cheaper. Not sure where you're getting those numbers from... is this for an individual plan?

Next is just a 0% financing option for buying your phone outright.

Next also gives you the option of selling back your phone at up to 40% value after a year and getting a new one. Not the best deal, but it at least gives you a price floor.

617aircav said:

Just did some calculations between next 24 months and regular 2 yr contract with 1gb data plan.

Next
[$78 x 24 ]= $1872

2yr
[$65 x 24 + $200 + $40]= $1800

With two year contracts you can get deals where the phone is $100 or even free. Next gets no such deals.

Click to expand...

The OP said "we" in his original post so I'd do that math for at least two lines.

As soon as you get up to the 10 GB data tier, you start saving money. Currently I have 6 lines on my shared data plan and we pay $175 a month for service.

*edit* I'm not sure how you got to $78 per month for the NEXT plan. I'm calculating $82.50, but keep in mind you only pay that for the first 20 months. For the last 4 months, you only pay $50.

illegalprelude said:

Did that and it gives us a text message about NEXT.....



Yea, I have the 10GB plan with three lines connected.

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You should be paying $145 now. $100 plus $15 per line.

If you upgrade without NEXT you will pay an extra $25 per line. $600 for 2 years plus the price of the phone plus the activation fee.=$840

NEXT will keep the $15 per line and then you have to pay $32.50 for an Iphone 5S 16 GB for 20 months.= $649 retail plus sales tax.

illegalprelude said:

Yea, I have the 10GB plan with three lines connected.

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On the Family share 10GB plan, your best bet is to just use Next. If the phone is fully paid off, it doesn't have to be traded in when it is time to upgrade. Last time I did the math, the subsidized price was higher than just buying the phone outright(which is the same price that you'll pay with Next).

ricktat said:

NEXT will keep the $15 per line and then you have to pay $32.50 for an Iphone 5S 16 GB for 20 months.= $649 retail plus sales tax.

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Let's say on launch day I do this, so I can keep the Next discount. Then, can I just pay for the entire phone rather than make payments

jehartley said:

Then, can I just pay for the entire phone rather than make payments

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http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB420710

Looks like you can:

Once you've paid the balance of 12 (AT&T Next 12) or 18 (AT&T Next 18) installment payments, you can trade-in your eligible smartphone and upgrade to a new AT&T Next smartphone! You can pay this balance anytime after you've been billed for and paid your first two monthly installments. You can also pay off your full installment balance at any time. See trade-in details below for more information.

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I'm thinking of doing next to get the 6. If I sell my 5s and put it on the phone will AT&T recalculate the next payment right away? Or will I pay the same amount and just finish earlier?

CrAkD said:

I'm thinking of doing next to get the 6. If I sell my 5s and put it on the phone will AT&T recalculate the next payment right away? Or will I pay the same amount and just finish earlier?

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You have to go in store or call to pay any extra. It looks like the option is to pay the exact bill amount or pay it completely off. Either way, the payment will never be lower. It is always the same until you pay it off.

So lets say you have $300 that you want to put down... Sounds like you will need to save that until you have enough to cover the balance.

It seems they have changed the terms several times since NEXT started and if you call or chat you can get different answers.

jehartley said:

Let's say on launch day I do this, so I can keep the Next discount. Then, can I just pay for the entire phone rather than make payments

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Yes, you can either make monthly payments or pay the entire phone. Once you pay for the entire phone, the device is yours to keep and you are eligible for the Next program again.

I believe that you still get the discount. Heck, my sister is on our new 10 GB shared data plan she did a 2 year standard upgrade contract and she does get the discount and only pays $15.00 per line instead of the $25.00 as mentioned above. Including my wife as well. I do have 4 lines total, and one of the line isn't a smartphone and still get a discount. So we do pay $15.00 for each line regardless of what upgrade method you use.

If you log into your account, go to myAT&T, then profile. Click on User information. Your lines should appear. Under each line on your plan there should be a contract end date. This date is when you are eligible for an upgrade without AT&T Next.

You could always just go on Apple's website and do the upgrade check.

Do you still get the early upgrade offer if your bill is over a $100 per month?