AT&T Next vs. new owned iPhone question

[JtheLemur]

So here's a semi-hypothetical. Think I know the answer but figured asking might get me some additional info.

1. Have an iPhone on AT&T Next. About 2/4 through the payments to the point where I could trade it in for an upgrade.

2. Interested in buying another iPhone outright (full price) and using it on my account/line.

3. This would mean swapping out the iPhone that is currently being paid for via Next, with a different phone that I fully own.

4. Note that I'm not trying to get out of the Next payments, I'd be completely fine continuing to pay for the Next phone through the end of the Next payments; I'd just want to be using a different iPhone on my account/line.

In my head this wouldn't be a problem because AT&T would just keep charging me for the Next payments regardless of whether or not it was the active phone. But the reality seems to be that I could not actually do this.

Anyone have any experience here? Thanks!

 

[ecschwarz]

Yeah - you can do it...this is what happens if your phone gets destroyed/lost/stolen. You're still on the hook for Next payments, but can use anything else. Are you planning on moving your Next phone to another line on your account? If you put it in a drawer as a spare and just kept paying it off, that's fine. Keep in mind, a paid off phone on AT&T can be unlocked after 14 days after the last payment.

If you plan on selling it, I'd pay it off early since most places that you can sell phones (Swappable, Gazelle, Apple/BrightStar) need it to be paid off before they'll look at it or cut you a payment.

 

[lordofthereef]

Whoever you sell it to (assuming you're selling) should know it's locked to ATT AND will continue to be until your final payment is made. Otherwise, nothing stopping you from doing this.

 

[JtheLemur]

Hey hey, thanks for the tips! I really appreciate the feedback.