Another VZ rep votes "Yes, you can" ...
I just wrapped up a phone call with a Verizon cs rep, and with the usual caveat that if you talk to three people you're likely to get three different answers, I figured I would ostensibly share the information with others currently seeking answers. (My ulterior motive is that by the time I complete this summary, I'll be more likely to actually remember what I was told.)
First of all, everyone's situation and objectives are unique to them, but there's often some degree of overlap, if not a lot, and so I'll just relate what I was told in the context of my specific circumstances, and hopefully there will be bits and pieces that some will find helpful.
And without further adieu, my current situation is as follows:
Plan: Loyalty something-or-other 550 with two lines; mine and my daughter's
Phones: iPhone 4S (me) / Droid 2 (daughter)
Data plans: Grandfathered (and rumour has it therefore throttled) UNLIMITED on both lines
Upgrade eligibility: June 2013 for me and now in the case of my daughter
Other factors: We live 800 miles apart, and so going to a Verizon store together is more expensive than the premium for an unsubsidized upgrade.
My primary objective is as follows:
- Upgrade my iPhone 4S to an iPhone 5 by "stealing" my daughter's upgrade and then giving her my iPhone 4S as recompense (I've been paying her bill for years so that's fair, right?)
- Manage the swap "remotely" without impacting service on either line (meaning I can ship my old phone to her, and neither of us will have to loose service for more than a nominal few minutes)
I also have a wish list of objectives that I'm shooting for, while knowing that some are mutually exclusive and others are not even possible. They are:
1) Retain the UNLIMITED data plan on MY line
2) Be able to pre-order the iPhone 5 in the wee hours on Friday morning like I did for my 4S
3) Upgrade my phone directly (via the upgrade transfer) so I don't have to hassle with activating on her line first and then getting CS involved to move it to my line
The VZ CS guy was very helpful and willing to take the time to run through various scenarios and he seemed to be knowledgeable enough regarding the topic. With that said, here's what I "found out":
1) He confirmed that it is NOT POSSIBLE to just transfer the upgrade eligability to my line in advance, so that when the pre-ordering commenced, the system would see my line as the upgradable one. (Well, I had to at least ask.)
2) He stated several times that "they haven't told us yet when iPhone 5 pre-ordering will begin through Verizon". When I suggested that I thought it was supposed to begin early Friday morning, he would only say that it very well might but "they haven't told us anything yet".
3) He stated that when the Verizon pre-ordering begins it WILL BE POSSIBLE to use the "transfer upgrade" feature on-line to upgrade my line to an iPhone 5 directly. (I AM VERY SKEPTICAL of that based one numerous forum posts relating how it went last year.) When I asked him if he was certain given the inability to do that during 4S pre-ordering, he didn't seem to be aware of that, but under normal circumstances it would be possible to do a combined transfer/pre-order and "they haven't told us that they're changing anything".
4) He explained that I have two basic choices to make this happen:
(a) Pre-order the phone on her line and then "activate it on mine" (more on that in a moment). After I have an activated iPhone 5, I can send my 4S to my daughter who can have it activated on her line at her convenience. He said I could pre-order the phone [ON HER LINE] either directly from Apple or from VZ once VZ starts the pre-ordering (implying that VZ may not start as soon as Apple does, but I expect that they'll start at the same time.)
(b) Simply wait until the VZ pre-order site is live and then do a combined transfer/pre-order to upgrade my phone directly. He said I CANNOT do the transfer via the Apple store, and I am sure he is correct on that point.
5) He confirmed that WHICHEVER line is UPGRADED will lose the UNLIMITED plan, but the other line will retain the UNLIMITED plan and that will not be affected by transferring phones between lines. In other words, if I UPGRADE my daughter's line and then transfer the iPhone 5 to my line, I WILL RETAIN my UNLIMITED data plan. (The thought left unsaid that I just know he had was that I'm likely to receive a lump of coal from my daughter this Christmas should I choose this greedy self serving path.)
6) Regarding option (a), he explained that process in more detail as follows:
I could pre-order the iPhone 5 on HER line, which would ship to me, i.e. the billing address. I cannot truly just activate it on my line directly. He said the SIM will be tied to her line and so when I activate it, it will in fact usurp her number and de-activate her Droid 2 in the process. But then, *all I need to do* (hmmmm. Famous last words) is have CS immediately activate it on my line and then re-activate her Droid 2 on hers. He said this could be done in a matter of minutes and as long as I let her know when its going down, she should be fine. Finally, I would ship my 4S to her, and she can activate it at her convenience.
Okay, sounds like a plan, but there was one more caveat. I will need a new SIM to reactivate the iPhone 5 on my line after it is initially activated on hers. He said I could go into a VZ store and get the new SIM for free in advance of initiating the activation shell game.
Now call me paranoid, but as straightforward as option (a) sounds, Im thinking of at least of a couple of things that might not go exactly according to plan and result in a major ordeal before its straightened out. Plan (b) sounds much safer (assuming it is actually possible), but then Im guaranteed to lose my unlimited data plan.
Well there you have it. I am reasonably certain now that you can in fact upgrade a different line to the iPhone 5 and then swap it to the ultimately intended line to avoid losing your UNLIMITED data on the latter. I am reasonably certain that you do in fact need to replace the SIM in order to transfer the iPhone 5 to another line. (I dont know if that applies to the 4S). I am reasonably sure that if you plan to transfer the phone to a non-eligible line AFTER acquiring it as a direct upgrade of an eligible line, then it makes no difference whether you pre-order it from VZ of from the Apple Store.
The part about being able to perform an upgrade transfer via VZs pre-order site; Im not so sure, and Id probably bet money that wont be possible.
