AT&T Debuts New Unlimited Plan for Phone Customers With DIRECTV or U-Verse

[Romelo23]

I think it's a great deal. I may try to see if I can add you as a referral. I signed up for Direct yesterday. I'm gonna call my rep tomorrow. I have been pushing the deal on everyone at work lol. The referral is up to 10 sign ups which would knock 100 /month off your DirectTV Bill. Not to shabby

Hey I just wanted to say thanks because I just used your referral and they said we would both get $10 off for 10 months starting in 6-8 weeks. I also wanted to let you know that they asked for both your name and city/state to confirm it was the correct referral account. I called you Mas because of your forum name and I saw that your location was Massachusetts and they accepted it.

If anyone wants to help me out or add help yourself with a $10 off, please use my referral code
2244658. My name is Robert from New York.

 

[geoff5093]

The biggest downside is you are effectively locked into DirecTV or U-Verse if you want to keep unlimited data. As the years go by unlimited data will be more and more valuable, and you'd be that much less likely to want to give it up, even if your DirecTV bill goes up. It would also make it more difficult if you move to a place where Comcast is better/cheaper or you can't have a satellite.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Not sure why people are having issues combining accounts. I combined mine back in September and have received the $10 discount and my FAN discount ever since.

View attachment 610640View attachment 610641

Am I the only one disgusted by these combo deals? It's essentially AT&T saying that "we are ripping you off, but we feel kinda bad about ripping you off so hard on two different services, so we'll give you a little bit of a discount, cuz you know, we can afford to do that." They might as well just say that their prices aren't fair.

 

[campyguy]

Am I the only one disgusted by these combo deals? It's essentially AT&T saying that "we are ripping you off, but we feel kinda bad about ripping you off so hard on two difference services, so we'll give you a little bit of a discount, cuz you know, we can afford to do that." They might as well just say that their prices aren't fair.

You aren't the only one, but my mom and I aren't among them. She's been using an old RAZR V3XX for years, one I bought myself in 2006, but ATTWS is shutting down the "2G" network this year - and she's in a fringe area (look up Skamokawa, and you'll get it! ). I sampled MVNOs, including Cricket, but there were too many service holes. And, I wanted ATTWS service again as my VZW service doesn't go everywhere, despite their blather to the contrary - so we ended up with two identical 64GB iPhone 6S handsets on ATTWS's BOGO deal that ended on 12/31 but purchased at a local Best Buy, which added in a $200 gift card (used to pay for most of AC on both handsets). Got the 5GB data plan, which we're still on, but for a few more bucks we can sign up for UL data - we can always go back to a shared bucket...

Mom's already with DTV - no cable, no fiber (again, Skamokawa...), and she needs her Antiques Roadshow and NCIS out there. I may pop for a third line, and get the "free" fourth to go along with it.

I had UL data with ATTWS in Portland until I couldn't take all of the call dropping a few years ago but it's much improved. What you wrote - I get it, and the deal works for us right now. I've written in MR's forums about T-Mo's service - we're in AK, WA, OR, ID - and there's holes out here bigger than most of the Eastern states. That, and I'll use the data - Mom will love this newfangled "Apple Music" thing (she went to Aerosmith with us twice, so get that "Glenn Miller" thing out of your head! ).

So, discounted "free" iPhone and AC, great coverage, UL data/text/voice. Yep, sign us up - mainly since we don't have many alternatives!

 

[iMas70]

I received a notice from AT&T a few months ago. It said they changed my phone plan to unlimited talk so my grandfathered UDP also has unlimited talk and text. From reading this thread and others, it doesn't look like that happened to everyone.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

I received a notice from AT&T a few months ago. It said they changed my phone plan to unlimited talk so my grandfathered UDP also has unlimited talk and text. From reading this thread and others, it doesn't look like that happened to everyone.

didn't happen to me.

 

[powerbook911]

I received a notice from AT&T a few months ago. It said they changed my phone plan to unlimited talk so my grandfathered UDP also has unlimited talk and text. From reading this thread and others, it doesn't look like that happened to everyone.

Did you pay for any texting previously? Two of my lines have $5 text plans so I wonder if they pick and choose who get that.

Even the unlimited minutes, I'm one of those that while some areas say unlimited, I'm actually still being metered on them.

 

[imlynxy]

Am I the only one disgusted by these combo deals? It's essentially AT&T saying that "we are ripping you off, but we feel kinda bad about ripping you off so hard on two difference services, so we'll give you a little bit of a discount, cuz you know, we can afford to do that." They might as well just say that their prices aren't fair.

If you watch TV and don't travel outside of the country and need 4 lines this deal is better than T-mo.
But here we have too many if-s . I don't mind of the deal, but I don't want to ruin my roof with the antenna or attract lightnings. Also if you drop DirectTV in addition to be transfered to "value" plan you have to remove antenna yourself.

Did you pay for any texting previously? Two of my lines have $5 text plans so I wonder if they pick and choose who get that.

Even the unlimited minutes, I'm one of those that while some areas say unlimited, I'm actually still being metered on them.

I have 20 dollars unlimited messages and they gave me only unlimited minutes. The over lines I used to manage had no SMS and att gave there unlimited minutes and messages. I called att and told that it was not fare, they didn't listen and gave me "a bagel hole", after that they think twice and gave me "a swiss cheese hole"

 

[iMas70]

Did you pay for any texting previously? Two of my lines have $5 text plans so I wonder if they pick and choose who get that.

Even the unlimited minutes, I'm one of those that while some areas say unlimited, I'm actually still being metered on them.

I pay $20.00 per month for unlimited texts. Had the national 450 plan with rollover before they changed that to unlimited. People don't talk on the phone much so I always had plenty of minutes before the change.

I went over the numbers for my plan if I want to change my plan so the phone and iPad have unlimited. I haven't been using much data on the iPad so I bumped it down to 3GB to save a few dollars. It really is a few dollar because my FAN discount doesn't apply to that. $30.00 vs $38.50 for 5GB with the FAN. I bump it up if I'm going to use more data or more important, if I want to use teather. So I currently pay $113.00 with taxes for unlimited on the phone and 3GB on the iPad. That goes up to $120.00 if I'm using the 5GB plan. It would go up to $136.00 if I make the change. The good thing is the iPad would have unlimited data. The bad thing is I'd have no option to use either of those devices as a hotspot.

AT&T has a GoPhone Mobile Hot Spot. I'd get one of those if the data package could be used when needed and wouldn't expire but it's only good for 30 days - Plans expire in 30 days and can be renewed prior to expiration as long as the account is active. Unused data does not roll over. If you add a data package, the data in your package will be used first. It is recommended that you use most or all of the data in your plan before adding a data package.

I don't teather enough to need that. I'll probably just keep things how they are. I also won't have to rely on having a DTV account to have unlimited data on my phone. It's been working fine for years. Why fix it?

 

[psywzrd]

The big drawback would be if someone went from a grandfathered UDP to the new one then later lost it all because he's no longer uses DTV for some reason.

I never thought about that. I made the switch but now I'm sort of regretting my decision, although I'm not planning on getting rid of DTV anytime soon.

 

[tl01]

I never thought about that. I made the switch but now I'm sort of regretting my decision, although I'm not planning on getting rid of DTV anytime soon.

There might be much better deals elsewhere by then. I wouldn't panic too much. Who knows what the deal will be in a year.

 

[ARandomFellow]

So I have not gone and read through these many comments. I will probably repeat something someone said already but wanted to share my experience.

I went through AT&T's chat help to discuss this new unlimited plan in combination with their elimination of the 2 year contract/subsidized phone purchases. At first, they sent me a link to a calculator page that showed I would somehow save money vs. the old 2 year contract thing. But I did the math with the guy helping me and we agreed that if we are all being honest with each other, over two years, the combination of new plans (ATT Next + Unlimited plan vs 2 Year subsidized + Unlimited plan, since that plan is available even if I don't buy a new phone on ATT Next) that my total cost for the next 2 years would be $880 more and that the calculator is based upon variables that are very specific and did not apply to me. So I asked why I shouldn't go with those people with all the chain saws cutting bills in half on TV? He transferred me to another nice person (presumably customer retention) who offered me a one-time exception to subsidize my next upgraded phone for each line I currently have (4), which I can use any time.

Also, if you look at how this new unlimited plan is structured, they say that it will take two months for the credit for the free line to "show up". I pointed out to this helpful second person that this is the computer age and that statement is patently ridiculous so the only reason that it is not immediately "showing up" is that AT&T would like to keep $80. The representative did not try to argue this point and immediately offered to credit my account for $80. So... I have successfully kicked the concern over the subsidized phone down the road two years. I imagine that I'm not special, so if you call and give them a reasonable concern that you might switch, you can do this as well if you would like to keep AT&T and subsidized phone purchase for one more go round. I am happy with it for now, at least and my bill will be lower for at least a couple more years.

 

[imlynxy]

T-mobie stopped its promo 4th line free, so now we have Att's 180+ DirectTV -10$ is cheaper than T-mobile's 220!!!!

Basic DirectTV, you have to choose simple HD reciever on DirectTV page, is 26.49 first year, 56.49 after 12 months

Total before taxes with combain bill 196.49 first year, 226.49 after 12 months. Also with Att you can have FAN discount on the first 60 dollars, 15 dollars in my case.

With t-mo you have free international roaming ,
With Att you have "free" basic TV service

 

[unplugme71]

They just recently (maybe just a month ago) increased my double-your-data from 60GB pay for 30 to 80GB and pay for 40.

lucky

 

[Pipper99]

Well, AT&T has been throttling me consistently in various places around Dallas/Fort Worth for the past week at around .27 mbs, and I'm still under 15gb of data usage. My iPad shows around 15 to 25 mbs at the same locations. Supposedly, AT&T wasn't going to throttle until I reached 22gb, and that throttling was supposed to be only during periods of congestion.

 

[iMas70]

Have you called to ask why?

 

[powerbook911]

Sunday I had used 4gb this month. My 6s plus went crazy, used up entire battery and went to 28 gb of data used this month in one day. Phone says 60 percent of the data was used by system services. What a bug huh? Imagine if I wasn't on unlimited, the fees? And sadly my normal 30-50mbps speeds are coming in around 5-8 after this happened. Thank goodness for unlimited I guess.

 

[techiegirl]

I have the grandfathered unlimited data plan. I have consistently gone over 22gb each month and have only been throttled once, for about 5 minutes. I'm wondering if the new UDP is getting throttled more.

 

[wickedwahine11]

We did it yesterday. My spouse and I were each grandfathered UDP, with our other two lines both at 300MB. Our bill dropped down to $171 from around $240 after discounts (though the $171 does not include taxes so I know that is not the real cost). We end up saving money each month, now have unlimited calling too, and the other two lines are now unlimited data. We already had Directv so it was worth it for us.

 

[techiegirl]

I'm on the phone with AT&T, trying to merge 2 accounts over to the new unlimited plan. I was told the 4th line has to be a smartphone. I cannot have 3 smartphones and an iPad.

Is that true?

 

[HDJulie]

I'm thinking about this but need to figure out exactly how it works. I already have DirecTV (I live in a rural area & satellite is the only TV option anyway).
1. Do I have to combine my DirecTV & AT&T bills to be able to get the unlimited plan?
2. If I do *not* have to combine the bills, where do I go to compare this plan? On my cell account, the only options for my plans are Mobile Share ones.
3. If I have 6 phone lines, is the 4th one free (after two months) for life? So I would essentially pay for 5 phone lines?
4. Can you have a USB modem on the plan?

 

[campyguy]

I'm thinking about this but need to figure out exactly how it works. I already have DirecTV (I live in a rural area & satellite is the only TV option anyway).
1. Do I have to combine my DirecTV & AT&T bills to be able to get the unlimited plan?
2. If I do *not* have to combine the bills, where do I go to compare this plan? On my cell account, the only options for my plans are Mobile Share ones.
3. If I have 6 phone lines, is the 4th one free (after two months) for life? So I would essentially pay for 5 phone lines?
4. Can you have a USB modem on the plan?

A few answers.
1. You do need to call either company to combine your bills. A call to 611 will get you to ATTWS CS, and they'll route you to the contract-related staff that facilitate this - I did this for my mom just last week. Be prepared to be put on hold for a short bit. This will also net a $10 credit on your combined invoice. Once the two accounts are combined, you'll see an option to move to plans that include UL data.
2. You need to combine the two accounts to apply for the UL data deal. No wiggle room here.
3. Yes, and Yes. At least, until ATTWS changes their hive-mind collective (being snarky here, but not with my one-word answers).
4. Not an answer, but according to their TOS - No. Smartphones only, with an option for an iPad/tablet only. No tethering or mobile hotspot or mifi-type unit allowed.

 

[HDJulie]

Thanks, campyguy! I'll have to think about this. We've been using the USB modem on a 30GB doubled to 60GB Mobile Share plan as our internet access but have recently had a very slow DSL become available. I need to see if it will be good enough for me to do my on call support for work.

We have DirecTV on autopay. If we combine the bills, do we have to have both autopay or can we have just the DirecTV one autopay.

 

[bnekic]

So I had a 2 line 20gb plan with two next phones, my bill was around $220. My cousin signed up for the new unlimited plan so I moved my two lines over to his plan, now I'm at $159

 

[campyguy]

Thanks, campyguy! I'll have to think about this. We've been using the USB modem on a 30GB doubled to 60GB Mobile Share plan as our internet access but have recently had a very slow DSL become available. I need to see if it will be good enough for me to do my on call support for work.

We have DirecTV on autopay. If we combine the bills, do we have to have both autopay or can we have just the DirecTV one autopay.

You're welcome. When you described your situation regarding internet needs I can visualize your dilemma, internet access is my "crack" - gotta have it, and if I were you I'd not switch. One of my mom's neighbors wanted to sign up, called in, and was told he'd lose tethering - which he does use sparingly - and was told by ATTWS CS that "more cool deals will be coming soon, and the UL data promotion was just the first one...". I've held off, but am considering the switch anyways, but only because I still have 4 lines with UL data on VZW's network and have two of those SIM cards in iPads (which have UL MHS built into the plan at no extra charge) - I used them both for much of January at a remote job site and the VZW LTE connection was about 5 times faster than the local DSL, and I tethered my rMBP to one of my iPads and used Netflix to keep from going nuts on some nights...

You've got a sweet deal with the doubled data, and likely you've got some rollover data availability there. Tough choice there, HDJulie! The best places on the web to follow "deal" options are slickdeals, lifehacker, and 9to5toys - I don't subscribe to any of them, but the latter two are in my Feedly feed but I've found that slickdeals often has more information, lots of followers who post their experiences and tricks to get around TOS requirements (I'm still buying subsidized handsets on VZW and keeping my UL data, 4 years after it "ended", thanks to slickdeals posters...) - I'd recommend cruising those sites a bit. MR is often a day or two behind those sites in posting deals, but I use MR for other reasons anyways...

To answer your question about autopay, your bill will be combined on one statement so there's no option to break out autopay options for both providers, but, I looked at the TOS of this deal - and I write contracts and read everything... - there is no statement or condition regarding autopay (here's the legal conditions on the landing page for this deal: https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/unlimited-plan.html#legal). My mom, the subscriber who I'm piggybacking on uses autopay for both providers only because she prefers it that way, but I review the invoices online when they become available. Cheers!