AT&T Raising Prices on Legacy Plans to Encourage Customers to Upgrade to New Plans

[peelage]

are the legacy planes even worth it anymore? it was a good run while it lasted.

It depends. I have a hotspot through AT&T that’s truly unlimited. It runs about 65gb per month and is only $15 for the line access fee. About a year ago I upgraded to one of their new plans and after 15gb they charged me $10 per GB or an overage fee which ended with a $800 bill. I talked to dozens of ppl to switch back and was successful since the store rep promised me the hotspot wouldn’t be impacted. I’ll never leave since the hotspot is a lifeline for a remote area. If it wasn’t for that, I would have had no problem upgrading.

 

[peelage]

AT&T is thee most shady cellular company in this industry. T-Mobile being a runner-up.

They all are, it’s just like politics there is no competition anymore. Verizon isn’t any better.

 

[Bawstun]

It’s really unfortunate that the big 3 cellular providers continue to push subscribers to expensive plans with features most don’t even need or want. I think some will just end up moving to one of the MVNO’s with lower cost plans.

As they should, IMO. I mean other than better customer service, there’s really no difference. I pay $55 a month (taxes included) for a single line on Cricket with unlimited data. You can get even cheaper than that with other MVNO’s but I prefer Cricket’s store presence.

 

[k1121j]

upgrade to the new. Limited unlimited plan, Little bit unlimited plan, Slightly limited unlimited plan. ?

 

[UltimaKilo]

I’ve got a grandfathered unlimited plan, still going to hold on to it.

Why is that better than a current unlimited plan?

 

[alexandr]

And by encourage we mean...

 

[Yrmmont]

That’s why I switched from AT&T to Charter/Spectrum. Better sound as AT&T doesn’t handle where I live PLUS it is a LOT cheaper too.

 

[npmacuser5]

How important is the cellular data. We ask that question when we were paying over $110 a month for two phones on AT&T. The answer nice to have. Along comes Xfinity mobile five years ago. Tried it out, still there at $30 for both phones total. Get three gigs of data, voice, texting, priority for busy cells. By more data if one wants. Interesting what we found, photos were killing our plan. Changed photos and other options to wifi only, hard to use 3 gigs. Plus Xfinity has a huge amount of hotspots in many areas. The result, have good cellular, very significant savings. Do the math. AT&T for five years $6,600. Xfinity for five years $1,800. Honestly with the few changes in settings, extensive travel, no difference in our experience other than way less expensive. The big three are worse than loan sharks!

 

[QuarterSwede]

I don't know what the hate is over t-mobile. It's pretty basic, simple, straightforward. Compared to ATT which I've had as well, t-mobile was easy where att was just really nebulous to figure out from an account point of view.

TMO has been better about coverage lately, and YMMV there of course.

I finally dumped AT&T last year and moved to Mint (MVNO on TMobile). I now have faster service in more places (was limited to LTE, now have 5G), I have unlimited data (was 6GB), and I’m paying 50% less (I buy the entire year at once). All it took was their 7 day free trial to see how it worked and I was sold. I’m definitely not going back.

 

[jav6454]

are the legacy planes even worth it anymore? it was a good run while it lasted.

They aren't. I had one of those legacy plans. The problem is that while it truly unlimited, it does not include data for hotspot. That was extra $20 for 6GB on top of the original $30 (then $35, then $40, now $46) a month for data. Now you get 40GB for hotspot on the Elite plan and you also aren't bounded by text message plans, or monthly minutes.

 

[sevoneone]

AT&T says that it is encouraging customers to switch over to a newer plan because the newer plans offer "many additional features, more flexibility for each line on their account and, in many cases, a lower monthly cost."

The real reason for this is that the new Unlimited plans do not qualify for the same employer Signature/FAN account discounts. My whole family shares a discount because my dad worked for CocaCola and it applies 25% off our old family share plan with roll over, plus we save $25 on device access. Collectively we pay only $155/mo for a plan that should cost $310 before tax and any device installments we have. It's a deal that just can't be matched and why we have 5 grown ass adults that get to have a iMessage argument a few times a year over who forgot to pay their portion of the bill on time and has to pay the $7 late fee this month... You know, Quality Family Time™.

Anyway, under the new Unlimited plans, the only available discount is up to $10/mo off of the most expensive Unlimited Elite $45 per device/mo plan. So $175 for 5 People. +$20/mo. Not a huge deal when split among 5 people, but it is still forcing people to pay more for something they don't want or need to scrape some extra pure profit into an earnings report to make the share holders happy.

 

[MrRom92]

I had the original “unlimited” AT&T data plan from buying the iPhone on launch day, for the LONGEST time. I only dropped it maybe a year or two ago at the most. Sad to see it go but I honestly couldn’t tell what I was losing by paying less. Still felt like being part of the OG club though, which was nice.

 

[stringbender]

ATT sucks.

 

[The1Biz]

I had Verizon before the iPhone, they nickel and dimed on everything and were overpriced, obnoxiously slapped their logo on every surface of their phones, and literally changed the price of service during a contract (super shady, I cancelled because I knew my rights.) But they had the best network at the time.

I moved to AT&T with the iPhone and dealt with them building out their network and dropped calls. I ditched them when everyone stopped subsidizing phones, not seeing the point of still paying the same rate for service for a phone that no longer was under contract. Where was my discount? Prepaid had horrible customer service and you were cut off from roaming, hence the reason for the cheaper rate. Service was about as good as Verizon. AT&T also tends to support super right wing stuff so I don't see the point of giving them money anymore. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-oneamerica-att/

T-Mobile was horrible around the Verizon years but now is pretty good. There are a few dead spots but for everyday life it's pretty good. Pricing is cheaper because I split a plan witha 55+ person. I get unlimited everything for $35, and get roaming, etc. I don't know if I would pay $70 a month for any cell phone plan just for my own line. I haven't experienced any shady aspects as of yet.

If I were on my own I'd go for Mint. It piggybacks on T-Mobile, and you can get a year unlimited for $30/month, or $360/year. I don't feel that is too much. If the network works for you, I think it's the best choice in the USA. It's just a singular service, unlike AT&T and Verizon which try to force all these other services. I was so tired of AT&T asking about Direct TV.

 

[Kirkster]

AT&T lost me years ago when they kept increasing the price of their old unlimited plans. I was at $235 bucks a month for 2 phones and an iPad. Currently at T-Mobile with 2 iPhones and 2 iPads for $148 dollars a month. T-Mobile service is good for me in my area. Verizon lost me as a cell customer in the 90s, never going back to them…

 

[sfpbth7]

I have Spectrum Mobile. My wife and I are on the $14 per Gig. We use 2-4 per month so that’s $28-$56 plus $10 for 1 watch. No taxes or fees on top either.

Way less than we were paying on ATT even with her FAN discount, which ATT found a way to reduce to barely anything.

Must be nice, but that requires internet or cable on top to have mobile service

 

[Crow_Servo]

I am still on a 12 gig family share plan with 3 lines, one of which is a flip phone. I also have rollover data, so I usually have like 25 gig a month to use. We maybe use 2 or 3 gig per month.

With working at home for the past few years, I am mostly on WiFi and don't use much cellular data.

I wonder if this is gunna affect my plan.

Any Mobile Share plan with 6 GB or more will see an increase. For multi-lines like yours, it will be a $12 increase.

 

[jav6454]

I had the original “unlimited” AT&T data plan from buying the iPhone on launch day, for the LONGEST time. I only dropped it maybe a year or two ago at the most. Sad to see it go but I honestly couldn’t tell what I was losing by paying less. Still felt like being part of the OG club though, which was nice.

Same, I got the $20 Unlimited plan from the 1st Gen iPhone which then morphed into the $30 one when I upgraded.

 

[macford]

America, where "unlimited" doesn't mean what you think it means and there are levels of "unlimited" each with limits.

 

[SFjohn]

I had AT&T decades ago (back when everything was analog) and had coverage everywhere! When they upgraded to digital things got bad. Prices kept climbing and service was sub par. I finally canceled my plan, and AT&T kept billing me for 9 more months. Every month I had to call, be on hold, and spend an hour on the phone with them to get the charge reversed. Never again. (Unless they bring fiber to my home… 😉)

 

[BuffaloTF]

Ah Oligopoly, the American Way (TM). Where are all the shills that were promoting the TM/Sprint merger? Oh, they're not needed anymore, nevermind ?.

That's right, we aren't needed anymore. That's why we're sitting around with our feet kicked up on our desks enjoying being right. Massively improved service, lower prices, no doomsday scenarios playing out like the naysayers promised. $160 flat for 4 lines, 2 watches, free MLB.TV at a $120 value, a $50 gift card for nurses week today. It basically pays for itself.

 

[SigEp265]

ATT talked my poor mom out of our legacy unlimited family plan with 4 lines. After that they are dead to me. I tried all the other carriers, and stuck with Verizon. I have the military discount — never had any issues. Verizon has been great — although expensive ah lol.

 

[4jasontv]

Yeah… that’s not why they’re doing it.

It's a lower monthly cost for customers who were considering spending more.

I had AT&T decades ago (back when everything was analog) and had coverage everywhere! When they upgraded to digital things got bad. Prices kept climbing and service was sub par. I finally canceled my plan, and AT&T kept billing me for 9 more months. Every month I had to call, be on hold, and spend an hour on the phone with them to get the charge reversed. Never again. (Unless they bring fiber to my home… ?)

This wouldn't be a problem if citizens had the ability to vote spectrum back to auction. Those licenses should have a provision that they maintain satisfaction rates greater than 50%. Not just for their own customers but of all voters. Churn doesn't have the impact it used to.

That's right, we aren't needed anymore. That's why we're sitting around with our feet kicked up on our desks enjoying being right. Massively improved service, lower prices, no doomsday scenarios playing out like the naysayers promised. $160 flat for 4 lines, 2 watches, free MLB.TV at a $120 value, a $50 gift card for nurses week today. It basically pays for itself.

Shh! No one tell him that 4 lines, 2 watches, and 2 iPads for $99 a month still get the Intermittent Infomercial T-Mobile Tuesday offers. He wants to believe he has a good deal.

 

[BrownyQ]

Chances are my family plan will be affected, which means I'll have to change it at last.

I would switch service, but honestly, wouldn't touch anything other than Verizon, and they're pricier by a slim margin anyway.

 

[artfossil]

I switched from my grandfathered unlimited plan to a much cheaper ATT plan years ago. Saved a ton of money and have been very happy ever since with an economical plan that fits my needs. The ATT rep I talked to at the time detailed everything and was very helpful.