Confused about upgrades (AT&T)

[Dark54555]

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My wife is finally going to move from a dumbphone to a smart pone with the 4S. The upgrade has me a bit puzzled. There was a time years ago when adding data always let you have upgrade pricing. Apparently not anymore since (per the apple site) she's only eligible for the $449 16gb 4S. What I don't get is that's more than the ETF + the upgrade price, and she's agreeing to pay a higher monthly fee and renew her contract. Anyone know a way around this without changing carriers? AT&T service is good here and we don't have any real interest in switching.

 

[Trauma1]

When is she eligible for an upgrade?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

If upgrading a dumb phone, run the numbers of adding the iPhone 4S as a new line on the account - and drop the dumb phone down to the cheapest plan (if it isn't already there). Depending on how many months are left on her contract, this strategy might be cheaper than the $250.00 fee (e.g. if the dumb phone has 6 months left, and plan is $30/mo, it will only cost you $180 to just leave that phone "active" and pay the bill until the contract ends)

 

[Dark54555]

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When is she eligible for an upgrade?

May per the Apple site. Her current phone is having some issues and likely won't last that long regardless.