Cross upgrade - AT&T

[maverick22]

My wife is now wanting a 5. I just used her upgrade to get myself a 5, so she would have to use my mom's upgrade (who is NOT in our plan) to get an upgrade. Can AT&T other retail stores (Target/Best Buy) do this with no problem?

Don't know if it helps to have a little more background info, but my mom currently has an iphone 4s, and my dad has a basic flip phone. Both of those lines are eligible for an upgrade. Would it be better for my wife to use my mom or dad's upgrade?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ProudLoz]

I'm positive you can use either one to get the upgrade. The only issue you'll have is with the SIM cards. Whenver you get the phone, it'll activate the new SIM card on the line you used, and so that person will have to either get an adapter, or you can kinda tape it to the SIM card slot of the iPhone 4S. Then your Wife can either cut down her own SIM to nano-sim sized.

Or you can all visit an AT&T retail store and have them switch the Sim Cards to the appropriate lines to match the proper phones. The iPhone 5 just needs to be activated to the line you used the upgrade from to accept the new sim with your wife's phone number.

 

[r2shyyou]

My wife is now wanting a 5. I just used her upgrade to get myself a 5, so she would have to use my mom's upgrade (who is NOT in our plan) to get an upgrade. Can AT&T other retail stores (Target/Best Buy) do this with no problem?

Don't know if it helps to have a little more background info, but my mom currently has an iphone 4s, and my dad has a basic flip phone. Both of those lines are eligible for an upgrade. Would it be better for my wife to use my mom or dad's upgrade?

Thanks in advance!

Man, gettin' complicated there...

You'd know better than any of us but it's probably best to use your mom's upgrade since your dad is more likely to want to use his own upgrade sooner, considering his phone vs your mom's 4S.

 

[romeo.xk]

There is no need for a new sim, I used my wife's upgrade to get the I5, and all I had to do was call ATT and they reprogramed the sim to work with my number.

If your parents are on a different acc, I would tell them to call att and add you as a authorized user and give you the acc password and her last 4 of her SS#, you should be able to do it all over the phone.

 

[maverick22]

I didn't know if using my mom or dad's upgrade would matter. If we ran into a problem I'd rather my dad's phone be unoperable for a little bit. He hardly uses his phone. Also, if something were to happen (contacts deleted for some weird reason), he hardly has any contacts.

A Target employee acted like she could do it. Sounds like she would give me a SIM card to take to either my mom/dad when the transaction was done (so there phone would be off until I could get the new sim to them). Does this sound about right?

Thanks for the replies so far!

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Man, gettin' complicated there...

You'd know better than any of us but it's probably best to use your mom's upgrade since your dad is more likely to want to use his own upgrade sooner, considering his phone vs your mom's 4S.

My dad doesn't care much about having a nice phone--as long as it works. We just got a pretty good flip for Father's Day.

There is no need for a new sim, I used my wife's upgrade to get the I5, and all I had to do was call ATT and they reprogramed the sim to work with my number.

If your parents are on a different acc, I would tell them to call att and add you as a authorized user and give you the acc password and her last 4 of her SS#, you should be able to do it all over the phone.

Yes I am an authorized user. Don't think they have a password as far as I know though. I have the last four of her SSN. Thanks for your replies.

 

[maverick22]

Just thought of another question. Forgive my ignorance, but say when we get a new sim to my mom's iphone or my dad's basic phone, will their contacts be affected? Just don't want them to lose anything on their phones while we do the upgrade.

Also, would I need to bring any of these phones to the store (my mom's, my wife's phone)? I was wondering if they can do the upgrade and at a later time put the contacts/pics on my wife's new 5. Reason being is because I notice some Best Buys will have stock near my work. I don't have time to drive all the way home to grab the phones and then go back near my work to a BB.

 

[maverick22]

bump...

just wanted more opinions--is it better to "steal" an upgrade from my mom (who has an iphone currently) or dad (non-iphone)? They are on a different account.

How would one go about doing an upgrade swap on a non-iphone line? Adding a data plan to my dad's line, then after I swap (give my wife the iphone) phones, have AT&T remove that data plan from his non-iphone line?

Just want it to go smoothly. There are some Best Buys around who have stock.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Bring all the phones to the at&t store and they'll do the device swap and remove data on the non-iPhone line.

I'd use your father's line so your mom can upgrade to another iPhone earlier than 2 years from now if needed. Dumbphones are cheap to purchase.

 

[maverick22]

Bring all the phones to the at&t store and they'll do the device swap and remove data on the non-iPhone line.

I'd use your father's line so your mom can upgrade to another iPhone earlier than 2 years from now if needed. Dumbphones are cheap to purchase.

I was thinking the same. If something happened during this transaction, my father wouldn't care as much. Only has a few numbers in his phone and if contacts got lost somehow (hopefully NOT though), they'd be fairly easy to add back on.

So you're saying if I choose to upgrade my wife's phone using my dad's line, bring "his" phone and my wife's current iphone 4? Hopefully Best Buy or Target could handle something like this. They seem to have better stock at this time where I am.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

So you're saying if I choose to upgrade my wife's phone using my dad's line, bring "his" phone and my wife's current iphone 4? Hopefully Best Buy or Target could handle something like this. They seem to have better stock at this time where I am.

Best Buy/Target won't have anything to do with that. All they'll do is upgrade your father to the iPhone 5 using his number. Then, you go to the at&t store with all the involved phones and at&t will be the one doing the device swap, etc.

 

[maverick22]

Best Buy/Target won't have anything to do with that. All they'll do is upgrade your father to the iPhone 5 using his number. Then, you go to the at&t store with all the involved phones and at&t will be the one doing the device swap, etc.

Well, I have been in contact with a Target rep (I have a 5 on order), and she claims they can take care of it. She says they will just give a new sim for me to go take to my dad and all will be good. Does this make sense?

Don't know if I should let Target actually try this cross upgrade, or just pretend the phone is actually for my dad, and then like you said take all the phones to AT&T to straighten it out

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Well, I have been in contact with a Target rep (I have a 5 on order), and she claims they can take care of it. She says they will just give a new sim for me to go take to my dad and all will be good. Does this make sense?

Don't know if I should let Target actually try this cross upgrade, or just pretend the phone is actually for my dad, and then like you said take all the phones to AT&T to straighten it out

at&t will need to be contacted one way or another. It sounds like they'll contact at&t on your behalf, which in theory should work, but double check with at&t after the fact to make sure they don't screw up.

Most common method is just upgrade the line and go to the at&t store to do the actual device swap.

 

[maverick22]

at&t will need to be contacted one way or another. It sounds like they'll contact at&t on your behalf, which in theory should work, but double check with at&t after the fact to make sure they don't screw up.

Most common method is just upgrade the line and go to the at&t store to do the actual device swap.

Okay, thanks for all your help!

 

[nrrhgreg]

I asked an AT&T rep this exact thing on the online chat today. He said if you go to an AT&T store they can do a cross-account upgrade swap without ever activating the phone on the account that has the upgrade eligibility.

Think I'm going to try and give it a shot this weekend.

 

[maverick22]

I asked an AT&T rep this exact thing on the online chat today. He said if you go to an AT&T store they can do a cross-account upgrade swap without ever activating the phone on the account that has the upgrade eligibility.

Think I'm going to try and give it a shot this weekend.

Did he/she say to bring all the phones with you to do this? Well could BB & Target not do the same? Seems like actual AT&T stores never have any in stock near me though. Having much better luck with BB & Target. Think I might just to a store like that and run to AT&T right after.

Thanks for the info though. Just found out (I know, I'm late) I was overlooking the fact that I just am eligible for an "early iphone upgrade"...the +250 one. Good news is the full upgrade is Nov 4th. Not too far away! good luck

 

[buckeye269]

I am doing a cross-upgrade for my new iphone whenever i get one, and an AT&T rep told me that the sim that comes with the phone has to be activated to use the upgrade and that I need another nano-sim to use as mine.

 

[maverick22]

I'm wondering whatever a rep happens to do, can't AT&T straighten it out? Is there something that could go so terribly wrong (and what is it) that AT&T wouldn't be able to fix?

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I'm wondering whatever a rep happens to do, can't AT&T straighten it out? Is there something that could go so terribly wrong (and what is it) that AT&T wouldn't be able to fix?

They'll be able to fix any mistakes.

 

[maverick22]

They'll be able to fix any mistakes.

Thanks--I was worried at first about going to a non-AT&T store to buy one. I've missed out on a few that were in stock at local retail stores. I held back because of fear they might screw something up. I'm just going to buy the next one I can now and go straight to AT&T afterwards. I would think they'll be able to fix any mistakes. I guess I do dread spending time (that one thread had many users tell stories of being on the phone a couple hours for something and problem not getting solved for a couple days). I think that was very close to launch day though.