Help with existing AT&T plan!

[slipper]

So i was one of those guys waiting in line today. And unfortunately i was unable to walk away with a phone... yet.

I was hoping someone with the same experience as me with their AT&T contract or someone currently working for AT&T could advise me.

My existing plan costs me $115 for unlimited talk and text and 10GB of data. The breakdown is $100 for the talk, text, and data and $40-$25(discount since i signed up with a plan before Feb 2014)=$15 for the one device on the plan for a total of $115/mo. According to the representative at the local AT&T store, he said if i upgrade with a new contract now, i will lose my grandfathered plan with the $25 discount so my bill will now be $140/month. Whoa! What a buzz kill. That's $600 more over the course of my two year contract! Is there anyway to keep this $25 discount that i'm getting?

I'm not interested in getting AT&T Next unless someone is able to persuade me that it's a better financial commitment over the course of a year or two factoring the resale of my iPhone 6 at that moment.

Thank you

 

[Cheffy Dave]

kind of the same deal with me, after reducing my bill to $106 from $212 with the new Family Plan, I was told to keep the discount, I had two options,

To return the phone, to APPLE, and order it through AT&T Next, which brings it to $903,

Buy the phone outright, which brings it to $900 plus, and add it to my account
but I will NOT be able to port my old number to the new phone.

Im telling AT&T to Kiss myAZZ, ordering through Verizion ,2 iPhone 6 plus with
128 SSD's with unlimited text,calls, data, $130 month with iPad LTE Sharing data at 4GB, AT&T was 2GB, BYE,BYE AT&T

 

[solodogg]

you are on the AT&T Mobile Value shared plan. 10gb of data, unlimited talk & text for $100/mo, with $15 device fee. That $15 fee does not include a phone subsidy, while the full price of $40 does. So, they are correct in the fact that your costs will increase if you take a subsidized price. I am on the same plan currently, with 2 iPhones, and an iPad, and after 28% discount, I pay $112/mo vs the $162 it would cost if I took a phone subsidy. $50 a month in savings pays for the device every year, and I can always sell last year's model for $400 on craigslist.

You need to switch to Cricket. $55/mo for 10gb and unlimited talk & text, and although you still get no phone subsidy, your plan would be $70 a month cheaper. You could afford to buy a brand new phone once a year, and not sell the old handset, and still come out ahead! Also, Cricket has AT&T coverage, so the only thing you would lose would be the roaming capabilities post-paid offers.

 

[Shadowbech]

Well a 2 year contract will be $40 per month for the line. Using Next program gets you the $25 discount. Or just buy the phone in full price and keep the plan you have.

 

[slipper]

kind of the same deal with me, after reducing my bill to $106 from $212 with the new Family Plan, I was told to keep the discount, I had two options,

To return the phone, to APPLE, and order it through AT&T Next, which brings it to $903,

Buy the phone outright, which brings it to $900 plus, and add it to my account
but I will NOT be able to port my old number to the new phone.

Im telling AT&T to Kiss myAZZ, ordering through Verizion ,2 iPhone 6 plus with
128 SSD's with unlimited text,calls, data, $130 month with iPad LTE Sharing data at 4GB, AT&T was 2GB, BYE,BYE AT&T

That's what the sales rep at the local AT&T store told me also! Logistically AT&T seems pretty f'ed up. Either that or they are really trying to push "AT&T Next".

You can call AT&T customer service directly and pay your early termination fee over the phone and still keep your phone line and phone number active, then that makes you eligible to upgrade with a new contract. That's what i did until the local store rep told me i would have to pay $25 more per month... after i paid my early termination fee! Doh! I spent another 30 minutes on the phone with AT&T customer service to explain my situation and they finally reversed my payment for the early termination fee and they got me back on the existing contract.

----------

you are on the AT&T Mobile Value shared plan. 10gb of data, unlimited talk & text for $100/mo, with $15 device fee. That $15 fee does not include a phone subsidy, while the full price of $40 does. So, they are correct in the fact that your costs will increase if you take a subsidized price. I am on the same plan currently, with 2 iPhones, and an iPad, and after 28% discount, I pay $112/mo vs the $162 it would cost if I took a phone subsidy. $50 a month in savings pays for the device every year, and I can always sell last year's model for $400 on craigslist.

You need to switch to Cricket. $55/mo for 10gb and unlimited talk & text, and although you still get no phone subsidy, your plan would be $70 a month cheaper. You could afford to buy a brand new phone once a year, and not sell the old handset, and still come out ahead! Also, Cricket has AT&T coverage, so the only thing you would lose would be the roaming capabilities post-paid offers.

Thanks for the tip!!!! I will look into that. Hopefully we (residents in Hawaii) have Cricket!

 

[boomhower]

kind of the same deal with me, after reducing my bill to $106 from $212 with the new Family Plan, I was told to keep the discount, I had two options,

To return the phone, to APPLE, and order it through AT&T Next, which brings it to $903,

Buy the phone outright, which brings it to $900 plus, and add it to my account
but I will NOT be able to port my old number to the new phone.

Im telling AT&T to Kiss myAZZ, ordering through Verizion ,2 iPhone 6 plus with
128 SSD's with unlimited text,calls, data, $130 month with iPad LTE Sharing data at 4GB, AT&T was 2GB, BYE,BYE AT&T

Your getting two new unlimited lines with Verizon?

 

[ftaok]

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have the 10GB Mobile Share Plan with 2 iPhones @ $15/mo, for a total of $130 (before corporate discount).

While I'm not technically out of my 2-year contract, I am eligible for NEXT. So if I want to upgrade to two new 16GB iPhone 6's, I have 3 options.

1. Upgrade using NEXT, which will keep my monthly rate the same, but add in an additional $27.09/month for each phone. So all I'm really doing is paying the $650/phone over 24 months. At the end of the 2 years, I own my phones outright, or I can upgrade early (at 18 months) provided I turn in the phones.

2. Pay for the phones outright at $650 each. I own the phones right away and should be eligible to get them unlocked immediately.

Both of these options avoid paying the $40 upgrade fee.

3. Wait until late October to be eligible for a subsidy. I'll pay $200 for each phone, but I'll lose my $25/month discount on each phone. Over the course of two years, I'll have paid an extra $600 ... at which point, I'll own the phones outright and get the $25/month discount again. However, I'll have essentially paid $800 for each phone ($200 + $25x24 = $800). Also, I'll have had to pay the $40 upgrade fee.

So, in my circumstance, it makes no financial sense to buy the phones on a subsidized plan. I think you're in the same situation.

I've run the numbers, and the pretty much the only people that the subsidized phones work out for are the ones on "minutes" plans with unlimited data that they don't want to lose.

YMMV

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You need to switch to Cricket. $55/mo for 10gb and unlimited talk & text, and although you still get no phone subsidy, your plan would be $70 a month cheaper. You could afford to buy a brand new phone once a year, and not sell the old handset, and still come out ahead! Also, Cricket has AT&T coverage, so the only thing you would lose would be the roaming capabilities post-paid offers.

Not trying to sell AT&T, but the Mobile Share plans allow for tethering. Does the Cricket plan offer tethering?

BTW, in no way do I believe tethering is worth $70/month.

 

[MareLuce]

Also, Cricket has AT&T coverage, so the only thing you would lose would be the roaming capabilities post-paid offers.

Can you explain that a little more?

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Not trying to sell AT&T, but the Mobile Share plans allow for tethering. Does the Cricket plan offer tethering?

BTW, in no way do I believe tethering is worth $70/month.

Great point. I definitely need tethering.

 

[solodogg]

Can you explain that a little more?

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Great point. I definitely need tethering.

AT&T post paid will allow you to roam on other carriers if you are in an area where AT&T coverage is lacking. None of the pre-paid providers offer the same. I have had AT&T now since early February of this year, and have traveled all over the eastern half of the country, and have yet to roam once.

In the end, you have to ask yourself if tethering and roaming are worth $70/mo. I've got a T-Mobile 250mb sim in my iPad for data use since I don't use much. The wife has the AT&T sim in hers, and attached to our shared plan.

 

[MareLuce]

In the end, you have to ask yourself if tethering and roaming are worth $70/mo.

So with Cricket I'd definitely lose tethering?

 

[solodogg]

So with Cricket I'd definitely lose tethering?

unless you jailbreak, yes. They do not natively support tethering.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Your getting two new unlimited lines with Verizon?

nope 1

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Your getting two new unlimited lines with Verizon?

one, but I already have my iPad Mini Retina w/them, that $20 cost is included in the 3GB data share, as will my wife's iP6 as soon as she decides,6 or Plus fo another$40

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I'm sort of in the same boat. I have the 10GB Mobile Share Plan with 2 iPhones @ $15/mo, for a total of $130 (before corporate discount).

While I'm not technically out of my 2-year contract, I am eligible for NEXT. So if I want to upgrade to two new 16GB iPhone 6's, I have 3 options.

1. Upgrade using NEXT, which will keep my monthly rate the same, but add in an additional $27.09/month for each phone. So all I'm really doing is paying the $650/phone over 24 months. At the end of the 2 years, I own my phones outright, or I can upgrade early (at 18 months) provided I turn in the phones.

2. Pay for the phones outright at $650 each. I own the phones right away and should be eligible to get them unlocked immediately.



Both of these options avoid paying the $40 upgrade fee.

3. Wait until late October to be eligible for a subsidy. I'll pay $200 for each phone, but I'll lose my $25/month discount on each phone. Over the course of two years, I'll have paid an extra $600 ... at which point, I'll own the phones outright and get the $25/month discount again. However, I'll have essentially paid $800 for each phone ($200 + $25x24 = $800). Also, I'll have had to pay the $40 upgrade fee.

So, in my circumstance, it makes no financial sense to buy the phones on a subsidized plan. I think you're in the same situation.

I've run the numbers, and the pretty much the only people that the subsidized phones work out for are the ones on "minutes" plans with unlimited data that they don't want to lose.

YMMV

----------



Not trying to sell AT&T, but the Mobile Share plans allow for tethering. Does the Cricket plan offer tethering?

BTW, in no way do I believe tethering is worth $70/month.

really for me its mox/nix, as I deduct it as a business cost anyway

 

[zhenya]

Others have basically outlined it, but there is no problem inherent with NEXT, it's just a way of divorcing equipment and service payments. Which one will be the cheapest depends on your specific situation and you have to do the math to figure it out.

Are you sure you need 10GB of data though? The biggest ripoff I've seen att pushing recently is pretty much only advertising the 10GB plan when few people actually need that much data. It's best to buy only the data you need which means ideally a plan that you will pay overages on a few times per year.

 

[KenAFSPC]

If you're thinking about switching to Verizon, you may want to double check your analysis. Verizon is even more expensive after accounting for the iPhone cost.