I'm so confused...help - ATT

[BJB Productions]

I'm on a 2-year contract with ATT. My contract is up and my options are to renew my 2-year contract, and my monthly bill goes up from $62 to $70. OR, buy a full price iPhone and keep my cheaper package. OR they're giving me the option to switch to ATT Next and get $15 off my data plan. It seems like there's a catch somewhere but it's so hard to figure out how much everything will cost in the end. ARG.

OR there's Tmobile for $60a/mo + an extra $10 for jump which seems to be about the same price.

Anyone able to shed some light on this?

 

[segrobja]

With Next you get the $15 off your data plan in exchange for the phone being billed to your phone bill in monthly installments. If you want to upgrade you can at anytime, you just need to hand over your phone OR pay off the phone completely and then you can keep it.

With the 2 year pricing you get the usual cheap pricing, but your bill goes up and you can't upgrade for 2 years.

Outright, you do whatever you want.

 

[slippery-pete]

With Next you get the $15 off your data plan in exchange for the phone being billed to your phone bill in monthly installments. If you want to upgrade you can at anytime, you just need to hand over your phone OR pay off the phone completely and then you can keep it.

With the 2 year pricing you get the usual cheap pricing, but your bill goes up and you can't upgrade for 2 years.

Outright, you do whatever you want.

your bill doesn't go up if you sign a 2 year contract.

 

[BJB Productions]

In the past, I've been able to sell my phone after unlocking it and make a decent amount back. Usually I break even every 2 years when I get it for 199. I guess my question is what's the deal with the $15 off my data plan if I choose Next, and is that actually going to save me any money?

 

[Steve686]

With Next you get the $15 off your data plan in exchange for the phone being billed to your phone bill in monthly installments. If you want to upgrade you can at anytime, you just need to hand over your phone OR pay off the phone completely and then you can keep it.

With the 2 year pricing you get the usual cheap pricing, but your bill goes up and you can't upgrade for 2 years.

Outright, you do whatever you want.

You can upgrade anytime by paying off the full price of the phone, of course. Or, hand over your phone any time with payments equalling 12,18, or 24 payments related to which plan you chose. It's labeled Pay to Upgrade/Pay to Own or something like that on the ATT site.

 

[minicard]

What happens after 2 years when the contract expires And you decide to keep the same phone. Do the monthly fees become cheaper?

 

[ZebraDude]

and to add more fun to your desision ATT's variant of this years iPhone 6s was made special for ATT to circumvent the unlocking law. it have some competors LTE Bands blocked.

now that only matters if you ever consider moving it to a competitor.

 

[LFSimon]

...I guess my question is what's the deal with the $15 off my data plan if I choose Next, and is that actually going to save me any money?

Well it saves me a lot of money vs. the 2 year contract plan, but I have a family share plan so my discount is $25/line for Next. If you want to see if it saves you money or not just do the math. It isn't all that hard, just takes a few minutes to go through the numbers.

The deal is: I think the trend is to separate the phone costs from the service costs rather than keep everything bundled. This was started by the competition and met by ATT through the next plan a year ago last February. I think that ATT is meeting the competition through the Next plan and that makes it a little cheaper - but as I say you need to do the math and compare the plans that work for you.

 

[LFSimon]

What happens after 2 years when the contract expires And you decide to keep the same phone. Do the monthly fees become cheaper?

The monthly fees only become cheaper if you switch to next, unless they happen to lower the rates for the plan you're on in two years which is doubtful.

 

[ohio.emt]

Why would you cost for resigning a 2 year contract increase? My plans price remained the same.

 

[capitanbuzo]

Let's just do the simple math about the economics of next vs 2 year commitment. Next savings is $15 a month. 2 year contract: 450/24= 18.75 monthly savings.

 

[BJB Productions]

So with AT&T Next 12, I can get a new iPhone every year, correct? Because I pay off the phone every 12 months? No extra costs?

2 Year Contract:
$40 data plan (3gb w/ rollover)
+ Other expenses:
Phone upgrade every year (so lose a couple hundred maybe based on what I can sell my previous iPhone for)
Activation fee

TOTAL MONTHLY: $70.00 per month
______

AT&T Next 12:
$40.00 minus $15 discount = $25 data plan + $32.50 ATT Next
+ Other expenses:
None?

TOTAL MONTHLY: $62.45 per month

 

[capitanbuzo]

So with AT&T Next 12, I can get a new iPhone every year, correct? Because I pay off the phone every 12 months? No extra costs?

2 Year Contract:
$40 data plan (3gb w/ rollover)
+ Other expenses:
Phone upgrade every year (so lose a couple hundred maybe based on what I can sell my previous iPhone for)
Activation fee

TOTAL MONTHLY: $70.00 per month
______

AT&T Next 12:
$40.00 minus $15 discount = $25 data plan + $32.50 ATT Next
+ Other expenses:
None?

TOTAL MONTHLY: $62.45 per month

You turn in your phone with next so you can't sell it.

 

[AutoLode]

AT&T is kind of a scam in that when you buy a discounted phone with a 2 year contract you no longer get various monthly discounts (in my case $15) so in the end you actually pay more than retail if you do the AT&T upgrade with 2 year contract and you still have the worst phone service imagineable

 

[BJB Productions]

AT&T is kind of a scam in that when you buy a discounted phone with a 2 year contract you no longer get various monthly discounts (in my case $15) so in the end you actually pay more than retail if you do the AT&T upgrade with 2 year contract and you still have the worst phone service imagineable

Yes, I had a discount but now I can't use it if I renew. Trying to figure out what provider has the best deal at this point.

I'm still unclear if after 12mo when I'm ready to upgrade, do I have to keep paying for the last phone after turning it in?

 

[BJB Productions]

Anyone else able to add any thoughts?

 

[netnothing]

I'm still unclear if after 12mo when I'm ready to upgrade, do I have to keep paying for the last phone after turning it in?

With AT&T Next, anytime you choose to "upgrade", you have to turn in the phone back to AT&T in good condition and you no longer pay for that phone. You are then getting a new phone, at which time will continue with monthly payments for whatever plan you choose on the new phone. Think if it as leasing the phone, interest free.

As someone mentioned before.....you can at any time on any Next plan, pay the full amount of the remaining payments and own the phone.

-Kevin

 

[SisterBlue22]

and to add more fun to your desision ATT's variant of this years iPhone 6s was made special for ATT to circumvent the unlocking law. it have some competors LTE Bands blocked.

now that only matters if you ever consider moving it to a competitor.

What's your source for this piece of information?

 

[Newtons Apple]

AT&T is kind of a scam in that when you buy a discounted phone with a 2 year contract you no longer get various monthly discounts (in my case $15) so in the end you actually pay more than retail if you do the AT&T upgrade with 2 year contract and you still have the worst phone service imagineable

If you are on an unlimited data account it is still best to stay it hit and not change plans to NEXT.

 

[jrcsh6]

I think the real solution is to buy an unlocked iPhone at full price, loose a few hundred a year and not mess around with the junk. Pricey but maybe the best.

 

[gugy]

Check this calculator on AT&T site:

http://attcalc.com/next/#calculate

I am on the same boat as the OP. I did the math and for me is better to do the 2y commitment than the Next plan. I don't have activation fees because I have a corporate account so in the end I will save $75 per line/phone. I have a shared value plan for my family using 3gb data among 3 lines.

Since I keep my phone for 2 years anyway and rather have it at the end of the period and sell to recoup some costs, the 2 year commitment is not a big deal for my situation.

 

[cableguy619]

With AT&T Next, anytime you choose to "upgrade", you have to turn in the phone back to AT&T in good condition and you no longer pay for that phone. You are then getting a new phone, at which time will continue with monthly payments for whatever plan you choose on the new phone. Think if it as leasing the phone, interest free.

As someone mentioned before.....you can at any time on any Next plan, pay the full amount of the remaining payments and own the phone.

-Kevin

If you fully pay it off you do not have to turn in your phone. It's yours.

You have options just look into if the plan works for you.

 

[ZebraDude]

What's your source for this piece of information?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2491013,00.asp

well it looks like PC mag had gotten it wrong!

 

[TheRealAlex]

and to add more fun to your desision ATT's variant of this years iPhone 6s was made special for ATT to circumvent the unlocking law. it have some competors LTE Bands blocked.

now that only matters if you ever consider moving it to a competitor.

Very very Usefull info. Considering getting the 6S Plus on Sprint since it has all the LTE Bands. Also Sprint in my case is Awesome Unlocked iPhone 6 I can use it Internationally and Domestically on TMOBILE and ATT

Pretty good.