Individual to Family Plan on AT&T

[MJedi]

Hello all,

So I got the black 4S on Oct. 14, to upgrade my 3GS and renewing a 2-year individual contract with AT&T. My wife's white 4S is still not available at Best Buy. We were planning on going on a family plan with both our 4S, but because her 4S wasn't available, it was better to keep my individual plan. As of today, Best Buy still does not have her pre-order.

Now am thinking of just ordering from the online Apple Store. However, if I choose the option to create a new family plan, it tells me to go to an Apple Retail Store. With stocks so low in the retail stores, that is not a good option. Can I choose the other option that says add to an existing plan? Then when I get the iPhone, we'll go to an AT&T store to change my individual plan to a family plan with both our 4S?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dave006]

Yes you can order an iPhone 4S for your wife from Apple as an individual line and then after it arrives you can go to AT&T or just call Customer Care and merge your two individual lines into a single FamilyTalk plan.

Dave

 

[MJedi]

Thanks. I assume I shouldn't activate the 4S when it arrives, right?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Is a Family Plan a good deal?

Silly question I suppose...

Family plan is a good deal because?
-Shared minutes
-Shared messaging

Right?
No shared data though?

Is that all?
Is it actually a good deal do you all find?

 

[Stealthipad]

Silly question I suppose...

Family plan is a good deal because?
-Shared minutes
-Shared messaging

Right?
No shared data though?

Is that all?
Is it actually a good deal do you all find?

I have five on my family plan, it saves a lot more money than just two. They are all field people in my company and it saves money compared to single accounts.

 

[deeddawg]

As mentioned, it's a better deal as you add more people to the plan.

All the plans and options are easily available on AT&T's website, you should be able to run a couple scenarios to see what your costs would be in a family plan vs individual plans. A lot of this depends on your usage.

Data plans are individual per line, so no benefit there. Minutes and rollover are shared.

The big benefit for a family plan is the Family Messaging Unlimited with free Mobile to Any Mobile (all calls to/from cellphones in the US are free regardless of carrier); it's a shared feature so you just pay $30 per month and it applies to all lines. If most of your calls are to cellphones (regardless of carrier) this makes a HUGE difference in how many included minutes you need.

@MJedi -- no reason not to activate the phone. In fact you probably need to do so before you can combine the two accounts. (I'm guessing on this, but it seems logical to not have a pending activation before making sweeping account changes)

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeah.
I played with it (ATT Site) and that's why I'm asking.

For 2 people only it doesn't seem that great.
Which it sounds like you guys are confirming.

 

[deeddawg]

Couple other thoughts. If one of you has access to an AT&T service discount via your work or school (click here) it will apply to the entire account. Mine even applies to the iphone data plans. Not everything gets the discount, but the familytalk plan and features should see it. This may make a difference if one has a discount available and the other doesn't; use the discount eligible line as the primary/master line.

Oh, I just noticed the $20 individual messaging unlimited with unlimited mobile to any mobile. Neat, didn't know they had that; reduces the benefit of the family version when considering only two lines. With five lines, $30/mo for unlimited messaging and any-mobile calling is a real deal ($6/line)