Need some AT&T Advice

[Lactoes]

Hi guys. Add my advice request thread to the pile...

I'm out of contract with my iPhone 5 on AT&T and I'd like the iPhone 6S 64GB, and I'd like to get it in hand ASAP. Because I'm on a family plan paid by someone else, I'm staying with AT&T.

What's the cheapest way to go about this?

Details:

• In a perfect world I wouldn't be stuck with the contract, but if it's the most economical way, I'm in.
• I'm unfamiliar with all the specs on AT&T Next vs. the new Apple upgrade plan vs. the old school 2yr contract.
• I don't need really a new phone every year, but I may be buying AppleCare+ or Squaretrade anyway. So maybe the upgrade plan makes sense?
• Ideally I'd have the phone shipped to me or buy at an AT&T store, but I want to go the cheapest route long-term. (I'm not near an Apple store, but I could make a little road trip out of it if doing a retail order makes sense.)

 

[Drumjim85]

The absolute cheapest way to get the phone with ATT is to buy it outright. You then have the phone to sell whenever you decide to upgrade. With all of the other programs (Next, Apple Upgrade ... ) you have to trade in your phone to upgrade.
You also save $20(?) a line with a shared data plan when you're on am off contract phone.
Over 2 years the Next plan isn't much more expensive, but you can't sell your phone either.