Purchased 3 iPhone 4's on launch day - 3 different updgrade eligibility dates?

[sampdoria]

I purchased 3 iPhone 4's on launch day (6/24/10 I believe) under a pre-existing AT&T Family Plan. I checked their upgrade eligibility by dialing *NEW# from each phone. Here's the text response I got from each:

iPhone #1: "As a valued customer, we can offer you an upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 ugrade fee." {Yeah, this one is mine!}

iPhone #2: "A full discount on a standard device or iPhone upgrade is not available at this time but you may qualify on 02/16/2012. We can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at 2-yr commitment pricing + $250 along with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee. Please visit a participating iPhone sales location for pricing on this offer."

iPhone #3: "A full discount on a standard device or iPhone upgrade is not available at this time but you may qualify on 02/25/2012. We can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade at 2-yr commitment pricing + $250 along with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee. Please visit a participating iPhone sales location for pricing on this offer."

Would I be able to upgrade all three when the new iPhone comes out, by using the first iPhone's upgrade eligibility and not paying any extra $250 for the other two? I don't understand why all three don't get the same upgrade? Hmm, might be worth a call to AT&T. (The $18 upgrade fee not a big deal for me, because I usually get that credited back to me when I kindly remind AT&T how much I spend month-to-month.)

 

[SpookyMulder]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I also bought an iPhone 4 the day it launched, except I've been eligible for a new phone since April of this year. Same thing happened when I bought my 3G. I don't know if it's an error with the AT&T system or if there's something I'm missing.

 

[hellrising]

youre in a similar situation when i found out that my sister could upgrade to an iphone 4 and i couldnt when we both got our 3gs at the same time. i was told by att that under their family plan, the amount of lines that you opened consists of a two year contract for each of those lines. Since my sister was the primary holder of the account, she qualifies for an att upgrade way earlier than me. i hope this clears some things up and im glad the iphone 5 is comin up so i can finally upgrade lol.

 

[sampdoria]

I think it is related to how "good" of an AT&T customer you are...honestly I don't know how long I have been eligible, I just checked today because of all the new iPhone rumors. But in my case all three iPhones are under one account, they share minutes and unlimited texting, and two have unlimited data. But all three practically spend about the same on AT&T.

 

[dccorona]

essentially, its based on what you pay a month. If you're on a family plan, the primary line is eligible sooner than the others because it is considered to be paying for the minutes, while the others just pay $10 to share them. Essentially, the more you pay, the faster you pay back your subsidy, and the sooner you can upgrade

 

[Ryno76]

I believe they mentioned last time (for the iPhone4) that you were eligible after a year. I'm assuming they'll do the same. I would also assume AT&T wouldn't mind because you enter into another 2 year contract. The best bet to is to call a AT&T store and find out.

 

[dave006]

....Would I be able to upgrade all three when the new iPhone comes out, by using the first iPhone's upgrade eligibility and not paying any extra $250 for the other two? I don't understand why all three don't get the same upgrade? Hmm, might be worth a call to AT&T. (The $18 upgrade fee not a big deal for me, because I usually get that credited back to me when I kindly remind AT&T how much I spend month-to-month.)

No, each of your lines individual contracts that just happen to share a common rate plan: FamilyTalk. So right now line 2-3 would require the additional $250 early upgrade fee.

Each line's "Upgrade Eligiblity" is deteremined based on it's own MRC. The MRC is calculated on a 3 month rolling average. Your primary line has the highest MRC so it gets the first upgrade. Without more details on your add-a-line ( lines: 2-3 ) I would suggest that line 2 has a higher MRC than line 3. Perhaps you have the unlimited data plan on line 1 and 2 but not line 3?

Dave

 

[sampdoria]

essentially, its based on what you pay a month. If you're on a family plan, the primary line is eligible sooner than the others because it is considered to be paying for the minutes, while the others just pay $10 to share them. Essentially, the more you pay, the faster you pay back your subsidy, and the sooner you can upgrade

Ah, I see now!

I believe they mentioned last time (for the iPhone4) that you were eligible after a year. I'm assuming they'll do the same. I would also assume AT&T wouldn't mind because you enter into another 2 year contract. The best bet to is to call a AT&T store and find out.

Will do!

Perhaps you have the unlimited data plan on line 1 and 2 but not line 3?

Excatly right Dave! Makes sense now. Thx all!