AT&T new plan is out

[DawnM]

Yes.

I just got two 2nd hand phones from a friend. We will be using those.

So if I switch but perhaps want a new phone could I just get a newer phone off Ebay or Craigslist?

 

[DawnM]

I am saying that if you upgrade in April, you cannot switch to the new plan without also needing to pay off your phone.

If you happen to have gotten a subsidized phone before Feb. 2nd, you could go ahead and switch just this one time as it was a new program.

Dawn

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm on the old plan right now, and my two year contract end & subsidized upgrade eligibility date is in April 2014. I can see in my online account that I'm eligible to switch to the new plan, and can either upgrade now at full price, or just keep the subsidized phone I already have, without paying the additional $25 a month.

What I was going to possibly do was wait until April, upgrade, then switch, assuming I still wouldn't have to pay the $25 extra per month. But is that not the case then?

 

[supergoofy]

I didn't know about the phone upgrade either but we are at the top of the phone chain and until something comes out that offers something we need I don't see the need to switch phones. I have had a cell phone for 16 years and been through about 4 phones and each time I upgrade it is because of some technology changing.

I started with a standard phone. No frills just call in/out

Upgraded to phone that could text

Upgraded to Blackberry for email

Upgraded to IPhone because I wanted some apps.


We all have IPhone4's. I know the 5 is out but besides "frills" like a different camera or processor what does a 5 do a 4 cannot?


To me phones now a days is more status than function. You get to a point where you are paying for bells and whistles.


Lastly for us a data overage which I have done twice now in last 6 months is $20 a phone.

Figure when we need new phones I will just pay OOP for a used 5. Don't see us buying new anytime soon.

 

[arianrose]

I've been with AT&T long enough that I'm grandfathered into an unlimited data plan on my phone, with 2Gb on my wife's phone. I'll change plans when they force me to, and not before.

 

[wishesuponastar]

My DH called AT&T tonight and got our bill lowered by about $40 with I think the Mobile share program. You have to sign up for this before April 1st.
We have 3 basic phones and one smart phone and our bill went from $160 to $125 (approx. with fees). We were also given unlimited talk & text.

Hope to help someone else lower their bill.

Edit to add - I didn't see the post below until now. Will have to look into this tomorrow to see if we still want the Mobile share program. sorry for confusion.

aprilchem
Mouseketeer


Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Virginia
Posts: 434

Quote:
Originally Posted by wannabee View Post
I made the switch to the new family share 10 gb plan but until I read thus thread didn't realize I wouldn't be able to upgrade like we used to. Are you saying we will have to pay full price if we want a new phone ?

Yes, that's how the new plan works. I believe a new phone for us is $600 (iPhone) so it did not work out that this deal saved us any money overall.
aprilchem is offline Report Post

 

[manning]

I checked this last week and think I posted about this.
We have 4 smart phones with Verizon and pay $250 for unlimited talk, unlimited text and 2 gig of data each phone,,,,not shared.
I was impressed with the $160...sure AT&t coverage in my area not great but for $1200 a year we'd switch.
BUT like others said if you want a new phone you are screwed. We are eligible for upgrades (3 of us) next month. IF we want new phones our bill would be MORE than Verizon each month.
No thanks....
there is fine print and you need to see if this will work for your family.
We had 2 year old smart phones that are prehistoric compared to new.
So for better coverage and new phones for less we are a Verizon family still....

That old saying.

The big print giveth, the fine print taketh.

 

[wishesuponastar]

My DH called AT&T tonight and got our bill lowered by about $40 with I think the Mobile share program. You have to sign up for this before April 1st.
We have 3 basic phones and one smart phone and our bill went from $160 to $125 (approx. with fees). We were also given unlimited talk & text.

Hope to help someone else lower their bill.

Edit to add - I didn't see the post below until now. Will have to look into this tomorrow to see if we still want the Mobile share program. sorry for confusion.

aprilchem
Mouseketeer


Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Virginia
Posts: 434

Quote:
Originally Posted by wannabee View Post
I made the switch to the new family share 10 gb plan but until I read thus thread didn't realize I wouldn't be able to upgrade like we used to. Are you saying we will have to pay full price if we want a new phone ?

Yes, that's how the new plan works. I believe a new phone for us is $600 (iPhone) so it did not work out that this deal saved us any money overall.
aprilchem is offline Report Post

UPDATE 3/30/14
Ok, so I called AT&T back to check what we signed up for. We have the Mobile Share plan with 300 mb data and unlimited text and talk for $20.
One smart phone is $25, 3 basic phones are $20 each. So that's a total of $105 plus taxes where we used to pay $140 plus taxes.

If we want to upgrade then we have two options. The Next program or a two year contract.

With the Next program we would pay the tax for the phone we select then pay the cost of the phone over 20 or 26 months. Also pay $20 per month per basic phone or $25 per month per smart phone.

With the two year contract - there may be free phones to choose from. Then we pay $20 per line for each basic phone we select or $40 per line for each smart phone we select.

Right now we are staying with one smart phone and 3 basic phones and I'm not sure if we would choose the Next or two year contract in the future.

 

[tarheel618]

With 5 phones, the price is $175. With taxes and fees, I figure the bill will be @$200. We also have 5 phones, 3 smart and 2 dumb. I did just change ours, but wondering if it will be worth it as we will only be saving @$30-$40/ month. We do have a discounted plan, so I think we will also save a little there. Before it was 15% of $60 now it should be 15% off of $100. $6 more in discount, woohoo.

We just switched yesterday and we have the exact same package as you including the discount? Can you tell me how much your monthly bill ended up being with the discount?

Thanks

 

[WVMomof3]

I believe the correct answer is $187, but we have not paid that yet. The first month, they did not have the correct pricing in. They showed $40 for the smart phones. When I called to get it straightened out, the rep told me he fixed it. When the payment processed it was for @$170. I looked to see what he did and he just pushed a credit of $99 on top of first bill. I thought it should only be @$75 credit, but not going to complain. The next month it showed the bill as $187 but when my payment processed it was for $161. I looked and for some reason a $26 credit posted. I have no idea why. So, right now it again shows as $187.80. We will see how much is actually charged. We have automatic credit card payments set up.