ATT Next vs Two Year Plan

[BWV Dreamin]

Are there any drawbacks to going to the Next plan through ATT? Our contract is not up until 7 months from now and I really want to upgrade my phone. I'm not changing carriers. I am hearing 2 year contracts will soon be a thing of the past. Thoughts?

 

[Marionnette]

Are there any drawbacks to going to the Next plan through ATT? Our contract is not up until 7 months from now and I really want to upgrade my phone. I'm not changing carriers. I am hearing 2 year contracts will soon be a thing of the past. Thoughts?

We switched to a Next plan. It wasn't so much because we wanted to be able to upgrade our phones whenever we wanted without being tied to 2-year agreements. It was because AT&T has changed the pricing on their 2-year agreements to make them more expensive than the Next Plan. So even though they are not phasing out the contract plans, they are making them so unattractive that their customers opt out of them.

 

[erinmarie2224]

We just went through this at xmas. I did some research and it actually seems that you spend less out of pocket over the span of 2 years if you buy the phone at the non-discounted price. We went with the 2 year plan.

If you buy the phone with the 2 year plan you monthly plan goes up (ours went up $15/month) but you own the phone at the end of the contract.

http://www.cnet.com/news/contract-or-no-contract-for-iphone-6-which-is-the-better-deal/

 

[wenrob]

I think it depends on the type of mobile plan you have. Like Marrionette mentioned they are going out of their way to make the two year plans less attractive. We have a mobile share plan and if I'd gone with 2yr I would have lost the $25 discount. Whether you go 2yr or Next, you are still paying the same price for the phone, it's just a matter of how you want to divide those payments and if you want to put money down up front or not.

With Next you only pay the taxes up front, no activation fee or down payment, I think of it as a lease to own kind of plan. I chose the 24 month plan with an option to upgrade at 18months. The early upgrade is where they get you because you're trading in the phone you've been paying on but that works for a lot of people who want the latest and greatest. At the end of two years you own the phone like you would on contract. The upside for me is I can choose to pay the phone off any time I want, my bill goes down, the phone is mine and I'm free to do what I want with no penalties, I still have my plan or I can walk away. We recently came into some "found" money and that's just what I did, paid it off like I would a credit card or other bill.

IMO, if you can resist the early upgrade trap there are no downsides.

 

[wenrob]

We just went through this at xmas. I did some research and it actually seems that you spend less out of pocket over the span of 2 years if you buy the phone at the non-discounted price. We went with the 2 year plan.

If you buy the phone with the 2 year plan you monthly plan goes up (ours went up $15/month) but you own the phone at the end of the contract.

http://www.cnet.com/news/contract-or-no-contract-for-iphone-6-which-is-the-better-deal/

That's a really great article and helps break it down in an easy to understand way. The only issue I take is she's rolling the access fee into the price of the phone. You're paying that fee* no matter what so I see it as part of the plan price, not the cost of the phone. When someone fulfills their 2yr that $40 drops to $15. That $25 is essentially the $27 someone is paying on Next.

*when talking about a mobile share plan

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Excellent comments and article! Since the price difference is negligible I think we will get on the next plan!! Thanks again!