AT&T Next Plan

[Deleted User]

Need some help from someone more knowledgeable than my sales rep. Long time AT&T client, with the family unlimited plan. Need some info on AT&T's new "Next" plan.
1- What happens to my old phone, when i upgrade?
2- If i upgrade after 12-14 months into my plan, what happens to the rest of the money that i owe on the first phone?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[breadnatty08]

Moved to the AT&T forum.

 

[rui-no-onna]

Need some help from someone more knowledgeable than my sales rep. Long time AT&T client, with the family unlimited plan. Need some info on AT&T's new "Next" plan.
1- What happens to my old phone, when i upgrade?
2- If i upgrade after 12-14 months into my plan, what happens to the rest of the money that i owe on the first phone?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

1. I do believe you get to keep it if you got it through the old subsidy model. Alas, I haven't tried this yet.

2. Assuming you're already on AT&T Next and you upgrade after 12 months, you have two options:

• surrender the first phone to AT&T and AT&T will waive the remaining balance (at most 8 months worth of payments)
• keep the first phone and pay off the balance

Depending on the resale value of the phone, it might be worth keeping it and selling yourself. With the iPhone for example, you'd likely make extra money on top of the pay-off amount if you sell it yourself.

Something to keep in mind, with AT&T Next 12, you're required to make at least 12 out of 20 monthly payments before you can trade in. That means you've already paid for at least 60% of the cost of the phone. I remember doing some calculations and AT&T has the worst "trade-in" value when compared to Verizon and T-Mobile.