Question about Thunderbolt, Verizon, and merging an individual plan with an existing family plan..

[wellnowwhat]

Hey, all.

Here's the scoop: I'm currently on AT&T. My fiancee is on a Verizon family plan with her family, and they are currently maxed out at 5 users. However, they will be dropping a user, leaving a space open for me to eventually hop on the plan. We're basically trying to stay on the same plan to save money, and her mother gets an awesome discount because she works for the state.

As it stands, I'd really like to get the Thunderbolt at launch. However, they don't want to drop the user and what-not until after the 1st, because that's when the billing cycle ends. So, here's what I was thinking: I could buy the Thunderbolt on my own contract, and then eventually merge my contract with the family plan as an additional line. So, I would start off with the contract in my name and buy the Thunderbolt, but then after a couple weeks just combine my plan with my finacee's family's plan.

Do any of you have experience with doing something like this? Have you run into any problems? If not, do you foresee any major problems occurring? I know that I'll end up paying a bit more up front, but that's alright with me. I'm mostly just worried about getting locked into a contract and then not being able to get out of it for two years and paying a bunch of money when I could save money by being on the family plan.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mpbrown18]

The only problem I can see is that you'll have to pay to void the contract...at that point is it really worth it? Actually they're just discounting the TB 50% so 250 + 350(cancellation fee) - $10 (for one month of service) = $590 or $600 to buy the phone without contract. If you've got $600 to get the phone I'd go that route, a lot less headache.

 

[Clementine_3]

There should be no fees involved, as long as the line stays active it doesn't matter if it's on an individual plan or a family plan. The "owner" of the family plan will have to do an Assumption of Liability for your line to add it. That will not break your contract and you will benefit from it with lower monthly fees. You will not get an ETF for changing though as you are not 'voiding' your contract. If you cancel service totally then yes, but not if you get added to a family plan.

 

[blueamcat]

My husband and I merged our lines just before we got married and there was no problem at all. My sister even left the family plan we had together when she got married and her husband got a line with her. Worked great! As long as lines aren't cancelled, should be just fine.