How are you all upgrading to new phones?

[AZSALUKI]

You first must actually be eligible for an upgrade (signed your last contract 20+ months ago).

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[IntheStorm]

They made it real simple for me. I will not be taking advantage of the upgrade they offer. Not only do their tier me if i do (I average 2 GBs a month but have gone as high as 12 GBs), but my monthly bill goes up from 65 bucks a month to 77. So why would i ever want to upgrade? I will just buy a slightly used one on ebay.

 

[qzic]

Many people may be upgrading now because they were on 1 year contracts. Verizon stopped offering 1 year plans some time ago, but they were still available when the Thunderbolt launched. We were able to upgrade ours in Jan 2012, but chose to wait because there wasn't anything better enough to upgrade too and when we upgraded we would be forced onto 2-year contracts. I upgraded our two Thunderbolts to SIII's as my last chance to use the subsidy and keep unliited data.

 

[anon(3653)]

They made it real simple for me. I will not be taking advantage of the upgrade they offer. Not only do their tier me if i do (I average 2 GBs a month but have gone as high as 12 GBs), but my monthly bill goes up from 65 bucks a month to 77. So why would i ever want to upgrade? I will just buy a slightly used one on ebay.

Why would your bill go up? If all you are doing is upgrading, you will move from unlimited data to 2gb... Nothing else would change unless you are changing other features also.

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[1gridlok2]

Nov,Dec is when some damn goodness comes from goolge and Verizon. I will wait. Its only a few months away.

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[AZSALUKI]

What's coming?

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[mikestorm]

Just another thought: If you are willing to settle for cutting edge - 9 months you may even pay less than if you boutght a subsidized phone.

As an example: Like new Galaxy Nexus phones are running around $250 now on eBay. That's $50 less than the original subsidized phone price. With the dev community on the Nexus, this phone will be relevant for quite some time.

This is what I plan on doing. FYI I've bought (6) and sold (6) a dozen phones of eBay with no problems on either side of the transaction.

 

[anon(394005)]

Starting with the Thunderbolt, I decided to stop playing the subsidized on contract game and just pay full retail. It allows me to maintain the most control over my options and keep unlimited data. Still haven't seen anything tempting to replace my Thunderbolt. In the meantime, I've stashed away more than enough money to get something new when the need or want arises.

 

[ngb802]

If you get a new phone at a discount from Verizon (i.e.; a Galaxy S3 at $199) then you will be forced into the new "tiered shared data" plans. If you purchase the phone at retail price and activate it on your current contract you will keep unlimited data at the current price.

I will be purchasing my next phone for full price as long as the possibility of retaining unlimited data continues. The math for me is simple. Purchase a phone for $600 I will keep, for the sake of argument, for 18 months. The cost of the phone is $400 more than the $199 I would have paid Verizon for it. So $400 divided by 540 days equals 75 cents a day cost to own.

I currently pay $30/month for unlimited data and I use a lot of it. I use wifi whenever I can but it is not available at work and I do most of my streaming over LTE from there. I work 12 hour shift nights and we go from insanely busy to zero going on, back and forth, constantly. During the down time I'll stream various HD feeds and usually average about 7-8gb a month LTE only. So I'd need the 10gb tier which would be $100/month vs the $30 I pay now. That's $70 times 18 months which equals an increase paid to Verizon of $1,260 total or $2.33 a day over 540 days. That's one heck of a lot more than the initial extra $400 out of pocket to just buy the phone outright.

So if someone asks you if you could have the exact same thing for $0.75 a day or $2.33 a day for the next 18 months, which would you choose?

(Of course for folks who only use 1-2gb a month per device and have multiple devices sharing a 10gb pool they may actually SAVE money by not paying for separate unlimited plans on each device.)

You really need to take a look at your current usage and number of devices, plus try to extrapolate potential increases in usage over time over the course of 2 years, put it all together and whip out the old calculator. It's just not a one-size-fits-all world out there in data-land anymore.

So your saying if I'm on an unlimited data plan now , and I'm due for an upgrade don't use it in order to keep my unlimited plan?

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[anon(394005)]

So your saying if I'm on an unlimited data plan now , and I'm due for an upgrade don't use it in order to keep my unlimited plan?

Correct. The only way to keep unlimited data is by purchasing a phone at full retail or by bringing your own (ex. get something off craigslist or Ebay, etc.). If you use your upgrade, you're getting a phone at a subsidized price and will be forced to give up unlimited data.

 

[ngb802]

So if I just don't use my upgrade that's coming up which is in Sept I get to keep unlimited data? Will I be month or month ?

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[anon(394005)]

So if I just don't use my upgrade that's coming up which is in Sept I get to keep unlimited data? Will I be month or month ?

Yes on both.

 

[Ry]

So if I just don't use my upgrade that's coming up which is in Sept I get to keep unlimited data? Will I be month or month ?

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Usually you're eligible for an upgrade before your contract is up. You'll be month-to-month when your commitment has been fulfilled.

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[The Hustleman]

Why would your bill go up? If all you are doing is upgrading, you will move from unlimited data to 2gb... Nothing else would change unless you are changing other features also.

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How do you get Verizon for 65 bucks?

That's cheaper than any other carrier

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III on T-Mobile! goodbye Sprint!

 

[Eclipse2K]

How do you get Verizon for 65 bucks?

That's cheaper than any other carrier

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III on T-Mobile! goodbye Sprint!

I pay $67 per month for Verizon.

450 Minutes with Friends and family's
Unlimited Text and Data
17% Corporate discount on my minutes and text plan.
Talk and Text Plus Data $20 promotional discount (Activated nearly 2 years ago and no longer offered)

Not sure how the above poster is so cheap but thats how I'm cheap.

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[The Hustleman]

I pay $67 per month for Verizon.

450 Minutes with Friends and family's
Unlimited Text and Data
17% Corporate discount on my minutes and text plan.
Talk and Text Plus Data $20 promotional discount (Activated nearly 2 years ago and no longer offered)

Not sure how the above poster is so cheap but thats how I'm cheap.

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wow, if I paid that much I'd have been on Verizon.

I priced it a month or so before they switched plans and it would have ran me 130 for a similar (not identical) plan as what I had with Sprint for 79.

Considering I got great voice service (every where I traveled) and decent 4g service with Sprint I didn't see anything to justify spending an extra 50.

But if I could have gotten in on a price like that I'd have been switched to veRAPIST.

NOW they want about 90 for 5 gigs, which isn't bad but 67?

Goes to show that they DON'T have to be so expensive

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III on T-Mobile! goodbye Sprint!

 

[anon(394005)]

I pay $67 per month for Verizon.

450 Minutes with Friends and family's
Unlimited Text and Data
17% Corporate discount on my minutes and text plan.
Talk and Text Plus Data $20 promotional discount (Activated nearly 2 years ago and no longer offered)

Not sure how the above poster is so cheap but thats how I'm cheap.

I?m in a similar boat with a 20% corporate discount which reduces my monthly bill to about $62, add a $1 or two more when I text a little (usually don't as I loathe it). Without the discount, it would be around $75, which includes 450 talk minutes ($39.99) and unlimited data ($29.99) + taxes. Most family and friends are on Verizon, so they don't count against my minutes. It also definitely helps to have been with them for a while to get unlimited data (when they still offered it) and now still have it grandfathered in and able to keep it in the future (by paying full retail for phones or BYO). Either way, with or without the discount, I?d be crazy to leave Verizon and lose unlimited data, not to mention they have the best service around here.

 

[The Hustleman]

I?m in a similar boat with a 20% corporate discount which reduces my monthly bill to about $62, add a $1 or two more when I text a little (usually don't as I loathe it). Without the discount, it would be around $75, which includes 450 talk minutes ($39.99) and unlimited data ($29.99) + taxes. Most family and friends are on Verizon, so they don't count against my minutes. It also definitely helps to have been with them for a while to get unlimited data (when they still offered it) and now still have it grandfathered in and able to keep it in the future (by paying full retail for phones or BYO). Either way, with or without the discount, I?d be crazy to leave Verizon and lose unlimited data, not to mention they have the best service around here.

Does that plan include texts?

I'd love to switch to Verizon if they offered reasonable prices like that.

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III on T-Mobile! goodbye Sprint!

 

[anon(394005)]

Does that plan include texts?

I'd love to switch to Verizon if they offered reasonable prices like that.

Sorry, should've clarified; no it doesn't include texting, just talk. I don't text much to warrant adding any type of texting plan option, so I just pay as I go for the few texts I may do in a month (.20 cents a text or .25 cents a MMS - multimedia text). But obviously none of that helps you because as a new customer you'd have to choose from one of the share everything plans, which would be more expensive, especially the higher data plan you may need (ex. unlimited talk and text - $40, 1GB data - $50 = $90).

 

[Eclipse2K]

Sorry, should've clarified; no it doesn't include texting, just talk. I don't text much to warrant adding any type of texting plan option, so I just pay as I go for the few texts I may do in a month (.20 cents a text or .25 cents a MMS - multimedia text). But obviously none of that helps you because as a new customer you'd have to choose from one of the share everything plans, which would be more expensive, especially the higher data plan you may need (ex. unlimited talk and text - $40, 1GB data - $50 = $90).

I was told by a Verizon representative that the solo plans are still available to both new and current customers but its an ask for type of deal. Verizon does not promote it though so I wonder if she was right. I hope so because Share Everything does a person on a single line no good with its ridiculous data cost and no choice of how many minutes.

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