Well bbui, I agree that's what seems most likely given we're talking about Verizon, but most leaked info suggests that you WILL be able to upgrade and keep your unlimited data, as long as you're not making any changes. Many reps have stated this as well, so it seems likely.
However, we don't yet know what they will consider to be a change. To be sure, switching from 3g to 4g is a different plan, and we don't yet know whether they will allow this change or not. Everyone seems to be claiming they will, but I have seen nothing leaked that suggests this, it just hasn't been denied by anything and some reps seem to think this is the case. It'd be great because it would encourage current 3g customers to upgrade to 4g devices, rather than keeping the older technology. But they may also see 4g as incentive enough to make them switch and lose their unlimited, thereby putting most of their customers on a tiered plan over time, and reducing load on the network (which they still claim is the main reason for this switch). This way, as the network transitions to LTE, and customer uptake increases, many existing customers will still have reason to switch to tiered, and the only people with unlimited LTE for the years to come would be those who already have LTE phones.
That's all my speculation, please don't think I have any info that you don't have access to. Its just the most likely scenario to me, based on Verizon's recent behavior and what info is out there. The ability for anyone to upgrade and keep unlimited is more than I expected, honestly I figured I'd be keeping my Charge until I wanted to buy another device at full retail. We still don't know for a fact that you'll be able to upgrade at all, but there are documents out that say that, and most reps say that, so I would expect that to be true. But its a pretty safe bet that current LTE phone owners will be able to keep their unlimited LTE plans for some time to come.
If I were you, I'd probably wait just a bit longer in hopes of getting clarification as to whether you can upgrade 3g to 4g w/o losing unlimited, while being ready to pull the trigger on the Charge at a moment's notice. After having used 4g, I can honestly say the difference is insane, I wouldn't consider selling the Charge for anything that isn't LTE, no matter how powerful the hardware is. So I'd definitely tell you to get something LTE, and the Charge is a great phone. Obviously the SGS2 is a good bit better, and likely the best phone of the year, but I wouldn't want it without unlimited LTE.
If you find out before the date that Verizon WILL allow you to upgrade from a 3g phone to a 4g phone after the date while keeping unlimited data, then keep the Fascinate. Wait until an LTE SGS2 comes out, or something else LTE that you want. We don't yet know when the SGS2 is coming, or whether it'll be LTE at first or not. But its definitely coming at some point, and there will be an LTE version, even if it first launches as a 3g-only device. But you wouldn't be under any pressure, as you would be keeping unlimited when switching to an LTE plan, and could wait however long it takes for an LTE-equipped GS2 to release.
However, if you find that you CANNOT upgrade from a 3g plan to a 4g plan while keeping unlimited after the date, or cannot find any info regarding this when its a few days before, grab the Charge. Again, 4g is much better than 3g, so it'll still feel like a new phone, while also being very familiar to you. If the GS2 launches as 3g-only first, oh well, you won't want anything 3g anymore anyway once you experience LTE. An LTE version will be coming, or again it may launch that way, though I doubt it will if it launches anytime soon. Since you would already have a Charge and have used your upgrade anyway, the longer it takes to come out just gives you more time to save up.
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