Is the AT&T NEXT program worth it?

[jamil]

One of my coworkers has it and is happy with it. He gets the new phone, passes down his phone to his wife, she passes her phone down to the daughter. Everybody gets a relatively new phone, only one account has the extra payment.

So the following is not true?

The downside to next is that you have to give them back the phone when you upgrade again. So, you're out the value of the old phone at that time... do some googling, if you're on the old ATT plan you're probably better off staying with that.

Everytime I go in one of the reps tries to get me to switch, and tries to explain they're saving me money. I've run the numbers, (they're not)

Think of if this way, they wouldn't want you to change plans so bad if they were going to lose money by having you switch....

 

[Clay]

You don't have to turn your phone in if you go the entire length of the payment plan. IE Next 12 the entire payment plan is 18 months, Next 24 its 30 months.

The way they save you money is by switching their new Mobile Share plan, where you pay based on data usage, and there is no more extra fee for having a smart phone. We don't use much data, so we have the 3GB plan and dropped the bill from $140 to $90. If I had gone to the next 24 it would have still been cheaper, but not as much as it is right now because they add that payment to the bill, so my $90 plan would have been $120.

 

[mk2ja]

The main "advantage" of the NEXT plan is that you can upgrade your phone earlier (to the "Next" big thing), as compared to the legacy contracts which usually required you to wait 2 years before you could upgrade. According to the rules of economics, everything has an opportunity cost; in this case, they are being sooooooo generous by letting you upgrade early, but they make you turn in the phone for which you've been making all these payments.

To the OP, since you and your wife have been using the iPhone 5 all this time, you sound like the kind of people who can make a phone last. In that case, you might be well served by doing what my wife and I did. On the NEXT plan, you're getting a 0% loan, and by choosing NEXT-24, you get the lowest monthly payment. At the end of the 24 month mark, yeah, you *could* turn it in and get an upgrade; but, if you can make it last a little longer, you'll pay it off at the 30 month mark (or sooner if you want), and then not have to make any more payments on the phone itself for a while. Plus, as mentioned, they'll give you a discount on the data/voice plan if you get on the NEXT plan for paying off the phone. So that's what we did.

You can also pay for the phone in full up front, or bring your own phone after buying one somewhere else, but you might not get that discount, and you're not getting the 0% loan. Even on the NEXT plan, you can always opt to pay it off in full whenever you want. When the phone is paid off, it can be sold to Gazelle or on eBay or Craigslist; iPhones retain value better than others. Or if you have kids, do what others suggested and handmedown it.

I'm not totally up on the details, but Verizon has its EDGE program, which is probably the same type of thing. They want to help you stay on the "Cutting Edge" of technology.

And T-Mobile has a JUMP program, so you can "jump" to the new model.

At least Sprint calls it like it is with their Sprint Lease plan.


Anyway, hope some of this info helps.

 

[Tanfodude]

Been with Cingular, err, att since 2001 and never had any problems with their service. In fact, I travelled a lot back then and pretty much have a signal, even on places where you could dump bodies. Dunno where all this hate to ATT is coming from.

 

[Cemetery-man]

I just did the Verizon version of this same plan to upgrade us to iPhone 6. We went from 1 smart phone to 2, increased our data to 6gb and it still dropped my monthly bill by $20 plus the only cost up front was sales tax on the phones.

 

[Clay]

, or bring your own phone after buying one somewhere else,

you can't bring your own phone and be on the Next plan. The Next plan is just the payment plan for the phone, so if you bring your own phone (like I did) then you're not on the Next plan and just pay for service.

 

[lovemachine]

If I have time, I'll stop at the AT&T store tomorrow. Can't hurt to look.

 

[mk2ja]

you can't bring your own phone and be on the Next plan. The Next plan is just the payment plan for the phone, so if you bring your own phone (like I did) then you're not on the Next plan and just pay for service.

That's correct. I guess I was unclear. My point is that when getting a new phone, the options are to get it on contract with a service plan like we used to (worst option), use a NEXT/EDGE/JUMP phone purchase plan to pay it off over time (probably the best option), or buy a phone outright up front either from the provider or elsewhere; with either of the last two, the service plan is separate from the phone payment, but AT&T will give a discount on the service plan if a NEXT plan is used.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

"Out for Delivery" are the three greatest words behind "Here's more bacon".

Galaxy Note 5 should be here shortly. Maintained my 2-year contract plan by having it delivered. Walked out of three ATT stores when they refused to do anything but the Next plan.

 

[Clay]

that's because the AT&T stores are only allowed to sell the next plan now.

 

[CBR1000rr]

I'll do my best to clear up some info.

Can you still sign a 2 year contract with AT&T?

- Yes. However, you must go to a corporate store. Authorized retailers are no longer allowed to offer 2 year contracts.

Is the 2 year contract better than the NEXT program?

- In some cases yes and in others it isn't. The plan you're on AND how you are using it dictates which route is a better option. I highly suggest you speak to a corporate store employee before making that decision on your own.

Old plan with 1 line with 450 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data but using less than 3GB of data:
$39.99 for the plan
$20.00 for text messaging
$30.00 for unlimited data

$89.99 total before taxes
$2,159.76 over a 2 year period for just the plan.

New plan, same usage (unlimited talk and text with 3GB of data)

$40 for the plan
$40 for the access

$80/ month before taxes
$1,920 over a 2 year period if you're under contract

Out of contract

$40 for the plan
$25 for access

$65 before taxes
$1,560 over a 2 year period

The New plan is $599.76 less expensive over a 2year period if you are out of contract and $139.76 less if you are under contract. If you add in the 2 year contract price for the iPhone 6 ($199.99) you are now roughly $800 more expensive over 2 years on an old traditional plan. The iPhone 6 is only $649.99 retail. That makes the old plan roughly $150 more expensive than the new plans even though it appears that you are paying "full retail" for your phone vs. The discounted price you are used to receiving.



Are you required to trade your phone in to upgrade?

- No. You may upgrade at any time without turning in your phone but you must pay out the remaining balance of your phone. If you want to upgrade early without paying out the remaining balance, you have to trade your phone in and it must be free of physical damage.

If I pay my phone off in full or purchase my phone from another source, do I loose any discount on the plan?

- No, you do not loose the discount for either of these reasons. As long as you are out of contract OR on the NEXT program, you will receive the monthly discount.

Are people punished for signing a 2 year contract?

- No. If you sign a 2 contract, the monthly cost is the same as it has always been, $40/ month per smartphone.

Old plan: $9.99 for the access and $30 for the data plan
New plan: $40 under contract


Is it worth it to trade my phone in and upgrade early or should I sell it on my own?

- This is up to you to decide. How much is your time worth? How much effort will go into selling it. Will the final sale price be more than the balance owed on your device? All of these questions are ones only you can answer. In some cases, you may be able to sell your phone, pay any sellers fees (eBay and PayPal) plus pay shopping costs and still cone out money ahead. Will it be $20 ahead or $100? Who knows and is it worth the hassle?

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide which is better. However, more times than not, the NEXT program is the better route to go. Often times you can lower your bill out at least keep it the same while lowering your upfront costs. Sometimes it may go up a few dollars yet still be less expensive over a 2 year period and still have mow upgrade options.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this site\page are entirely my own. They should not be seen as reflecting the views of or the opinions of my AT&T or as having been authorized or approved by anyone other than me.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

FYI, do not insert the Galaxy Note 5 stylus backwards. Check this video out... guy accidently breaks his phone talking about the backward stylus issue.

Incredible design flaw.

[video=youtube;dQB0TFcdFIs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQB0TFcdFIs[/video]

 

[ArcadiaGP]

For those of you, like me, that still have the grandfathered unlimited data plan, they're raising the price by $5 per month.

 

[jhparsons78]

We did the NEXT plan and it is working very well. If we like the next gen, will pay it off and upgrade. Sell our 6S to make up the difference.