vB Easy Archive - buy iPhone 3G on family member's line?

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buy iPhone 3G on family member's line?
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Posted by: thadoggfather

assuming you have to be eligible, do you think it would work if i bought one on one family member's line (who's eligible) and moved it over to mine?

Posted by: Quake97

It all depends on how the activation takes place, but my guess would be no, that wouldn't work.

Joe

Posted by: chhristiannnn

Yes it would. If he is eligible and buys the iphone like a normal upgrade, it is HIS property. He can give it to you and you can activate it normally...

Posted by: amkls704

This is what I was wondering as I have 2 accounts with AT&T. Both are in MY name. One has me and my girlfriend's lines on it, the other has my parent's 2 lines on it. I may want to purchase the 3g iphone but I bought a curve back in April so I'm not eligible. The girlfriend is. So I think I may use one of my parent's upgrades. Are they going to have a data plan on there then that we can't get rid of though?

Posted by: RF9

Why not combine all of those lines on to one account/one FT plan? I would think you would save money by getting a bigger FT plan and having all 4 lines on the same plan.
You can do that you know.
Or is it more of a billing issue of keeping expenses separate

Posted by: sprungson

Quote:

Originally Posted by thadoggfather

assuming you have to be eligible, do you think it would work if i bought one on one family member's line (who's eligible) and moved it over to mine?

I think he's trying to say his line was added later than some of the lines in his family plan. Like my family line has 4 lines.. but two of them are eligible for upgrade, while the fourth and third are new so they cannot be upgraded. So, i think it is fine if you use one of the lines with eligibility for an upgrade to buy the iphone and you use the iphone on your line instead.

Posted by: RF9

I also think that would work.

Posted by: dave006

Quote:

Originally Posted by amkls704

This is what I was wondering as I have 2 accounts with AT&T. Both are in MY name. One has me and my girlfriend's lines on it, the other has my parent's 2 lines on it. I may want to purchase the 3g iphone but I bought a curve back in April so I'm not eligible. The girlfriend is. So I think I may use one of my parent's upgrades. Are they going to have a data plan on there then that we can't get rid of though?

Yes, the data plan is required to get the 199/299 pricing. You have to sign up for a 2 yr Voice and Data Contract according to the charts presented on the AT&T Investor Call on June 9th.

Posted by: amkls704

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave006

Yes, the data plan is required to get the 199/299 pricing. You have to sign up for a 2 yr Voice and Data Contract according to the charts presented on the AT&T Investor Call on June 9th.

I'll let the girlfriend get one. I just can't see paying data for me when the iPhone would just be a backup to my n95. I pay half the price for data on that and I get my FAN discount. I don't think I could give up the camera either. I think I'll stick with my n95. Why mess with a good thing.

Posted by: amkls704

Quote:

Originally Posted by RF9

Why not combine all of those lines on to one account/one FT plan? I would think you would save money by getting a bigger FT plan and having all 4 lines on the same plan.
You can do that you know.
Or is it more of a billing issue of keeping expenses separate

My parents had a deposit with AT&T for some reason, so I put them on my plan originally. Then when they'd send texts, pics, download ringtones, it was a pain for us to separate the bill, so I just separated them.

I want it that way. They pay their bill, I pay ours. That way, I can make sure it gets paid since it's in my name, but I can tell what is ours and theirs as it's two separate accounts.

Posted by: amkls704

Anyone have any other input on this?

Is the contract on the actual plan or the data too? I would assume just on the plan and it wouldn't matter if you dropped the data package. I dropped my iPhone data package from the 1st iPhone when I sold it so I wouldn't think.

This is what I want to do. My girlfriend and I are on one plan. She has an upgrade as she has the current iPhone, so she's fine to get a new one. If I want one, I have another account in my name that are my parent's lines, and they are both eligible for upgrades. Can I use one of their upgrades to get the 199 or 299 pricing, then cancel the data plan portion only, then move the phone over to my line and add an iPhone data plan? I wouldn't think they'd care. It's not like I wouldn't sign a new 2 year. I don't see why it would matter what line I ultimately end up using it on, would it? If I can get the upgrade price, I'll pick up 2. If not, I'll just stick with my n95.

Posted by: j14nelson

Good question on this........I called AT&T and they said that if I sold my iPhone 3g after a year, I could drop my data plan once I got a different phone

Posted by: amkls704

Quote:

Originally Posted by j14nelson

Good question on this........I called AT&T and they said that if I sold my iPhone 3g after a year, I could drop my data plan once I got a different phone

So you have to keep the data plan for a year before you can drop it? Or were they just using a year as an example?

The only problem I see with them tying people to data is what if someone damages or loses their iPhone and doesn't want to buy a new one? They can't possibly make someone keep the data plan on there. I would assume it's just like any other 2 year. You just have to keep the AT&T service for 2 years, regardless what phone you ultimately end up using.

Posted by: asnpcwiz

Of course it would work. Once you buy the phone and sign the contract, they could care less what you do with it...as long as you are stuck in the 2 year contract...they don't care. Whether you use it all the time, use it as a coaster, take a dump on it, or put another sim card on it, they don't care. As long as you continue to pay for the plan for 2 years, they could care less.

The better question is how will the data work since it's tied to the other person's number?!?

Posted by: amkls704

Quote:

Originally Posted by asnpcwiz

Of course it would work. Once you buy the phone and sign the contract, they could care less what you do with it...as long as you are stuck in the 2 year contract...they don't care. Whether you use it all the time, use it as a coaster, take a dump on it, or put another sim card on it, they don't care. As long as you continue to pay for the plan for 2 years, they could care less.

That was my train of thought exactly. As long as they have you for another 2 years either way - they shouldn't care what you do with the data plan or the phone itself.