Termination or new phone?

love_bug0123

I have the worst phone it the world, Kin one, and I want a new one.  What is the cheapest way to get a new phone? My 2-year contract just started about six months ago. Is it possible to get a new phone and pay the price of a 2-year contract phone without terminating my contract now? If I have to terminate my contract now, how much would it be for each kin one phone? I'm on a plan with four people and we all want to switch.

MojaveMoon_

"Is it possible to get a new phone and pay the price of a 2-year contract phone without terminating my contract now?"

At six months into a two year contract, if you want to upgrade a basic phone to another basic phone then I think you probably have zero chance of Verizon permitting you to have a phone at contract price. Verizon's system is set up to permit a customer to upgrade a non-smartphone four months before the two year contract ends.

On another forum there've been reports that some lucky smartphone customers have been awarded out of the blue an opportunity to upgrade a year early to another smartphone. If someone on your plan can afford the smartphone data plan, then maybe there's a tiny tiny chance of that person getting a super early upgrade at contract price for a smartphone.

"If I have to terminate my contract now, how much would it be for each kin one phone?"

I believe it's $175 early termination fee for a basic phone and $350 early termination fee for a smartphone.

At Verizon's website, when you select pricing for month to month then you can see what Verizon is charging for the full retail price which ranges from $ 169 to $ 319 for a new basic phone if we're talking about one of the basic phones currently on the market.

So it seems like you wouldn't be gaining anything by paying an early termination fee, then signing up and then paying contract price. Plus, my impression is that a credit report is pulled for anyone when applying for service with Verizon. What if they ask to run a credit report for whomever is the primary accountholder on your plan and decide to ask for a deposit based on how the credit report looks now ?

On ebay there are new and used discontinued non-smartphones at $ 100 or less. If you don't know what discontinued non-smartphones to consider, you could ask or look around in the basic forum section here and at http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/529-Feature-Phones

phonearena.com , phonescoop.com, and cnet.com are also excellent resources for specs and past customer reviews on discontinued and current phones.