ETF and Upgrade to iPhone 5 Question

[nestor_rd]

I currently have an iPhone 4S, but my contract isn't due until another year. If right now, when the iPhone 5 comes out, I wanted to upgrade without doing so at full price, what would be my best option? Would it actually be possible to terminate my contract early, and pay Verizon the early termination fee, which in my case would be of around $250 ($350—$10 for each month of usage), and then buy the new iPhone at $199 (16GB) and begin a new plan with Verizon? I'm looking at this situation in terms of best prices, since upgrading at full price from Verizon itself would cost me like $649 (that's the price of an upgrade to the iPhone 4S now and will most likely be the one for the iPhone 5), but if I end my contract now and pay those $250, and then buy the new iPhone, that would be around $450 + $35 of activation fees, which would clearly mean some savings.

Is this possible? Would there be any disadvantage over losing my current contract and signing up a new one?

Thanks in advance.

[dimap52 · Accepted solution]

That sounds doable, but if you are on an unlimited plan you would lose that when you signed the new contract since you wouldn't be paying full price for the new phone. Only way you can keep unlimited is to pay full price regardless.

[SuzyQ]

First off, you couldn't do it.  You need to wait at least 60 days before beginning a new contract/account with Verizon after cancelling one. 

You would lose your phone number if you cancelled. 

If you still have a year to upgrade, it means you got the iPhone 4S less than a year ago.  Perhaps you can sell the 4S and use that towards purchasing the 5 at full price, thereby keeping your upgrade status for a year from now, having the iPhone 5, and maybe end up paying less if you can get a good price for the 4S.

[nestor_rd]

You make several good points. Thank you for your reply.

[vzw_customer_support]

Great question, nestor_rd! I would suggest purchasing the device for the full retail price. You can recoup some of your money spent by selling your current 4s device. http://bit.ly/GGnDDC Have a great day!

ChaunceyM_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

[Abe73]

This is great advice.  One of the great things about iPhones is they have high resale value.  This is how I upgrade mine every year. I usually get close to half of the money I spent for the new one back from reselling my old device.

[gina7239]

A 4strade in on gazelle is $240 16gig. Apple has that too. Vzw too. You can add a line so you could get around it too.

[heyitsmejosh]

you always could just add the new line with the iphone 5 before you ETF the old line.

[mel1220]

I was in a similar situation.  However I already had 5 lines.  2 of which we do not use the lines.  I would recommend, if you are not at the 5 line limit, I would add a line, transfer the new phone to your current # when you get it and find a basic phone that you can attach to that new line where you don't need a data plan.  That way, you can keep your unlimited if you currently have it and pay just the promotional price. 

I was at the 5 line limit so I wasn't able just to add a line.  I contacted customer service twice and confirmed with them, that I could infact cancel one of my lines, have the ETF applied to my next bill and would be able to then add another line, paying the promotional price for the iphone 5.  Then transfer that phone over to my line with unlimited.  I asked customer service specifically about the 60 day waiting period..  Both customer service reps told me no, there is no waiting period to do this.  I too had posted my question on here and many people were telling me about a waiting period.   Customer service told me no, there was no waiting period.

So I went to a VZW store yesterday, the salesman was afraid to do both transactions similtaniously, claiming that it would look like he was trying to get a sale, and said he could get fired.  So his suggestion was to add a sub-account.  He ordered me my Iphone 5 at the promotional price.  I currently have my 5 lines, then this sub account.  He told me I could contact customer service anytime, 2 days , 2 months, 6 months from now, anytime and then cancel the line I wanted to originally cancel to have my original plan done and leaving me with the 5 lines once again.   I plan on calling to cancel as soon as I get a shipping confirmation. 

So infact, it worked for me.  There is no waiting period per the 2 people at customer service.  But it doesn't even come into play if you just set up the sub account until you get your shipping confirmation.

Hope this helps. 

Ps:  my etf was $230 , the salesman at VZW told me that currently the trade in value at VZW for the 16g 4s is $230.  Said it would come in the form of a gift card and you can use it toward your bill or accessories, so its a win/win.  He said that it may drop a little in the next couple weeks, but doesn't think it will drop tremendously.   I've also heard of companies that will buy your phone from you that would give you cash.   I've yet to decide what option I'm going to do.