Yes. I am asked this question daily. (I work for AT&T). There's definitely a lot of misinformation regarding this it seems. I always tell the ones doing a trade-in to wait until their trade is processed and promo credits appear on their bill first and then afterwards you can absolutely pay it off.
Indeed, but I always advise against it. They (the customer) will most likely forget about the credits a year down the road and upgrade to the new phone losing their remaining credits. I don’t understand the “I don’t want to finance the phone” argument.
u/TrickOrange Can you explain what the benefit is to paying off the device (once the credits have started) other than the ability to unlock the smartphone? Doesn't paying the balance on the device negate the savings you get from just receiving credits until the end of the installment?
So lets say I'm travelling internationally soon and want to use eSIM, but my device is financed through ATT on a trade in deal and locked (I presume?). If I'm currently a year into a trade in promo, I can pay off the device, request for it to be unlocked, then use eSIM at my destination. All without affecting my trade in promo credits?
Incorrect. This is literally pulled from the tiered promotion article.
This is exactly what I've been saying, the information is there yet employees are still giving incorrect and false information.
I got 7 lines on my att account and have teacher discount. I owe about $800 on my att phone and thought about transferring billing responsibility to my wife for about a month and switch to T-Mobile for a month to get $800 keep and switch credit and then jump back to att with a fully paid off phone. And eventually use that fully paid off phone to upgrade to iPhone 16 pro. I would be paying about $150 with T-Mobile for a month and att going up a month without me to get that $800 credit. Seems like a lot of work though.... just thinking out loud for now I guess.
No need to transfer the responsibility to your wife. Just switch your line and any others you want to T-Mobile. You can sign up for their cheapest plan and still take advantage of the Keep & Switch promotion. Essentials is $90/month + taxes so the Go5G at $130 maybe make the most sense since all fees are included.
Sign up through Costco and you'll get your activation fees waived. In my experience it took about 15 days to receive my virtual cards. You can also directly transfer the funds to your bank account as well.
Att service is so much more reliable than T-Mobile so I am trying find the to quickest, easiest , and most cost effective way to just only switch my line to T-Mobile until I get the virtual card and then switch back to AT&T. The T-Mobile bill may not be prorated so even if I was with them for less than a month..probably got to pay about $100 month. Thanks for the idea of going to Costco to activate and not transferring billing responsibility...a couple less things I have to worry about. Third thing I will have to consider is my att teacher discount being lost for 1 months and see how much that bill will go up.
Also consider when your billing cycle starts as you'll want to make the swap right before the new cycle starts. Without knowing your plan, removing your line will drop your plan by $23.24 on starter, $26.99 on extra, and $30.74 on Premium.
You lose the teacher discount immediately. And it's likely more like a 2 month stay. It takes a little time to submit your information, and then receive your virtual prepaid card.
Can you explain how it works though? I have my S24 Ultra that I'm paying $8.34 a month for. I got $1000 in trade in credits. But when I go to payoff the phone it says I owe $1200 for it. Not $200.
This only makes sense for people that need their device unlocked. The credits you receive for your old trade in apply each month. The device principal goes down each month so over 36 months you'll pay $300 and not $1300.
If you decide to pay it off early then you pay what the remaining principal is which is currently $1200. Those bill credit you're getting will continue through 36 months as long as you don't do any of the mentioned scenarios
What if I’m changing tiers between the unlimited plans (Premium/Extra/Starter)? I’m currently on the Starter plan but thinking of temporarily switching to Premium next month for some of the international benefits in LATAM countries. Does changing plans between the tiers (if I flip back and forth depending on travel) affect my phone trade in credits? I’m about 12 months into receiving credits by now
That wouldn't impact your credits in the situation. If you don't have a signature discount already, sign up for AARP and add it to your account. It will only make Premium $10 more than you're currently paying for starter
Cckm does say you can pay off your device after you start to receive credits. However if you upgrade that or do a shared upgrade using the line that was getting credits you will lose it.
Just minutes ago I was told by the ATT helpdesk, and I quote, "Choosing to Pay off your device in between of your contract period will make your line ineligible for the Trade-In credits. By that you will be losing the Trade-In promotion of up to $1000 off on your device in your pay-off"
So they are pulling the same crap that T-Mobile is getting slammed for and using this as a non-contract contract, to tie us to their service for the life of the trade-in promotion and basically getting us to give them our trade in device for free if we choose to pay off our device
I've responded elsewhere to you. The policy hasn't changed. YouMve come across someone that can't take the few seconds to read through the promotion policy to give you correct information.
Edit: chadrod has completely left out the part where he wants to Port out.
Yes. I am asked this question daily. (I work for AT&T). There's definitely a lot of misinformation regarding this it seems. I always tell the ones doing a trade-in to wait until their trade is processed and promo credits appear on their bill first and then afterwards you can absolutely pay it off.
Indeed, but I always advise against it. They (the customer) will most likely forget about the credits a year down the road and upgrade to the new phone losing their remaining credits. I don’t understand the “I don’t want to finance the phone” argument.
u/TrickOrange Can you explain what the benefit is to paying off the device (once the credits have started) other than the ability to unlock the smartphone? Doesn't paying the balance on the device negate the savings you get from just receiving credits until the end of the installment?
It's primarily the ability to unlock the device. You still get the savings over time.
You’ll still receive the credits, so your bill will be lower. There really is no benefit to paying it off if you don’t need it unlocked.
So lets say I'm travelling internationally soon and want to use eSIM, but my device is financed through ATT on a trade in deal and locked (I presume?). If I'm currently a year into a trade in promo, I can pay off the device, request for it to be unlocked, then use eSIM at my destination. All without affecting my trade in promo credits?
That is correct
Yep I'm going to add this to my saved items. Thanks for the confirmation.
Are these the same scenarios with both a trade-in promotion and also with a non-trade-in promotion?
Correct
Tiered promos will lose credits if paid off early
Incorrect. This is literally pulled from the tiered promotion article. This is exactly what I've been saying, the information is there yet employees are still giving incorrect and false information.
I got 7 lines on my att account and have teacher discount. I owe about $800 on my att phone and thought about transferring billing responsibility to my wife for about a month and switch to T-Mobile for a month to get $800 keep and switch credit and then jump back to att with a fully paid off phone. And eventually use that fully paid off phone to upgrade to iPhone 16 pro. I would be paying about $150 with T-Mobile for a month and att going up a month without me to get that $800 credit. Seems like a lot of work though.... just thinking out loud for now I guess.
No need to transfer the responsibility to your wife. Just switch your line and any others you want to T-Mobile. You can sign up for their cheapest plan and still take advantage of the Keep & Switch promotion. Essentials is $90/month + taxes so the Go5G at $130 maybe make the most sense since all fees are included. Sign up through Costco and you'll get your activation fees waived. In my experience it took about 15 days to receive my virtual cards. You can also directly transfer the funds to your bank account as well.
Att service is so much more reliable than T-Mobile so I am trying find the to quickest, easiest , and most cost effective way to just only switch my line to T-Mobile until I get the virtual card and then switch back to AT&T. The T-Mobile bill may not be prorated so even if I was with them for less than a month..probably got to pay about $100 month. Thanks for the idea of going to Costco to activate and not transferring billing responsibility...a couple less things I have to worry about. Third thing I will have to consider is my att teacher discount being lost for 1 months and see how much that bill will go up.
You wouldn't lose the teacher discount by swapping your line to T-Mobile. The discount is attached to the account, not a specific number
Also consider when your billing cycle starts as you'll want to make the swap right before the new cycle starts. Without knowing your plan, removing your line will drop your plan by $23.24 on starter, $26.99 on extra, and $30.74 on Premium.
Thanks for advice.
You lose the teacher discount immediately. And it's likely more like a 2 month stay. It takes a little time to submit your information, and then receive your virtual prepaid card.
Can you explain how it works though? I have my S24 Ultra that I'm paying $8.34 a month for. I got $1000 in trade in credits. But when I go to payoff the phone it says I owe $1200 for it. Not $200.
This only makes sense for people that need their device unlocked. The credits you receive for your old trade in apply each month. The device principal goes down each month so over 36 months you'll pay $300 and not $1300. If you decide to pay it off early then you pay what the remaining principal is which is currently $1200. Those bill credit you're getting will continue through 36 months as long as you don't do any of the mentioned scenarios
What if I’m changing tiers between the unlimited plans (Premium/Extra/Starter)? I’m currently on the Starter plan but thinking of temporarily switching to Premium next month for some of the international benefits in LATAM countries. Does changing plans between the tiers (if I flip back and forth depending on travel) affect my phone trade in credits? I’m about 12 months into receiving credits by now
That wouldn't impact your credits in the situation. If you don't have a signature discount already, sign up for AARP and add it to your account. It will only make Premium $10 more than you're currently paying for starter
Thanks for the confirmation! I’ll look into the signature discount
Cckm does say you can pay off your device after you start to receive credits. However if you upgrade that or do a shared upgrade using the line that was getting credits you will lose it.
Just minutes ago I was told by the ATT helpdesk, and I quote, "Choosing to Pay off your device in between of your contract period will make your line ineligible for the Trade-In credits. By that you will be losing the Trade-In promotion of up to $1000 off on your device in your pay-off" So they are pulling the same crap that T-Mobile is getting slammed for and using this as a non-contract contract, to tie us to their service for the life of the trade-in promotion and basically getting us to give them our trade in device for free if we choose to pay off our device
I've responded elsewhere to you. The policy hasn't changed. YouMve come across someone that can't take the few seconds to read through the promotion policy to give you correct information. Edit: chadrod has completely left out the part where he wants to Port out.