I know this has been covered somewhat in other threads, but perhaps a dedicated thread will help others save money.
I made the move from Verizon today. The $175 termination fee is a painful hit to take, plus you have the $35 activation fee, so even before you hit your service plan you're already over $700-800 out of pocket.
Here's what I did:
Went to Best Buy and signed up for service with one of their $30 phones that's fetching around $200 on ebay. Plus, Best Buy offered me a $50 gift card for signing up.
As soon as the iTunes Activation comes back up tomorrow, I will activate my iPhone without any additional activation fees, and then the cheapo phone goes directly to some happy ebay buyer.
for those of you thinking about using these cheapo phones in case something happens to your iPhone (repairs) or as a substitute phone when you go somewhere where the iPhone shouldn't, I have a more economical solution for you. Assuming the SIM card from the iPhone is compatible, Best Buy had a large rack full of low-end $20 phones. So sell the cheap phone you signed up with for big $ and get one of these instead.
I think the Best Buy promotion is over, but there's a chance you could go first thing in the morning and tell the salesperson you were promised that you could get the promotion when you came in at the end of the night on Saturday.
Even without the gift card, this is still a good scheme to soften the blow of leaving your old contract for the iPhone.
Anyone else, feel free to post your ideas for saving money when switching. For example, is it possible to buy 2 phones at the cheap price for a single line activation???
I made the move from Verizon today. The $175 termination fee is a painful hit to take, plus you have the $35 activation fee, so even before you hit your service plan you're already over $700-800 out of pocket.
Here's what I did:
Went to Best Buy and signed up for service with one of their $30 phones that's fetching around $200 on ebay. Plus, Best Buy offered me a $50 gift card for signing up.
As soon as the iTunes Activation comes back up tomorrow, I will activate my iPhone without any additional activation fees, and then the cheapo phone goes directly to some happy ebay buyer.
for those of you thinking about using these cheapo phones in case something happens to your iPhone (repairs) or as a substitute phone when you go somewhere where the iPhone shouldn't, I have a more economical solution for you. Assuming the SIM card from the iPhone is compatible, Best Buy had a large rack full of low-end $20 phones. So sell the cheap phone you signed up with for big $ and get one of these instead.
I think the Best Buy promotion is over, but there's a chance you could go first thing in the morning and tell the salesperson you were promised that you could get the promotion when you came in at the end of the night on Saturday.
Even without the gift card, this is still a good scheme to soften the blow of leaving your old contract for the iPhone.
Anyone else, feel free to post your ideas for saving money when switching. For example, is it possible to buy 2 phones at the cheap price for a single line activation???