I was planning on going to the store and getting an iPhone for myself and my fiance. I called 611 from my phone and spoke to AT&T. Here is what I was told:
You cannot buy phones for other people. If you want to setup a phone on an existing account you need to be the account holder. To get around this issue I was told to setup a FamilyTalk plan prior to launch. In this way, both lines would be on my account so I could be allowed to get both phones.
There are some interesting details:
Both of us have exceeded our contract time... just paying month to month.
If I transfer her account into mine ($18 fee) and convert to a 2 Line FamilyTalk plan then her line is automatically entered into an 11 month contract. When we both get iPhones then both lines are entered into new 2 year contracts.
There is an $18 per line fee to change phones on our existing numbers. If we don't want to do that, we can each get a new number but then there is a $36 per line activation fee.
It was previously unknown to me that by buying an iPhone I will have to pay an $18 fee to change the phone on my account regardless of contract status.
The cheapest single line phone plan* is $39.99 for 450 Mins (w/ roll-over)
The cheapest FamilyTalk plan* is $59.99 for 550 Shared Mins (w/ roll-over)
Text Messaging plans* (per line) are:
200 Messages is $4.99
400 Messages is $9.99
TXT Unlimited is $19.99
* All prices are "plus tax"
You cannot buy phones for other people. If you want to setup a phone on an existing account you need to be the account holder. To get around this issue I was told to setup a FamilyTalk plan prior to launch. In this way, both lines would be on my account so I could be allowed to get both phones.
There are some interesting details:
Both of us have exceeded our contract time... just paying month to month.
If I transfer her account into mine ($18 fee) and convert to a 2 Line FamilyTalk plan then her line is automatically entered into an 11 month contract. When we both get iPhones then both lines are entered into new 2 year contracts.
There is an $18 per line fee to change phones on our existing numbers. If we don't want to do that, we can each get a new number but then there is a $36 per line activation fee.
It was previously unknown to me that by buying an iPhone I will have to pay an $18 fee to change the phone on my account regardless of contract status.
The cheapest single line phone plan* is $39.99 for 450 Mins (w/ roll-over)
The cheapest FamilyTalk plan* is $59.99 for 550 Shared Mins (w/ roll-over)
Text Messaging plans* (per line) are:
200 Messages is $4.99
400 Messages is $9.99
TXT Unlimited is $19.99
* All prices are "plus tax"