I am not sure how the Verizon 2-year contracts work but I assume it is similar to AT&T. Essentially, AT&T will charge you $15/month for a new phone plus the upfront costs. This amounts to $360. Assuming $300 upfront, you essentially would pay $660 for the phone with AT&T. Assuming the Verizon cost was about the same with your 5s, you essentially got back half the cost (or more) of the 5s phone with your trade-in. That strikes me as a pretty good deal since tech depreciates very fast - iphones seem to hold their value. Good luck with the new phone.

Interesting. We've been here 12 years Had ATT then Sprint which was horrible. I went back to ATT and have been with them for many years now. I have never had a dropped call and the only time I don't have service is going through the Ocala National Forest area.. There service has been excellent for us.

the context was the new iphone however, as far as they go, the rest of the products are good at doing what they can.

Same here.

Heheh. Still pains you to give them any credit, doesn't it.

That's not exactly how my Verizon contract worked. I was paying $60 a month for unlimited talk. I traded my clam phone in for $50, used that money to buy a Otter case. My new Iphone was free (not a 6) with unlimited talk and text, and 2 gigs of internet usage. Same price $60 a month plus tax of course, with 2 year contract. When the 2 years is up I will sell the phone to Verizon and take a new phone as long as it's free. The price never goes down after the 2 years, so I see no reason not to get new technology. So with my fuzzy math if the phone is worth $400 thats $16 per month off the $60, so its costing me $44 per month. If that phone is worth more, maybe I save $20 per month and then my bill is only $40 per month. I think its a great deal and when my dish internet contract is up I am dropping it, saving me another $60 per month.

OK, that is different than AT&T. While AT&T does have a couple of different not-contract plans, the 2-year contract has essentially 2 prices. If you get a new phone, the 2-year contract price is $15/month higher than if you bring your own device (say you bought a phone elsewhere). You are essentially paying $360 over 2-years for the phone plus any upfront costs. If you have been on a 2-year contract where you got a new phone when the contract started, at the end of the 2-year contract the price will drop by $15/month (the same as if you BYOD) since you have "paid off the phone". The contract at this point is month-to-month.

With ATT is it possible to pay phone off early and then get it unlocked allowing us to move for example to Cricket-- also owned by ATT?

have net10, unlimited talk, text and data, $45/month bring your own phone. They use the AT&T towers and since the new tower was built the service has been great!