Add iPhone to exiting family plan. What're the hitches?

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Hi all,

So I've been Googling around with this question and have had trouble finding something clear enough for me to understand. I also went to the AT&T boards but had a little trouble there too. I think my question is pretty straight forward.

I am on a family plan under my father's name, thus, I am not the primary line on the plan. My siblings and I pay our share to our father who handles the rest. I am thinking about upgrading to an iPhone this summer when I am eligible for an upgrade. We currently have more than enough minutes for the family and more than enough texts (most likely unlimited). My question is this: if I were to upgrade, what are my additional costs? I know I will have to pay some sort of required data fee ($30 a month?). Will I have to pay additional for the minutes or texts? These are already on the plan but I'm not sure if you're required to have some kind of special iPhone plan.

I've found this a complicated question to answer because I sometimes read that not being the primary number messes things up, or that you can only have 200 texts when on the iPhone, and all these other things. It seems to me it shouldn't be this hard to answer.

Basically, the decision on whether or not I get an iPhone is based on how much I'll be paying a month. As a college student, I can't afford much more than $30 a month for my phone. Thanks to any assistance you all can provide.

Best,
Taylor
 
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my understanding was that you'd still have the family share minutes, but you'd have the $30 data plan for the new iPhone. Call AT&T or stop by their store, you'll have your answer in about 30 seconds.
 
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Daddy is correct. The iPhone fits in with any plan like any phone, you just pay extra for the data plan per iPhone.

EDIT: I do believe that with the 3G iPhone, the data plan does not include text messaging... you pay separately for that.
 
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WasabiTaylor
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Thanks for the responses. I would have gone to the AT&T store and found out myself, but I'm studying abroad in London through May.

EDIT: I do believe that with the 3G iPhone, the data plan does not include text messaging... you pay separately for that.

Is it fair to say my current texting plan will work as well?

Thanks again.
 
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I believe your current texting plan will be applied to the iphone when you make the purchase.
 
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I believe your current texting plan will be applied to the iphone when you make the purchase.

Yes it will... I had trouble questioning all the of the iPhone charges when I got mine on a family plan. You will be playing $30 data plus your minutes. The texts will be the same as before. At&t offers a $30 unlimited family plan texting, and that will be for the iPhone as well.
 
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WasabiTaylor
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Great. Thanks so much for the information. I'm not eligible to upgrade until this summer, so I'll probably wait until Apple updates the iPhone in some way. Maybe they'll even make the plan better. Thanks again for the information.
 

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