[ack210]

I have the annual plan and while the auto-renew didn't work for me for some reason, I was able to pay the amount due on their website hassle-free. In some cases I think the pre-paid is more advantageous if you're not a heavy data user since it allows tethering up to your data limit and also includes 1 month of data rollover.

I think the biggest thing missing through pre-paid is the ability to finance devices through the carrier (if this is something you do). Additionally, something like the iphone upgrade program isn't supported if you are on a prepaid plan either. Also, if you ever travel internationally the pricing is absurd ($35/WEEK extra for 5GB of data).

That said, I get the feeling AT&T isn't thrilled about people that opt for their prepaid plans. Porting my number over required me to wait for hours on hold, their support is horrendous if you ever need to get in touch with them for something, and you have to manage your account through an entirely different website that frankly looks like one giant phishing attempt.

[strix_varius]

> That said, I get the feeling AT&T isn't thrilled about people that opt for their prepaid plans. Porting my number over required me to wait for hours on hold, their support is horrendous if you ever need to get in touch with them for something, and you have to manage your account through an entirely different website that frankly looks like one giant phishing attempt.

Absolutely. I had the same experience & got the same impression.

Honestly, when I'm getting indicators that I'm doing something that a horrible megacorporation dislikes, but enables because it lacks the will to go through the steps to end some particular line-of-business... that's when I feel like I'm doing something right.

[jrochkind1]

I would have expected them to prefer a prepaid plan, they get all the money up front. Isn't that why they give you a discount, to encourage it? But I guess the discount is why they prefer a postpaid plan? Very odd, I wonder why the prepaid plans even exist, or are discounted.

[derimagia]

Postpaid plans (the traditional ones which have contracts) usually give discounted or free phone upgrades while prepaid does not, so they can bring the price down.

[jrochkind1]

Ah, right. (Still a mystery why they offer postpaid at that price if they don't want to).

But I think I'll stick with cricket after all. Still has discounted phone upgrades, still with no contract (although the phone can be unlocked from cricket until you've used it a year on cricket, I still prefer that).

(And, of course, to make things even weirder, cricket is owned by AT&T)