Apple iPhone 14 (Verizon or AT&T Postpaid) + $300 Walmart GC Expired

Monthly service fee + activation fee kills the deal

Instead of just saying, hey buy this phone outright and we'll give you this gift card for this much.. But no, they make this as confusing af so carriers still win in the end.

If they have not changed the process for this year, you will get the Walmart gift card emailed to you within 24-48 hours after purchase. I have upgraded this exact way 3 years in a row via Walmart because I have an old grandfathered ATT plan and do not want it changed or touched. This is the probably one of the few retailers besides ATT Corporate stores that can do upgrades or add lines without changing your current plan.

In 2019 I lined up in store and purchased 2 phones in store. It was $350 actual gift cards back then, they were loaded and activated at the time of phone purchase but they said the funds should be available after 4 hours back then.

In 2020 I did 2 lines again but it was only $300 gift cards but via email. The emailed gift cards and PIN codes came in a few hours after the phone purchases.

In 2021 I got smarter. I booked each phone's activation appointment 1 day apart. This time I upgraded 3 lines. The first $300 credit came in within 2 hours of paying for the first phone upgrade. So for the second phone's activation the next day, I used the first phone's gift card and paid down $300. Same with the 3rd phone upgrade the following day as the second phone's gift card email came in shortly same day after they processed the second activation. Therefore I am left with only 1 $300 gift card to spend later. Yes I went there 3 days in a row, lucky it's only 4 miles away and you get to reserve the phone size and color you wanted on their available phones on-hand list.

You DO NOT get monthly billing credits. This way you are never tied up for 3 years because billing credits balance is forfeited if you cancel or port out. The only situation where you may get billing credits is if you did a trade in and received $800 credit or whatever corporate ATT was promoting. But then you are REALLY tied up for 36 months if you wanted the $800 or whatever the ATT trade in promo was offering. The trade in promo billing credit deal is ONLY worth it if you plan on staying with ATT for 3 years AND if they were giving you $800 for an old cracked phone. I have never done this because the trade in promotions always required a plan change for me. Sorry I can not shed any light on this type of deal stacking as I do not want my grandfathered plan changed. Perhaps someone who has traded in as well as received the $300 gift card can share their experience here.

Please note, you ARE required to do the installment plan. There must be some kind of cell carrier kickback commissions for installment plans along with the line upgrade or new line activation commissions to the retailer. The monthly installment amount to be paid is dependent on how much you pay up front during checkout. So if the phone is $1049 and you pay down $849 plus your state's sales tax on the full amount, it will leave you with a $200 balance due, your monthly installments would be $200/36 months = $5.56 per month.

After 2 billing cycles (probably when the cell carrier commissions are paid due to Net60 terms) you can pay off your remaining balance via the ATT website and then cancel and go to another carrier and request the unlock code via their unlocking portal entering your IMEI number and cell phone number and email address. It usually takes a few days for the unlock email with the codes to arrive, a few times it came same day as submission.

For me I pay them off right before the next year's promos and request the unlock, unless I need a phone to be unlocked sooner due to international travel etc, then I would pay off that line ASAP as it may take a few days to process the unlock. Once the installments are paid off, I can quickly upgrade again via Walmart Black Friday promo, wash, rinse and repeat.

So to sum it up, you will receive your $300 gift card via email shortly after the phone purchase and activation. If you want the phone unlocked as soon as possible, do not do trade in billing credits and be tied up for 36 months. Pay down as much as you can at the time of purchase. Pay off the remaining balance after 2 billing cycles and request the unlock. For iPhones you do not have to do anything after requesting the unlock. Once you receive the email that it has been approved, just insert your non-ATT SIM card and it will re-activate the phone via Apple's server and it will be unlocked permanently, it will reboot, and probably automatically do a carrier settings update right after.