Under contract, not upgrade-eligible, but want to switch phones. How best to do it?

Question

I am a Verizon customer who was eligible for upgrade a month ago. So, about 3 weeks ago I upgraded from the iPhone 5 to the Galaxy Note 3. I've now decided that Android isn't for me. So, what is my least expensive option to switch back to the iPhone, specifically the 5s, considering I'm outside of my return/exchange period? I know it's going to cost me, but if I consider all options (early termination, adding additional line, etc.), what's the least expensive way to do this? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I've made similar "mistakes" in "reasoning" on wireless plans before, so I feel you.
Assuming your ill-fated "upgrade" to an Android phone was done with a promotion, leaving you in a new contract period, you have to consider several things:  Is there anyone you know that might want that phone?  Would they be willing to pay the monthly charges required for an additional line on your account?  Do you actually trust them to pay those monthly fees every month until the end of your contract?  If they were to fail to be able to complete it, or if they turn out to be a crappy human being, would you be able to comfortably afford to pay the fees for the additional line of service yourself?
If the answer to all of those questions is "yes," or even if the answer to the last question is "yes," then your best bet would be to order an iPhone 5S as an additional line of service for your account.  You can then activate it in place of the phone you're currently using, so that "your" phone number will be on that iPhone 5S.  (To make sure that happens correctly, you'd be best off going to a VZW Store and having a rep activate it, and put a new number on the Android for you. If you screw it up, you might not be able to fix it.)   Then the Android phone can be given to your buddy, coworker, mother, sister, or whomever.  Or you can use it as a backup phone in case of emergencies.  Whatever.
If the answer to the very last question is "no," then make sure you can find someone to buy that Android phone from you, and that you can afford to pay ALL the cancellation fees, or the full up-front cost of an iPhone 5S to activate on VZW.  You do not want to get stuck paying a monthly bill you can't afford for an additional line that you don't want or need, and you don't want a wireless bill for final service, cancellation fees, and other cruft hanging around.  If it goes to collections, you're guaranteed to be taking a huge hit to the credit score.  Not worth it for a more comfortable mobile phone experience.
Also keep in mind that if you buy a new iPhone 5S from Verizon, at full retail cost, and activate it with Verizon in place of your current device, you're still upholding the terms of your contract so long as you maintain all monthly services required in that contract.  That means that, once you activate the iPhone 5S, you can do whatever you want with the Android phone.  And since VZW is currently running a buy-back promotion to let you sell them back your used phone, you could sell it back to VZW.  (I did this to upgrade from my current iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5S.  I'm not eligible for a discounted upgrade OR a Verizon Edge upgrade, so I had to pay the full $899 for my iPhone 5S.  They're buying back my 4S for $200, though.)
Best of luck to you!