How to save 15% on your monthly iPhone 3G AT&T bill
by Ji Kim
July 13, 2008
So after waiting hours in line, you finally gets your hands on the new iPhone 3G. You take it home, download some apps and play around with it for a few hours. Then all of a sudden, reality sinks in when you realize that you are paying almost twice as much for a comparable phone plan elsewhere. Lucky for some of you, there is a way to mitigate this pain.
College students, as well as employees of eligible companies, are qualified for at least a 15% FAN (Foundation Account Number) discount through AT&T (applicable to voice & data, hardware excluded). Unlike the original iPhone, the new iPhone is a traditionally subsidized phone as they no longer have to share revenue with Apple. So in theory, this means AT&T should treat the iPhone 3G just like any of their other smart phones, making it eligible for student/corporate discounts.
AT&T has been known to have "special rules" regarding their billing for the iPhone, but customer service representatives have confirmed that the 15% discount will apply. In the meantime, we'll still be attempting to obtain official documentation from AT&T about this.
To take advantage of the discount, all you have to do is visit the following link and follow along with our screen shots:
http://www.att.com/wirelessdiscounts
You will have to enter your student/corporate e-mail along with your AT&T phone number to check for eligibility. After submitting your info, you will receive an e-mail from them with a link to complete the FAN discount process.
Once you complete the steps, you will receive confirmation of your enrollment. To verify, login to your AT&T control panel and check to see if your FAN # is listed on the top right-hand corner.
If the e-mail verification does not work, you can also stop by your local AT&T store with your student ID or proof of employment (with an eligible employer) and they should be able to take care of you.
NOTE: You will automatically enroll in a new 2-year commitment once you claim this discount, which shouldn't really matter if you bought the new iPhone yesterday. It also takes 1 to 2 billing cycles for the discount to take effect.
UPDATE: A tipster tells us that FedEx and UPS employees are eligible for an even bigger discount (22% and 20% respectively).
UPDATE 2: It's been reported that this also works on Family Plans as well.