I am about to get reamed by Au and want advice on switching!
My wife and I are long-term in Japan. Au pulled us in with a cheap plan, but now not only is their ¥0 new-phone plan gone, but the plans for my wife and I are both shooting up by ¥2000 all of a sudden despite not having a new phone any more. They almost tricked me—one guy last week lied to me, saying the rates would only go up by ¥500. Fortunately, I did my usual ask-another-person-on-another-day strategy and found the real story. Lucky I did this with a month to spare before our contracts get auto-renewed or else I'd be out the 10,210 yen fee times 2, or else stuck with Au and huge payments.
We would like cheap plans. 3-5 GB data per month minimum would be optimal; the option to upgrade when you go over without getting taken to the cleaners would be great. My wife wants free calls on her plan—she makes a lot—but I'm OK either way, as I don't make that many at all. I mostly need the data and access to calling.
Another thing: I'm looking to upgrade to an iPhone 8 in 10 or so months, but if I start a new 2-year contract now, I get stuck in a loop—I start the 2-year membership, then when I get a new phone a year later, I would enter a new 2-year deal with the new phone, one year later the 2-year basic contract renews, and when the new-phone deal ends, I still have a year left in the automatically renewed 2-year basic plan. No good.
Ideally, if there's a place which offers inexpensive monthly plans but can let you switch to a 2-year subsidized plan for a new phone when you want to, that'd be great. Am looking for alternatives in case that doesn't exist.
I know, I may be looking for a freakin' unicorn.
Any recommendations? Thanks!