The only way I have found a way to keep my grandfathered unlimited plan is of course buying the phone outright. The trick is not paying out your A$$ for the new phone.
In NY, if your employer is under the NYS Contracting or you know someone that is; BUY your phone through them. Granted this will not work for everyone.....current prices under NYS Contract pricing:
4G Smartphone Devices:
$0 4G Pantech Breakout
$0 4G Samsung Stratosphere
$29.99 4G LG Lucid
$49.99 4G LG Spectrum
$49.99 4G Droid 4
$49.99 4G Droid Charge
$99.99 4G Droid RAZR 16GB
$149.99 4G Droid RZAR Maxx
With NYS Contract pricing you can cancel the line without getting dinged; you pick your phone above, and then cancel once you get the phone. Then move your current unlimited plan to this device, boom still unlimited.
I just did this. Yes your limited to the above devices but who cares, my Droid 2 just became a Droid 4 and my plan and cost didn’t change ($30/month unlimited data and then whatever voice you had, my phone bill every month is $80, and that of course is with the 19% corporate discount that all of you can get through your employer or a family/friends employer)……all I had to do was pay $50, not the $650 or whatever ridiculous fee they want and keep the unlimited plan.
Screw Verizon, the day they force me to pay over $80 for what I have now Im out.
I dont mind paying a fair price for a device to keep it this way, but that fair price is where Verizon really trys to F us