How and When Can I Upgrade My Verizon Phone?

In a nutshell: To upgrade your Verizon phone, ensure your account is in good standing. Generally, your current phone must be fully paid off, unless you’re eligible for an early upgrade after paying at least 50% and having it active for 30 days. Options include paying full retail or waiting for your contract to expire.

Introduction

If you have decided that you want a newer phone with better features, then you need to learn how to upgrade your phone. If you have a Verizon account, you have a couple of different options for when and how you are able to do so.

What You'll Need

If you want to upgrade your phone, your account cannot be past due.In most cases, you need to have fully paid off your current phone if you want to upgrade.You can upgrade at any time if you pay the full retail price for the new phone.You can also upgrade if you got your current phone at a discount when you signed up for a 2 year plan and that 2 year term has now expired.If you purchased your current phone on a device payment plan and the phone has been active for at least 30 days and you have paid off 50% or more of the cost, you are eligible to upgrade early, before you have fully paid of your current phone. If you do, you must return your current phone within 30 days of making the upgrade.You cannot upgrade your phone if you have a pending order on your account.Some special offers allow you to upgrade at other times. The Unlimited Ultimate plan, for example, allows you to upgrade your phone once every 36 months. Check the details of your account to find out if yours qualifies.If you get an early upgrade, you may lose the promotions that are associated with your current phone.An early upgrade may require you to do the upgrade in the store, rather than online, depending on the circumstances.

Go to the Verizon home page.

Verizon home page
To upgrade your phone in person, skip to step 7.

How and When Can I Upgrade My Verizon Phone? (Step 1)

Click on the "Sign in" button in the upper right corner to sign in to your Verizon account.

How and When Can I Upgrade My Verizon Phone? (Step 2)

Go to the Device Overview page.

Device Overview page

Find the phone you want to upgrade on the list of your devices.

If the phone is eligible for an upgrade, the words "Upgrade now" will appear underneath it.

Select the "Upgrade" option and look through the selection of new devices to find the phone you wish to upgrade to.

Follow the prompts to complete the purchase process and finish upgrading your phone.

Do not proceed with further steps.

Go to the Verizon store locator page.

Verizon store locator page

How and When Can I Upgrade My Verizon Phone? (Step 7)

Enter your ZIP code, city, or state in the text box on the left side of the page.

Find a convenient nearby Verizon store location.

Go to that location and tell a Verizon representative there that you want to upgrade your phone.

Conclusion

If you have any questions about upgrading your phone, or about returning your current phone after an upgrade, call a Verizon customer service representative to get help. The Verizon customer service call center is open from Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm EST and on weekends from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm EST.

Why does GetHuman Write How-to Guides for Verizon Problems?

GetHuman has been working for over 10 years on sourcing information about big organizations like Verizon in order to help customers resolve customer service issues faster. We started with contact information and fastest ways to reach a human at big companies. Particularly ones with slow or complicated IVR or phone menu systems. Or companies that have self-serve help forums instead of a customer service department. From there, we realized that consumers still needed more detailed help solving the most common problems, so we expanded to this set of guides, which grows every day. And if you spot any issues with our How and When Can I Upgrade My Verizon Phone? guide, please let us know by sending us feedback. We want to be as helpful as possible. If you appreciated this guide, please share it with your favorite people. Our free information and tools is powered by you, the customer. The more people that use it, the better it gets.