You'd probably get a refurb Thunderbolt. But what I am saying is, if you want to upgrade to a phone like uh Thunderbolt 2, it's likely you'd have to change to new data plan. If you keep your Thunderbolt for 5 years, you'll keep that unlimited plan.
That's how Sprint is doing with their $10 increase on data plan. My Samsung Moment is $30/mo until I upgrade to a new phone then I'll get $40/mo unlimited plan.