My upgrade date is coming up this weekend. I am with EE and currently have an iPhone 5 on a 24 month contract. I want to get either an iPhone 6 or 6 plus and a 64gb model. In the past I have done an upgrade in an EE store. But is this the best option to get the best deal? As I see it the choices are:-

EE store
Carphone Warehouse
Online
Phoning EE

Which is the best option do you think? Or should I try all the methods above?

Online of Phoning EE is likely to give you the best options, as then EE network won't have to pay their store division or Carphone the kickback for a sale.

But carphone warehouse are usually cheaper than going directly to the operator.

Don't ask me why, it makes no sense. But is usually true most of the time as I used to work for them.

This i found to be true when upgrading Wifey to iphone 6, although the best deal was Carphonewarehouse online

I had to go for a NEW contract as to upgrade her was an extra £190
To keep her number they sent me an o2 sim £10 i had to port the number to o2
2 days later i ported it back to Vodafone....was easy

The best way to upgrade is to buy your phone and airtime separately. However if you do insist on a contract have a look on HotUKDeals as the guys on there post some cracking deals.

Phone them.
If you are out of contract you have them by the short and curlys.
You have to be strong though. Keep asking for more, don't take no for an answer and don't be afraid to say perhaps you'll check out other networks first if you can't get what you want.
You have to be reasonable of course but it is possible to screw them down.

When I upgraded from 5 to 6 they insisted they couldn't let me have my 10% Orange discount I had brought over previously (when I got the 5 going from Orange to EE4G).
Kept saying it would have to be reduced to 5% but I wasn't having any of it.

I asked to be put through to retentions and was told I was already speaking to them..... yeah, right!!!
I calmly said perhaps I would ring off and check out what others could offer me at which point the CS person said "hang on, I'll have a word with someone". She came back and said that I could have the 10% after all.

I had been with orange/EE for 18 years continuously at that point so I had a bit of clout but give it a go. What have you to lose?
Even if you get to the point of hanging up you can always call back later and you'll get someone else so you won't even have to eat humble pie!!

Eventually you actually have to be willing to go through with it. I was with Orange from 1994 through to 2006, when I left as the animal plans had arrived and data was unheard of. I moved to T-mobile who had data. Then I left T-mobile because I wanted the iPhone 3GS and it was an O2 exclusive. Voice quality was awful and unusable even back then, people used to blame my iPhone, but O2 were unlocking, so I got a prepay T-Mobile SIM and tried it and massive difference. When the contract was up I moved back to T-Mobile and now on EE.

I tried with Orange to get a sensible data plan/price, but to no avail, and T did try a lot to keep me but couldn't get me an iPhone which was exclusive to O2 at the time. (2 months later Orange offered it with non-animal theme tariffs !).

Doubling up cash back deals can help the cost (Quidco and then mobile phones direct for example). There are loads of options - perhaps too any! What helps me is to look at the 12 or 24 month cost. That usually points me to the best deal.

Exactly. You would be a new connection rather than an upgrade this way and by doing it online instead of with a person,CPW then doesn't have to pay a commission to a sales person.

Your have 2 options either buy the phone out right and get pick up a sim only deal, which can be 1, 3, 6 or 12 month depending on supplier. Or go down the contract route. It's easy to port your number these days just a couple of hours and you will also get a better deal on a new connecton then an upgrade.

If you go contact route you can pick up a 64GB IP6 for £38.50 per month, over 24 months that £924 not including any out of bundle charges.

Sim free an ip6 64gb will cost you £619 from Apple. You can then pick up 2GB data plans from £12 per month looking here http://www.hotukoffers.com/mobiles/c...sim-only-deals, and your not tied to a contract, so if you want to up or down your tariff you can. Even if you stay on £12 per month for a year thats only £144. Either way if you can buy the phone upfront it's cheaper long term and more flexiable.

It's not always cheaper to buy the phone upfront. Especially depending on what you want I.e. data and higher storage iPhones.

Play them off against each other don't except the first offer aways say another company does a better deal and they will match it