I braved going to the store for my free upgrade. Here's how it went.
Posting because there's a lot of confusion in this sub and no clear answer about the free upgrades.
I went to my local store today for my free upgrade as the Metro PCS site said i was eligible and i've been on the higher tier plan for a year. The only phone i could get was the A16 and the cost was going to be close to $90. There was taxes, a sim fee, and some other bs $40 fee. I could not get any deals that were offered to new customers.
Like some of you i always got those Tmobile offer texts. Apparently those are coupons that sit on your Metro PCS account. If you go into the Metro store they can start the process to port your lines to Tmobile. When you do this you qualify for free phones. You can get the A17 or Moto G Stylus 2026.
So with Metro i could pay $90ea for an older A16 and with 4 lines which that gets expensive, or i could switch to Tmobile and get 4 newer phones for just a little more. So i switched to Tmobile. I got 4 free phones, only paid about $120 upfront for 4 lines. I was put on the Tmobile essentials plan so 4 lines for about $100 a month. Phones will be shipped to you. Then you take them into the Metro store and they will activate them for you or you can supposedly do it online or in the Tlife app.
Didnt feel like i was getting screwed. The agent at the Metro store was nice and really helpful. The whole process took about 30-40min. You have to talk to the Tmobile rep yourself while in store as they confirm your address, email, and go over the details.
It seems like with any carrier now the only way to get a good deal on a phone is to switch carriers.