Which PAYG Tariff

Party_Animal

My new OSF phone arrives tomorrow. It comes with a £10 Orange sim. I'm currently with 02 and was planning to unlock the phone ( thanks to Grumbler). I called in the 02 shop today. I have just over £11 in credit. They've transferred that to a text and web package. I've just looked on their site and it appears I've got to top up by £10 to access the net, even though I've got £11 credit. As I'm not a heavy user I can't see how I'd get my £11's worth, I doubt I'd exceed the £10 I need to top up each month. Another option is Giffgaff. I received their sim today with a free £5. However, I assume that to keep my old number I'd need to get my PAC number from 02 and lose my credit. Not sure what's the best option. I don't want a contract. I make very few calls, less then 200 texts per month and don't intend streaming or downloading films etc, just light browsing and e mails. Can anyone please advise?
Thanks

Stuart_W

How does this sound?

Orange Dolphin PAYG
At least 300 inclusive texts each month
100MB of data (or more) each month
All for £5.00 top up per month (technically £10 every other month)
Any calls are 20p per minute.

How to do this -
Join Orange Dolphin on PAYG.
You get 300 free texts and 100MB of data if you top up £10 (the £10 included with the SIM counts for your first month).
The following month, if you have less than £10 credit left add another £10 to get the free text and data allowance again.
If you do have £10 credit (or more) left -
Buy a £5 unlimited text extra.
Buy a £5 data extra.
This uses £10 of credit that you've already paid.

Get a PAC code from O2 and orange can transfer the number to your new orange sim, write off the 02 credit and ongoing pay £5/month for your data and text requirements, rather than £10/month.

Party_Animal

Thanks Stuart. Is this what will be on the sim when I get it?
Do I need to go into the 02 shop or can I ring up to do it online?
I'm sorry I can't judge the 100mb. If I'm just browsing, not downloading how many mb would I use in say 30 mins?
Thanks I guess the beauty of any PAYG is I'm not tied and can change if its not suitable. I hate the thought of writing off £11 especially on this site.
Thanks again

Stuart_W

Hi,

You'll probably need to speak to o2 customer services to get a the PAC that you then need to give to orange. You'll have a temporary orange number until the number is transferred. You'll need to use up the 02 credit before the number transfer is actioned.

How much data do you need? Probably very little. This might help. Do you have a smart phone? Watch out for anything using data "in the background" and see if there are settings you can change.

There are various things you can do with the £11 credit - see various other threads - from betting to international calls, charity donations to children's name tags. If you've got freeview, you can even use a new pay-per-view film service via premium text message. I'm not suggesting any of these things are worth it, but they are options.

Im_just_careful

I recommend a staged process.

You are stuck with the Orange SIM with £10 on it.

As soon as you turn the phone on it will start to use data on that and cost you a few tens of pence.

Then you have nine pounds something on a useless SIM.

You are also stuck with the O2 sim with £11 on it. A £10 top up will get you a month of data but then, unless you make some calls, in a months time you will have a SIM with £21 on it and have no free data without another top up.

I'm looking at the T-Mobile iPhone deal.

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/micro-sim/

This seems to give a years data without a regular top up.

Check in store it can be used as a "normal" SIM or get an adaptor.

You then have 2 sims with credit to use up. Ideally use them in other phones for calls until the credit is gone.

Party_Animal

Many thanks IJC. I'll check this out. I see no one has recommended using the giffgaff. I've seen mixed reviews but I've got £5 so nothing to lose.
Thanks

Swans1912

Party_Animal wrote: »

Many thanks IJC. I'll check this out. I see no one has recommended using the giffgaff. I've seen mixed reviews but I've got £5 so nothing to lose.
Thanks

I've been looking at every low cost single-month contract and PAYG price plan... i'm looking to move an iPhone 4 from 02 at £30 per month.

I only use a couple of texts, rarely use voice but will use lots of data when outside of the home.

I checked out giffgaff but you have to top up each month to get unlimited data which I'm trying to avoid.

The T-Mobile deal... £5 sim and £10 top up gives you 12 months data for free (up to 500mb each month which is plenty). So you don't have to top up every month to get your data! OH and the wont let you go over that so don't have to worry about losing all your credit!

tony077844

Personally i would stay away from the big boys and look around at the other smaller ones. giffgaff is only ideal if you use the web a lot. at the moment vectone mobile gives you 100 texts 100 minutes and 100mb for 5 pounds or you can buy a heavy data pack for 1gb for 5 pounds too. they are giving away a bonus reward at moment for just transferring your number to them for 100 minutes texts and data for free for two months. another to look at is tesco lite 8p calls 4p texts or you can add 5 pounds unlimited text bundle or a weekly 2.50 web browser add on. icardmobile is the cheapest at moment but no data calls to landlines 1p mobiles 5p and texts 4p. free voicemail and free on network calls. shop around i suggest. for the orange network there is nowmobile that accepts locked orange phones sim they have 2p on network calls free voicemail and have bundles for texts and calls.

Party_Animal

Many thanks. I'll check these out in the morning. I'll then leave my credit on my old phone and use that for making any calls.
Thanks again, very helpful

ramper77

I'd avoid GiffGaff at the moment. There very good value, but have constant Data speed problems, and it looks like a fix is way off.

MorrisonsEmployee

Party_Animal wrote: »

My new OSF phone arrives tomorrow. It comes with a £10 Orange sim. I'm currently with 02 and was planning to unlock the phone ( thanks to Grumbler). I called in the 02 shop today. I have just over £11 in credit. They've transferred that to a text and web package. I've just looked on their site and it appears I've got to top up by £10 to access the net, even though I've got £11 credit. As I'm not a heavy user I can't see how I'd get my £11's worth, I doubt I'd exceed the £10 I need to top up each month. Another option is Giffgaff. I received their sim today with a free £5. However, I assume that to keep my old number I'd need to get my PAC number from 02 and lose my credit. Not sure what's the best option. I don't want a contract. I make very few calls, less then 200 texts per month and don't intend streaming or downloading films etc, just light browsing and e mails. Can anyone please advise?
Thanks

Have you thought about getting a 30 day rolling SIM only deal [You are free to leave at any time] - Both could work out cheaper for you?

Carphone Warehouse - £5.11 per month - 100 minutes, 100 texts, 100MB

T-Mobile - £6 per month - 100 minutes, 100 texts, 500MB data

On Orange PAYG a 500MB bundle would cost you £5 per month & an unlimited text bundle also £5 per month and all calls 20p per minute so you could be spending £15+ on PAYG versus a 30 day SIM 'contract' for £6 for minutes, data and text.

There are free unlock codes for the phone on various websites.