Best PAYG tariff for children?

BiigJiim

Hi,

I have a 13yo daughter who is on a 3Pay tariff which is great as she can top up £10 every 3 MONTHS and she receives 600 free texts, and the allowance lasts the full 90 days. It works perfectly as she uses her phone mainly for texting, gives her free skype calls, and the £10 covers the occasional calls she might make, so it is only costing her £3.33 a month.

The problem is, my 11yo son now wants a phone and this tariff is no longer available to new customers. He is only going to use it very occasionally, when he needs picking up from school etc. It seems most PAYG tariffs nowadays want you to top up £10 and credit/add-ons only last 30 days.

Does anyone know of an ideal, very low user tariff that has 90 day time limits or does not cost a lot and is going to allow him to text and make the very occasional call?

We have a rule that the kids earn their own pocket money from us, and pay for things they want themselves. I don't want him blowing it all on a mobile phone tariff just so he can have a phone.

Thanks for any tips! Maybe we should campaign 3 to bring back their 3Pay tariff for our kids?

Jim

albionrovers

£5/month Giffgaff Hokey Cokey gets you 300 UK txts and 60 UK minutes + free txts/minutes to Giffgaff users

jhp

For light use a number of suppliers offer 8p a min calls and 4p texts no need to top up every month just make one call or send a text every 6 months.

These include www.giffgaff.com Piggy backs on O2.

http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/pay_as_you_go_essential.html Piggy backs on Vodafone.

Tesco Lite http://phone-shop.tesco.com/tesco-mobile/help-and-support/call-charges-payg-litetariff.aspx Piggy backs on O2.

DUTR

BiigJiim wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 13yo daughter who is on a 3Pay tariff which is great as she can top up £10 every 3 MONTHS and she receives 600 free texts, and the allowance lasts the full 90 days. It works perfectly as she uses her phone mainly for texting, gives her free skype calls, and the £10 covers the occasional calls she might make, so it is only costing her £3.33 a month.

The problem is, my 11yo son now wants a phone and this tariff is no longer available to new customers. He is only going to use it very occasionally, when he needs picking up from school etc. It seems most PAYG tariffs nowadays want you to top up £10 and credit/add-ons only last 30 days.

Does anyone know of an ideal, very low user tariff that has 90 day time limits or does not cost a lot and is going to allow him to text and make the very occasional call?

We have a rule that the kids earn their own pocket money from us, and pay for things they want themselves. I don't want him blowing it all on a mobile phone tariff just so he can have a phone.

Thanks for any tips! Maybe we should campaign 3 to bring back their 3Pay tariff for our kids?

Jim

Welcome to the forum, but the part highlighted is very very wrong, yes any add ons only last a month, but certainley on 3, the credit lasts until it is used up .

Stuart_W

Very low user tariff?
icardmobile - no bundles or time limits, just 2p/min calls to landlines, 6p/min calls to mobiles and 5p/texts.
https://www.icardmobile.co.uk/rates.php

jhp

Stuart_W wrote: »

Very low user tariff?
icardmobile - no bundles or time limits, just 2p/min calls to landlines, 6p/min calls to mobiles and 5p/texts.
https://www.icardmobile.co.uk/rates.php

What will the rates be after 31/7/2011 ?

BiigJiim

Thanks for all the responses. icardmobile looks interesting, although I am worried he will eat up the texts. And still not as cheap as my daughter's tariff. Seems to me 3 missed a trick when they withdrew it for new customers, as no tariff nowadays seems to give addons which last 90 days. I also looked at a £5.99 virgin mobile deal (existing customers only) which gives 75mins and 3000 texts. Ok, as long as you can cap the credit level so he doesn't go over his allowance.

Altarf

BiigJiim wrote: »

The problem is, my 11yo son now wants a phone and this tariff is no longer available to new customers.

Ebay seems to have a few of the 3pay sims for sale, or you may be able to pick one up from a non-mobile phone shop who sell sim cards (I have seen them in Oxfam, Cash Converters, etc).

essexman77

albionrovers wrote: »

£5/month Giffgaff Hokey Cokey gets you 300 UK txts and 60 UK minutes + free txts/minutes to Giffgaff users

If your son can convert all to giffgaff he will never use any credit giffgaff to giffgaff calls are free and texts to giffgaff users and the hokey cokey gives you gree minutes for people who call you maybe contact some double glazing firms to ring you and keep them on the phone for hours.

GiffGaff can also be used without topping up same as icardmobile but call are 8p-min 4p texts and never expires unless you use up the credit for calls of course.

peachyprice

I've just changed my son from Virgin PAYG to Giffgaff.

I've signed him up for the £10 Goodybag which will give him 250 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited internet, that only lasts 1 month. But if you top up with credit there isn't a time limit, calls are 8ppm, texts 4p each.

Am so pee'd off with Virgin, I sent a faulty phone back to them in June, still waiting for a refund, and the way their free texts/minutes/internet works is crap, you only get your free texts etc on the 1st of the month if you top up within the previous month, absolutely pants.

baywood_2

Altarf wrote: »

Ebay seems to have a few of the 3pay sims for sale, or you may be able to pick one up from a non-mobile phone shop who sell sim cards (I have seen them in Oxfam, Cash Converters, etc).

I bought one from ebay for the same reason as OP, when i put it in phone it went straight to new tariff, but give 3 their due, when i rang them and moaned they changed it back to old tarrif so might be worth trying.