Best phone sim for teenager?

papoosue

Our phones are all on Virgin at the moment and my daughter and I usually get 300 free texts a month by topping up £10 a month - however, all her school friends seem to be on O2 as they get free texts between each other. Have had a google and this would appear to be the simplicity pay as you go deal for £7.50 a month.

I would change to O2 if I thought it would save money - most of my daughters texts would be to her pals, with occasional texts and calls to me.

Can anyone just confirm or give me an opinion on this? I'm always convinced I've missed something crucial when I'm reading information!:o

Stuart_W

So, at the moment, you're topping up £10 monthly for 300 texts and using any credit at 26p/min for calls.

Presuming that you don't use any of the credit for the 50p-per-day for internet access, then consider

£6 SIM-only with 100 minutes and unlimited texts on T-Mobile
http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/simonly.php

or if internet access is sometimes used on the phone

£8 SIM-only with 200 minutes, 500 texts and 500MB of data
http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/simple.html

Just a couple of options to throw into the mix. These are however monthly billed contracts.

You may think it worth considering sticking with PAYG for a teenager (see various threads on "should I give my child a contract" - won't get in to that here, there are hard and fast opinions on both sides).

If this does apply, consider giffgaff, looking at their £5 and £10 goodbag options, and possibly Orange combining top up rewards and extras (you'd get 400 texts for a £10 top up and could use some of that credit to buy a bundle of minutes or data to save on normal PAYG rates).

If her main circle of friends are all 02 and they get free calls to 02, then that might mean 02 is going to be the network to go with.

Just some options to throw into the mix. Hope this helps!

grumbler

For some teenagers switching from PAYG to a contract with unlimited credit can be a way to disaster.

Tesco mobile are doing 750m+5000t (no data) 12x£7.50 capped tariff.

Want the value of Pay monthly but the control of Pay as you go?
Sign up to a monthly rolling contract for a bundle of free credit to use on calls, texts and browsing.
If it runs out within the month then you can simply top-up. So there are no unexpected bills at the end of the month.

http://phone-shop.tesco.com/tesco-mobile/sims/

BenJonno

Have a look at Giff Gaff which do some great SIM deals where there is no contract and its just top up 15 quid a month and you get some great perks

papoosue

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's much appreciated. In the end I'm staying with virgin for the moment as it transpires that all her friends aren't on O2 at all, so it makes sense to stick with the 300 free texts until I see how much she actually uses her phone (I suspect it will increase!).

grumbler

I may be missing something, but how 300 texts for £10 can be better than 5000 for £7.50 or unlimited for £10?

papoosue

grumbler wrote: »

I may be missing something, but how 300 texts for £10 can be better than 5000 for £7.50 or unlimited for £10?

Well, because I don't want to sign up for any kind of contract, which the tesco one seems to be - she doesn't always need topped up each month you see. As for the unlimited - it's only unlimited if it's to another O2 customer as far as I am aware.

grumbler

Without topping up she doesn't get the free texts, does she?

And I mean unlimited texts at giffgaff for £10 (no contract).

At tesco you can get 250m+5000t for £10 on 1-month rolling contract.

llyamah

As someone else has said, look at giffgaff. It is a PAYG operator and uses o2's infrastructure, so if you get o2 signal then giffgaff will be good.

For £5 you get 60 minutes and 300 texts. For £10 you get 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited web.

Plus, if you order a sim through an existing member, you get an extra £5 credit when you first top up with £10. Feel free to PM me if you want to order one through me.

Mrs_Arcanum

Another Giffgaff recommendation from me too. As long as you top up by £10 every 3 months ALL giffgaff to giffgaff calls & texts are free. And if you join via a link you both get an extra £5 credit. Even 0800 calls are actually free with giffgaff. Texts to other networks are 4p and calls 8p a minute.

Where you can get extras with giffgaff is with various goody-bags from £5 up to £25 a month. No contracts, no hassles.

The goody-bags are not compulsory - I have spent less than £7 on calls & text in 2 months.

On basic (non goody-bag) giffgaff myself and both my children so no call costs to each other.