PAYG SIM how do they work these days ?

Tyler_Du

Having had mobile contracts for many years I'm going to get a PAYG SIM soon (on Virgin Mobile)
Last time I had a PAYG SIM you put £10 credit on and that remained until you had used it all (even if it took months) It doesn't work like that these days does it. Do I just put my £10 credit on the SIM every month on the same date ? I'm guessing I can do this via some online account ?

poshparrot

The last time you had a PAYG SIM will be the same as they are now, you top up and go until your credit runs out. Nowadays you can get free bundles when you top up, for example virgin mobile automatically add 300 free texts to use next month when you top up £10 or if you are a virgin media customer it's 3000 texts and 100 minutes (addict tariff)

see here for more info

jayme1

it's the same now as it was years ago, you don't need to top up online you can just buy a voucher or use an e-top-up card at pretty much any retailer.

credit lasts forever but you need to make one chargeable event every 180 days to keep the sim active

Buzby

And if you do not make a chargeable event every 6 months, the SIM is deactivated and any residual credit lost. You can sometimes get it back if you ask nicely, but all networks can be sticky about this.

Ypaymore

Tyler_Durden_UK wrote: »

Having had mobile contracts for many years I'm going to get a PAYG SIM soon (on Virgin Mobile)
Last time I had a PAYG SIM you put £10 credit on and that remained until you had used it all (even if it took months) It doesn't work like that these days does it. Do I just put my £10 credit on the SIM every month on the same date ? I'm guessing I can do this via some online account ?

Unless your a Virgin Media Customer.Virgin Payg is pretty damn expensive.;)

diamonds

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=payasyougo.our.tariff.shop.sm285 V payg plan

mins/text bundles
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=payasyougo.airtime.bundles.shop.sm034



Top up when you want, online, but as mentioned before most networks require a chargeable item every 6 months.

JethroUK

poshparrot wrote: »

The last time you had a PAYG SIM will be the same as they are now, you top up and go until your credit runs out[/URL]

Which is NOT how he has just described his previous experience on payg

You dont have to lose or use your credit each month (think three used to operate like this)

Most company s leave your credit on until its used

My wife bought credit 3 years ago and is still using it

balletshoes

Tyler_Durden_UK wrote: »

Having had mobile contracts for many years I'm going to get a PAYG SIM soon (on Virgin Mobile)
Last time I had a PAYG SIM you put £10 credit on and that remained until you had used it all (even if it took months) It doesn't work like that these days does it. Do I just put my £10 credit on the SIM every month on the same date ? I'm guessing I can do this via some online account ?

It does still work like that if you want it to. I don't have a smartphone, my PAYG sim has no free texts calls or data on it, no minimum monthly minimum top-up. I pay for my calls and texts out of my top-up, and when it runs out (whether thats in one month or 6 months - I'm not a heavy user of my mobile ) I top it up again.

There are many other options nowadays, which do involve minimum monthly top-ups to get free texts, free minutes, free data included, so if one of those would suit you better, then you do have the option to do that on PAYG too.

Ask at your local phone shop or look online for the network's own explanation of their PAYG sim options.

Tyler_Du

I'll be getting a Virgin SIM on a 30 day Pay Monthly contract with 125mins / unlimited txts / 500MB data for £7 pm, will this work the same as described ? So, I pay my £7 and only need to add more credit when I go over the limits mins / txts / data ?

balletshoes

Tyler_Durden_UK wrote: »

I'll be getting a Virgin SIM on a 30 day Pay Monthly contract with 125mins / unlimited txts / 500MB data for £7 pm, will this work the same as described ? So, I pay my £7 and only need to add more credit when I go over the limits mins / txts / data ?

if its a pay monthly contract, I don't think thats the same as a PAYG sim - so you will be billed for anything you use over your free allowance on the £7 per month. If you think you might go over this allowance, you should check how much you will be charged for each call/text/data.

Can you cap your limit on the pay monthly sim you are looking at?

AndysDad

credit lasts forever but you need to make one chargeable event every 180 days to keep the sim active[/QUOTE]
Unless you have a Lebara sim and as I found out it only lasts for 84 DAYS.Steer clear of them :mad: