True PAYG, no "monthly plan"?

savergrant

Aged in-laws have EE 'real' PAYG last topped up with a tenner in 2021

As long as they make a call or send a text every 6 (?) months, it remains active.

Similar to the above

Good for them. However I don't think it's available to new customers, you need to choose a monthly bundle when ordering a 'free' sim.

victor2

I have an elderly relative who is on her third PAYG mobile as she lost the previous two through never using them!
Current one is with Asda mobile and has credit on it. She knows to make a call or send a message every now and then to keep the number alive.
She "needs" it because she drives alone. But the battery is always flat and she's lost the car chargers given to her. Also, she hasn't a clue how to use it, despite having been shown many, many times!
If her car breaks down, her best bet will be to play the elderly confused female driver (won't be difficult) and wait for a sympathetic passing motorist, who will almost inevitably have a working smartphone! 

PHK

victor2 said:

I have an elderly relative who is on her third PAYG mobile as she lost the previous two through never using them!
Current one is with Asda mobile and has credit on it. She knows to make a call or send a message every now and then to keep the number alive.
She "needs" it because she drives alone. But the battery is always flat and she's lost the car chargers given to her. Also, she hasn't a clue how to use it, despite having been shown many, many times!
If her car breaks down, her best bet will be to play the elderly confused female driver (won't be difficult) and wait for a sympathetic passing motorist, who will almost inevitably have a working smartphone! 

You make a very good point. It’s all well and good having a mobile for emergencies but you have to remember to keep it charged and to send/make the keep alive text/call. 

And the temperature differences in a car will shorten the battery life. 

Plus, by the time someone needs it they’ve probably forgotten how to use it. 

With the advent of low cost yearly or two yearly plans. It’s better to persuade them to use a phone more often, it becomes something they are used to. Then when they need it they’ll have it to hand. 

ruflonger

I use RWG PAYG (EE) as emergency phone - simple pay-as-you-go basis. Say credit will never expire but do not say miminum use to keep number.

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/rates-plans-eng-per/  -  to order it will cost £1.00 which is credit on the sim then top ups from £5.00

I also use Spusu (EE) £2.90 monthly plan.

No problems with either company. It is worth noting Spusu also has EU roaming included and have used plus 500 mins UK to EU calls which I have found useful

john1

RWG Terms and conditions

 8 You must make an outbound call or text in any 90-day period for your SIM to remain active. If you don't do this, the SIM will enter a restricted state which means you will only be able to receive inbound calls and texts.

Neil_Jones

ruflonger said:

I use RWG PAYG (EE) as emergency phone - simple pay-as-you-go basis. Say credit will never expire but do not say miminum use to keep number.

Your credit will never expire but that's not the same thing as not making  a chargeable call every x days (90 in the case of RWG)

anear

As of today,
O2 Classic PAYG has been disconnected for new customers.
ASDA PAYG has been replaced by monthly rolling contracts.
Tesco PAYG Lite is no longer available.

PAYG on today's market is no longer true PAYG, they are actually monthly rolling contracts. The cheapest plan is around £5 per month with some free minutes/texts/data.

PHK

anear said:

As of today,
O2 Classic PAYG has been disconnected for new customers.
ASDA PAYG has been replaced by monthly rolling contracts.
Tesco PAYG Lite is no longer available.

PAYG on today's market is no longer true PAYG, they are actually monthly rolling contracts. The cheapest plan is around £5 per month with some free minutes/texts/data.

ASDA do still do PAYG (15p a minute 10p a text), as do 1p Mobile, GiffGaff, EE and others. 

Whether it's cheaper than taking out a plan is another matter. 

If you sign up via USwitch or Money saving expert, you can easily get a plan for less than £2 a month. 

danco

I checked recently, and Giffgaff using top-up rather than a data plan had a minimum top-up of £10 that never expired as long as you used it once in 180 days. For an emergency or backup phone that's probably cheaper than £2 a month unless you find the need to make a call lasting several minutes.

Frozen_up_north

I find this whole “race to find the cheapest possible deal” bizarre.

An elderly relative recently was bought a basic Doro flip phone by his wife, it cost only £20 less than a much easier to use “smart phone”.

As often as not it has a flat battery, he goes off driving alone without the phone and can never remember how to use the phone either. The latest saga is that it wasn’t receiving incoming calls or texts… no idea why.

In perhaps many cases it’s nothing to do with money, it’s the elderly remaining in the last century and not wanting to engage with modern technology. In this particular case, he has a very costly landline and doesn’t think twice about the cost of using it, as opposed to having unlimited “free” calls for a very modest sum per month with a non contract SIM, that has monthly auto top-up.

As others mentioned, a rarely used mobile is probably going to have a poor condition battery and as I found may not even work due to either a faulty phone or SIM.