Vodafone’s Big Value Bundles: Pay As You Go From £10/month

Vodafone offers a choice of Big Value Bundles from £10/month on Pay As You Go.

On Vodafone Pay As You Go, the most popular tariff is currently the Big Value Bundles which start from £10 per month. Previously known as Vodafone Freedom Freebees, a Big Value Bundle will turn your Pay As You Go credit into a 30-day allowance of calls, texts and internet.

Vodafone’s entry-level £10/month bundle comes with 150 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of 4G internet. Higher-priced bundles are available for £15, £20 and £30 per month. These include additional minutes and a larger allowance of data. The Big Value Bundles are in direct competition with ASDA Mobile’s 30-day bundles, giffgaff’s goodybags, EE’s Everything Packs and O2’s Big Bundles.

In this article, we’ll review Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service. We’ll look at their Big Value Bundles and also at alternative tariffs such as their ‘Freebie’ offers and top-up deals. We’ll then compare the Big Value Bundles to rival offerings on other mobile networks and we’ll look at the Pay As You Go rewards you’re able to earn. Finally, we’ll look at the coverage you can expect on Vodafone and how to keep an existing phone number when moving to the network.

Bundles & Prices

Vodafone currently offers a choice of five tariffs on Pay As You Go: Big Value Bundles, Freebie Minutes, Freebie Texts, Freebie Data and Freebie International Minutes.

For most users (e.g. for regular mobile users and smartphone users), Big Value Bundles will normally be Vodafone’s cheapest available tariff. It gives you a 30-day allowance of calls, texts and internet at a fixed monthly price which is known in advance.

For lighter users who don’t have a smartphone, one of Vodafone’s Freebie tariffs can prove to be better value. With a Freebie tariff, there’s no need to top-up every month. You simply pay for your usage on a per-minute, per-text and per-day basis. You’ll also get a free bonus every time you top-up your handset.

Order Vodafone SIM Card (Free) »

Big Value Bundles

If you’re a regular mobile user or smartphone owner, one of the Big Value Bundles may offer the best value.

With a Big Value Bundle, your top-up is converted automatically into a 30-day allowance. There are currently four Big Value Bundles you’re able to choose from:

Network	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	150	Unlimited	500MB	£10.00
	250	Unlimited	1GB	£15.00
	500	Unlimited	4GB	£20.00
	Unlimited	Unlimited	12GB	£30.00

At the end of the 30 days, your unused allowances will automatically expire along with your bundle. Vodafone will try to renew your bundle automatically if there’s a sufficient amount of credit remaining on your account. If you don’t want this to happen automatically, you can opt-out by calling 2345.

Out Of Bundle Charges

If you use up the inclusive allowances on your Big Value Bundle, you’ll pay the following charges for any further usage:

Calling Rates:
Voice Calls	35p/minute (any network, any time)
Calls to Voicemail	30p/minute
Calls to Special Rate Numbers	45p/minute access charge + service charge from the company you’re calling
Messaging Rates:
Text Message (SMS)	14p
Picture Message (MMS)	45p
Internet Rates:
Mobile Internet	£2/day (up to 50MB)
Additional Data	10p/MB

Vodafone charges for all phone calls on a per-minute basis. This means the length of all phone calls is rounded up to a full minute. For instance, a phone call lasting for 61 seconds will be charged by Vodafone as a 2-minute call (it will therefore cost you 2 x 35p = 70p).

Other Pay As You Go Tariffs

Aside from the Big Value Bundles, Vodafone also has a choice of four ‘Freebie’ tariffs. These are classic Pay As You Go tariffs where you don’t need to top-up every month. Instead, your top-up will remain as credit on your account and you’ll pay for your usage on a per-minute, per-text and per-day basis.

Vodafone’s Pay As You Go rates on a ‘Freebie’ tariff are 30p/minute, 14p/text and £2/day for up to 50MB of internet. You’ll also get some additional free airtime every time you top-up your phone with £10 or more:

• Freebie Minutes – Top up by £10 and you’ll get 150 minutes of free UK calling (lasts for up to 30 days). In addition to the free calls, you’ll keep the £10 of credit you topped-up by.
• Freebie Texts – Top-up by £10 and you’ll get 1000 free UK text messages. The free texts will last for up to 30 days. You’ll also keep your £10 of credit for other things (e.g. for 33 minutes of calling).
• Freebie Data – Top-up by £10 and you’ll get 500MB of free mobile internet. The free allowance will last for up to 30 days. You’ll keep the £10 of credit you originally topped up by.
• Freebie International Minutes – Top-up by £10 and you’ll receive 60 minutes of free international calling (more than 50 countries are included in the offer). You can also opt in to Vodafone International to benefit from cheaper international calls. As with the other Freebie tariffs, you’ll keep the £10 of credit which can then be used to pay for other things (e.g. for calls within the UK).

For more information, please refer to the Vodafone website for full details about each of the tariffs.

Changing Bundle Or Tariff

If you aren’t currently a Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you can order a free SIM card on their website and you can choose a tariff at the same time.

If you’re already a Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you can change tariff with a short phone call to Vodafone:

Your Chosen Tariff	Existing Customers	New Customers
Big Value Bundle	Call 4354 from your Vodafone PAYG handset	Get SIM Card »
Freebie Minutes	Call 4356 from your Vodafone PAYG handset	Get SIM Card »
Freebie Texts	Call 4357 from your Vodafone PAYG handset	Get SIM Card »
Freebie Data	Call 4358 from your Vodafone PAYG handset	Get SIM Card »
Freebie International Minutes	Call 4351 from your Vodafone PAYG handset	Get SIM Card »

You can also order a new Pay As You Go handset on the Big Value Bundles tariff.

Comparison to Alternatives

In our view, Vodafone’s Big Value Bundles are relatively expensive when compared to other mobile networks.

In the following section, we’ll compare Vodafone’s Big Value Bundles to rival offerings from other Pay As You Go networks:

£10 per month bundles

Vodafone’s cheapest Big Value Bundle costs £10 per month and comes with 150 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of internet.

For just £7 per month, ASDA Mobile offers a very similar deal with twice as many minutes and with the same amount of texts and data (ASDA Mobile uses 3G coverage from EE):

Network	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	100	2,000	2.1GB	£5.00
	150	Unlimited	500MB	£10.00

At the £10 per month price point, other Pay As You Go networks offer much larger allowances for the same monthly price. For instance, ASDA Mobile offers 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 1.5GB of internet using coverage from EE. Meanwhile, giffgaff offers 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet using coverage from O2:

Network	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	600	Unlimited	3.5GB	£10.00
	500	Unlimited	2GB	£10.00
	100	3,000	1GB	£10.00
	100	100	1GB	£10.00
	150	Unlimited	500MB	£10.00
	150	Unlimited	500MB	£10.00

Order ASDA Mobile SIM Card (Free) »
ASDA’s £10 bundle comes with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 1.5GB internet (coverage from EE)

£15 per month bundles

For £15 per month, Vodafone offers a Big Value Bundle with 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of 4G internet.

At the £15 price point, this is the worst value Pay As You Go bundle across all of the major mobile networks. A much cheaper deal can be found on giffgaff: their £15 goodybag comes four times as many minutes and four times as much data for the same monthly price (you’ll get 1,000 minutes, unlimited texts and 4GB of 4G internet).

Network	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	1,000	Unlimited	5GB	£15.00
	1,000	Unlimited	5GB	£15.00
	750	2,000	2GB	£15.00
	500	Unlimited	2GB	£15.00
	250	Unlimited	1GB	£15.00

£20 per month bundles

Vodafone’s £20 Big Value Bundle bundle comes with 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 4GB of 4G internet.

For just £18/month, giffgaff has 2000 minutes, unlimited texts and 6GB of 4G internet. Alternatively, Three has an All-in-One 20 bundle with 300 minutes, 3000 texts and 12GB of 4G internet.

Network	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	2,000	Unlimited	6GB	£18.00
	300	3,000	12GB	£20.00
	Unlimited	Unlimited	8GB	£20.00
	500	Unlimited	4GB	£20.00
	1,500	4,000	3GB	£20.00
	750	Unlimited	3GB	£20.00

For more information, please see our full comparison of the UK’s best value Pay As You Go bundles.

If you’re willing to sign a new contract, it may also be worth having a look at the best value Pay Monthly SIM cards. With a Pay Monthly SIM card, you can sometimes get better value for money and there’s no need to manually top-up your phone. Some of the 30-day rolling contracts also give you lots of flexibility and allow you to pay automatically by Direct Debit each month.

Pay As You Go Reward Points

Vodafone has a Pay As You Go loyalty scheme known as Vodafone Rewards. With Vodafone Rewards, you earn points every time you top-up your phone (a £10 top-up gives you 100 Reward points). You also get 50 bonus Reward points whenever you buy a Big Value Bundle. Customers buying a £10 Big Value Bundle every month can therefore expect to earn 1,800 Reward points per year.

Each Reward Point is worth approximately 1p. You can use them for a number of rewards including the following:

Reward	Cost
Splash Selfie Stick (worth £8)	800 Reward Points
Universal Power Bank (worth £13)	1,300 Reward Points
Pocket Cube Speaker (worth £13)	1,300 Reward Points
£20 Amazon Gift Card (worth £20)	2,000 Reward Points
Vodafone Smart Speed 6 (worth £45)	4,000 Reward Points
Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 (worth £99)	9,900 Reward Points

A full list of available rewards can be seen in the Vodafone rewards catalogue.

Please note: Reward points will automatically expire two years after you receive them. This can make it exceptionally difficult to earn the larger rewards. You’ll also need to collect your rewards manually every time you top-up your phone. You can do this by texting COLLECT to 27822 or by visiting vodafone.co.uk/rewards and entering your details.

Handsets

There are two ways to get a Big Value Bundle: you can either buy a new handset from Vodafone or you can order a free Vodafone SIM card to go in your existing unlocked handset.

If you’d like to buy a new handset from Vodafone, popular choices currently include:

• LG K8 (£130)
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (£130)
• Vodafone Smart Ultra 7 (£135)
• Apple iPhone 5s (£249)
• Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 (£295)

A full list of available handsets can be found on the Vodafone website.

If you’re ordering a SIM card to go into an existing handset, be sure to unlock it. You may find it helpful to read our guides on unlocking an iPhone and unlocking a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

Coverage

2G, 3G and 4G Coverage

Vodafone offers 98% population coverage across the UK. This includes 89% population coverage on 3G and 86% population coverage on 4G.

Before joining Vodafone Pay As You Go, we strongly recommend checking the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on Vodafone’s online coverage map:

Check Vodafone Coverage (vodafone.co.uk) »

For customers living in an area with poor Vodafone coverage (e.g. in a rural area or a basement flat), the £69 Vodafone Sure Signal will give you a guaranteed five-bar 3G signal.

Tethering Isn’t Permitted

Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with other devices (e.g. with your laptop or tablet).

Unfortunately, Vodafone does not allow Pay As You Go customers to tether from their smartphone. If you’d like to tether on a Pay As You Go tariff, we’d recommend ordering a free SIM card from either ASDA Mobile or giffgaff. As well as having larger data allowances, they’ll also allow you tether on Pay As You Go.

For more information, see our in-depth guide to tethering on UK mobile networks.

Keeping Your Phone Number

It’s easy to keep your existing phone number when moving to Vodafone.

To transfer your phone number to Vodafone, start by contacting your current network and asking them for a PAC Code. A PAC Code is nine-digits long and will authorise Vodafone to take control of your phone number.

Once you have the PAC Code from your old network, you can give it to Vodafone through this online form. Vodafone will then handle the transfer of your phone number to their network (it should normally take place on the next working day).

As it isn’t possible to transfer Pay As You Go credit from another network to Vodafone, you should try to use up remaining credit on your old network before moving your number to Vodafone.

For a step-by-step guide on transferring your phone number to Vodafone, please select your current mobile network:

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to Vodafone
Your current network provider: Please select your current network provider...EEO2OrangeThreeT-MobileVodafone1pMobileASDA MobileBT MobileFreedomPopgiffgaffiD MobileLebara MobileLycamobilePlusnet MobileSky MobileTalkmobileTalkTalk MobileTelloTesco MobileTPO MobileVectone MobileVirgin Mobile   More Options

More Information

For more information on the Big Value Bundles, please refer to the Vodafone website. You can also order a new Pay As You Go handset or a free SIM card on the Big Value Bundles tariff.