On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, you’ll pay £1 per day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data.

In the UK, Vodafone offers a plan called Pay As You Go 1 where you can use your mobile phone for £1 per day. This gives you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data to use the same day.

There are no regular monthly charges on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1. Instead, you’re only charged on the days that you actually use your mobile phone for calling, texting or using data over the mobile network. On days when you don’t use your mobile phone (or when you only use wi-fi), you won’t pay anything that day.

In this article, we’ll review Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1. We’ll start by looking at how the price plan works, how much it’ll cost you and what the £1 daily charge includes. We’ll then compare it to Vodafone’s Pay As You Go bundles and similar price plans that are available on other networks. Finally, we’ll look at the coverage on Vodafone and how you can keep your current phone number when moving to the plan.

Order Vodafone Pay As You Go 1 SIM Card (Free) →

Vodafone Pay As You Go 1

Pay As You Go 1 Charges & Rates

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 price plan, there are no regular monthly charges. You’ll only pay on the days that you actually use your mobile phone for calling, texting or mobile data on Vodafone’s 3G and 4G network.

The daily charge of £1 gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 50MB of mobile data for the rest of the day. It doesn’t include things like special rate calling (e.g. to an 084 or 087 number) or international phone calls which continue to be charged for separately.

There are certain things that won’t trigger the £1 daily charge. For instance, if you’re only using the internet over Wi-Fi at home, you won’t be charged for this by Vodafone. Also, incoming phone calls and text messages are free. These also won’t trigger a £1 daily charge.

Because there’s no minimum daily charge or required monthly top-up, this makes Pay As You Go 1 an ideal option for light users who don’t use their phone every day.

Order Vodafone SIM Card (Free) →

£1 Daily Charge

One of the key features of Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 is the £1 daily charge. When you trigger this £1 charge, you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data to use for the rest of the day.

Only standard UK phone calls, text messages, MMS picture messages and mobile data usage will count towards your £1 daily spend limit. Other things such as special-rate phone calls and international phone calls are charged for as an additional service, outside of the £1 daily charge.

If you use more than 50MB of data in one day, you’ll be offered Vodafone’s £1 Data Extra add-on. This gives you another 50MB of data to use on the same day. You can only buy the Data Extra add-on once every day. For this reason, the maximum amount of mobile data you can use is capped at 100MB per day.

Prior to the 12th January 2021, the £1 daily charge would allow you to use up to 500MB of data in one day. In addition, you were only charged 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p per 5MB of data before you reached the £1 daily limit. On the 12th January 2021, this was changed so a £1 charge would be applied as soon as you use your mobile phone. The inclusive data allowance was also reduced from 500MB to 50MB per day.

Pay As You Go Bundles

As an alternative to Pay As You Go 1, Vodafone also offers a number of Big Value Bundles. These are 30-day plans giving you an allowance of minutes, texts and data to use at any time over the 30-day period. It will typically work out to be better value buying a bundle if you use your phone for more than 10 days per month.

The following Pay As You Go bundles will give you a monthly allowance of minutes, texts and data from £10/month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited7GB£10.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£15.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited40GB£20.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited100GB£30.00

As well as Vodafone’s own Pay As You Go bundles, you should also consider getting a Pay As You Go bundle from VOXI instead. VOXI is the low-cost sub-brand of Vodafone offering better value bundles and larger amounts of data. For instance, you can get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 15GB of data and endless social media data for £10/month.

The following table shows a list of VOXI’s Pay As You Go bundles:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited15GB£10.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited60GB£12.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited30GB£15.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited300GB£20.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£35.00

On VOXI, you’ll benefit from the same coverage as customers on Vodafone. It’s also possible to access 5G on VOXI from £15/month, with endless video streaming on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, My5, TVPlayer and UKTV Play.

Get VOXI Pay As You Go SIM Card (Free) →

In the past, Vodafone also offered a range of Freebie deals on Pay As You Go, where you’d get a 30-day allowance every time you topped up your phone by £10 or more (e.g. Freebie Minutes, Freebie Texts, Freebie Data and Freebie International Minutes). Unfortunately, the Freebie deals are no longer available to new customers.

Changing To Pay As You Go 1

If you’re an existing Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, dial 41146 for free on your mobile phone to opt-in to the Pay As You Go 1 plan. By opting-in, you’ll lose any benefits associated with your current plan (including your current Big Value Bundle or your Freebie allowance if you have one).

If you’re not currently a Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you can join by ordering a free SIM card from the Vodafone website.

Minimum Usage Requirement

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, there’s no need to top-up every month and your credit won’t expire providing your SIM card remains active. To keep it active, you should top-up your phone or make a chargeable outbound phone call at least once every 180 days.

Comparison to Alternatives

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, you’ll pay £1/day for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data.

If you’re a light user who only uses their phone from time to time, it’s possible you’ll get good value from Pay As You Go 1.

The plan is particularly well suited for people who only use their mobile phone for a few days each month (e.g. on trips away from home or for emergency usage). This is especially the case if you use it a lot on the days when you do (e.g. for making lots of phone calls on one day). For instance, someone using their mobile phone for 4 days each month would only pay £4 for their monthly usage on this plan.

The Pay As You Go 1 plan isn’t well suited for people who use their mobile phone every day. For instance, you’ll pay around £30 per month if you use your phone every day (even for a relatively small amount of usage each day).

On rival networks, lower Pay As You Go charges are available. For instance, 1pMobile (which uses coverage from EE) charges just 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. This may or may not work out to be cheaper, depending on how you use your mobile phone.

If you use your mobile phone for more than 10 days each month, you’ll normally be better off getting a Pay As You Go bundle. This gives you an inclusive allowance of minutes, texts and data. For instance, you can get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 15GB of data and endless social media for £10/month on VOXI:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
giffgaffUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£10.00
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimited15GB£10.00
O2UnlimitedUnlimited10GB£10.00
EE500Unlimited8GB£10.00
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimited7GB£10.00

Please see our guide to Pay As You Go bundles for a in-depth comparison of available Pay As You Go deals.

Handsets

There are two ways to join Vodafone Pay As You Go 1.

If you already have a mobile phone that you’re happy to use, order a Pay As You Go 1 SIM card from the Vodafone website (choose the option to “get a free SIM” about half way down the page). You can top it up from as little as £5 to get started. Depending on where your mobile phone was purchased, it might be necessary for you to unlock your phone.

If you’d like a new mobile phone, you can also buy one from the Vodafone website. At the time of writing, you can buy a new Pay As You Go phone for as little as £1, with a minimum initial top-up of £10 required.

Network & Coverage

2G, 3G & 4G Coverage

Customers on the Pay As You Go 1 price plan can access Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks in the UK. At present, 99% of the UK’s population is covered by Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G network.

Before joining Vodafone Pay As You Go, we’d 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) →

Unfortunately, 5G coverage is not available on the Pay As You Go 1 plan.

For more information, see our Vodafone network and coverage overview. You can also read our guide on how mobile coverage works in the UK.

Tethering & Personal Hotspot

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

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1, it’s possible to use tethering or personal hotspot without any restrictions. This makes it a convenient option for getting connected on multiple devices on the go. However, the 50MB per day allowance might not go very far when you tether, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on how much data you’re using.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re moving from another mobile network to join Vodafone Pay As You Go, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.

Start by getting a PAC Code from your current mobile network. You can get one through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. This nine-digit code authorises Vodafone to take control of your phone number.

Once you’ve gotten a PAC Code from your old network, order a free Pay As You Go SIM card from Vodafone’s website. When the new SIM card arrives, place it inside your mobile phone and provide your PAC Code to Vodafone through this form on their website.

After providing your PAC Code to Vodafone, your phone number transfer will normally take place on the next working day. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to transfer Pay As You Go credit from your old network to Vodafone so you should try to use it up before moving your phone number over.

For a step-by-step guide on how to transfer your phone number to Vodafone, please select your current mobile network from the drop-down menu below:

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to Vodafone

Select your current mobile network:

  More Options

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 is a price plan for people who only use their mobile phone from time to time. There are no regular monthly charges on Pay As You Go 1. You’ll just pay £1 per day when you use your mobile phone for unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and up to 50MB of data.
What are the charges on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
Each day, Vodafone will charge you £1 as soon as you use your Pay As You Go 1 SIM card for making an outbound call, sending an outgoing text message or when you use mobile data over Vodafone’s 3G or 4G network. The £1 daily charge unlocks unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 50MB of data for the rest of the day.

If you only use your phone for receiving an incoming phone call or text message, or if you only access the internet on your phone using Wi-Fi, you won’t be charged the £1 fee for that day.
Can I use Vodafone Pay As You Go without topping up every month?
Yes. There’s no need to top-up every month on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1. The only requirement is you’ll need to keep your SIM card active by topping it up or making a chargeable outbound call every 180 days.
How does Pay As You Go 1 compare to Pay As You Go bundles?
Vodafone also offers a range of Big Value Bundles from £10/month on Pay As You Go. In general, Pay As You Go 1 works out to be better value if you use your mobile phone less than 10 days per month. If you use your mobile phone more often than this, a Big Value Bundle or a VOXI bundle may work out to be better value.
What coverage will I get on Vodafone Pay As You Go 1?
You’ll get access to 99% population coverage on Vodafone’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks in the UK. Unfortunately, 5G coverage isn’t currently available to Pay As You Go 1 customers.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. It’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number. Simply ask your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get one through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. After activating your new Vodafone SIM card, you can submit the PAC Code through this page to get your phone number moved over.

More Information

For more information about Vodafone Pay As You Go 1, please see the official Vodafone website.

Your Comments 102 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 102 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Viv Adams said:

    Hi, this is interesting info. I’ve just spent the best part of an hour on chat with Vodafone and they tried their best to get me on this PAYG 1 plan but glad I’ve read this first. I have sent for a Giff Gaff sim card and it arrived this morning but the info that comes with it makes no mention of the basic PAYG plan – only the monthly payment ones and I don’t want to give them any details until I know what I’m getting into. Any suggestions please?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Viv,
      Thanks for your comment. On giffgaff, you’ll just need to choose the option to add regular Pay As You Go credit to your account. If you do that, you’ll be on their regular Pay As You Go plan with no need to buy a goodybag bundle each month.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Helen said:

    This problem of PAYG users being charged a pound when no mobile phone activity has taken place is a widespread issue that users are posting on various sites as well as this one. Looking at my purchase history I can see one pound being charged over multiple days at exactly 0026 when I am in bed. Some days there have been more than one exactly at 00.26. In response to my formal complaint I was advised to disable wifi assist ( It is already disabled). I believe, from reading and agreeing with another post elsewhere that what is happeneing is that a phone has regular low level interactions (“handshakes”?) with the network,saying in effect “I am here”. These will probably involve exchange of tiny amounts of data. When as little as 1KB of data triggers a £1 charge it amounts to a marginal cost of £1000 per MB over which you will have absolutely no control. No one appears to be denying that this is taking place the issue for me is whether it is acceptable commercial practice. I feel unable to accept their resolution and I will be asking for a letter of Deadlock which, I understand, will enable me to alert Ofcom.

  • Myra said:

    I have had the same problem since January 12.
    I have had to contact them five times. Today they told me the.only way to stop it is for them to disconnect my wi fi which I have not used. As far as I am aware they have not done this and I am going to make a formal complaint. Each timeI have contacted them I get a different reason for them taking a £1.I am going to take this further by initially making a formal complaint.

  • angela green said:

    my husband has an old nokia (vodafone ) no internet no data etc just for calling he only sends one text a week and that is “ok ” he seems to have been switched to this new pay as you go 1 plan as £1 has been taken for the last 3 saturdays giving him free calls /texts /data doesnt mean nothing to him ?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Angela,
      Thanks for your comment. It definitely sounds like the new Pay As You Go 1 plan isn’t going to be very suitable for your usage. Have you considered an alternative such as getting a SIM card from giffgaff? On giffgaff, you’ll only pay 10p/text which is a lot less than the £1/day from Vodafone!
      Ken

  • Michael said:

    I’d been using PAYG 1 for my old Sam.S5 which was too slow. Only ever used it anyway for updating Apps etc. so when it said i’m only getting 50mb instead of 500mb i decided i would not be using my phone anymore with Vodafone. I’ll use up the credit only in emergency calls but in my case they’ve missed out on the £5 or £6 a month i use to spend. Just plain greed if you ask me!
    Actually have another phone now on contract which is amazing.

  • Hughie said:

    I have been a Vodafone Pay as you go1 customer for just over 3 years, with a Nokia 2.3.
    On Sunday 17/01/2021 took £1.00 off my total amount and I received a text (The normal one it’s free up until midnight) but I had not used the phone at all.
    I contacted Vodafone and after getting through the Robot the chap refunded the £1.00. (Not a lot I know)
    It has now started to do it every day since Sunday. Is it my phone? or is it Vodafone?
    Please help.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Hughie,
      Is 3G/4G mobile data enabled on your phone? If so, it’s possible your phone is using a bit of data without you knowing (e.g. before it connects to Wi-Fi, or if it loses coverage from your Wi-Fi network at home). The £1 daily charge will automatically trigger even if you only use a tiny bit of data, so it’s best to turn off this feature on your phone to avoid it.
      Ken

    • JB replied:

      This happened to me as well. I even switched off mobile data completely on the 4G phone, but Vodafone still managed to charge me £1 a day despite me not using the phone for ANYTHING! My £10 credit disappeared in 10 days from the 12’th Jan (the date of the new PAYG ripoff scam). I complained three times to their “help” desk, and got a £3 credit with assurances that they had fixed the problem.
      I now have a contract with another supplier. Don’t touch this scam with a bargepole.

      • Ken replied:

        Hi JB,
        That’s incredibly odd. Did Vodafone give you any explanation for why the £1 was deducted from your account? They must have registered a chargeable call, text message or data usage on your account but I’m not sure how that would happen if mobile data was turned off like you said?
        Ken

        • JB replied:

          Well on my first call to them about the issue, the Vodafone help line traced the £1 charge to “48kB of background data”, but she could not identify any further details. So I went through my phone, disabling background data on all of my apps. The next day I had another charge, so I got back to another operator and she eventually said their technical team had traced the issue and it would be fixed in 24 hours. She refused to tell me what the “issue” was. In the meantime, I set my phone to disable all mobile data. Next day, there was another £1 charge and I called the helpline (for the last time). They insisted I was using mobile data; I insisted I had set my phone not to. One of the telling conversations with their manager included his comment: “The charge is because you haven’t switched to a monthly bundle yet.” Their marketing is clearly targetted at promoting their bundles, which did not appeal to me at all.
          My best guess is that my phone (Android) is in fact using some background data, perhaps the OS checking for updates, despite being told not to.
          I should point out that I had been using their previous PAYG1 scheme for over a year, with no hint of any unexpected charges such as these, so they have also changed their data classification algorithms as well as charging levels. In any event, I was getting nowhere with Vodafone, so I decided to change supplier.

          • Ken replied:

            Hi JB,
            That’s very strange, and I think your guess is possibly correct. One possible explanation is that Vodafone used to charge 20p/5MB before the tariff was changed. A data session of 48KB would therefore probably have been charged at just a fraction of a penny if it was also happening then. With the new pricing, you’re charged £1/day as soon as you use any data, which might explain the issue appearing after the price plan was changed.
            Ken

  • Rupert said:

    Vodafone Pay As You rip-off.
    I suppose this is a way to get rid of Pay As You Go because Vodafone see it as an inconvenience to raking in the billions. I have Pay As You Go to avoid a monthly contract which I don’t need. I only had to top-up about twice a year. It will now cost me about ten pounds (or more) every month. I only use it for four necessary calls and the odd texts if I have to. My main use is the camera and Instagram at home. Giving me everything for free, after costing me one pound for the first use every day, is not what I want. This confirms what I already knew – mobiles are the scourge of the modern age!

    • James replied:

      You’d be better off leaving for something else, if you want a small bundle then Lebara has 2GB for £5 a month, or 1p mobile for a traditional pay as you go plan (would cost £30 a year with their 120 day top up requirements).

      There’s also Asda which is more expensive than 1p mobile, but just needs to be used once every 180 days to stay active so you’re unlikely to have your account terminated.

      Regardless of what sort of plan you want, this £1 a day Vodafone thing is an absolute rip off and there’s a better option out there for anything I think.

    • Viv replied:

      I do agree with you. We have an old, cheap mobile phone that is still on the old plan, it’s only used on the odd occasion but we need it for OTP’s – otherwise we wouldn’t bother. You actually top up about twice as much as we do. I hate the things.

  • Ken said:

    Hi all,
    Just a quick note to let you know that I’ve updated the page above with the new pricing from Vodafone (as mentioned by Sam below). As of today, you’ll only get 50MB of data included within the £1 daily charge on Pay As You Go 1. Let me know if you have any questions!
    Ken

  • Andrew M said:

    Is this a 24hr period?
    The £1 value bundle is this 24hr free from the moment I make a call within any 24hr period or until the stroke of midnight 🕛? 🙈

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Andrew,
      Thanks for your comment. The £1 is capped from midnight-to-midnight. Therefore, if you were to start using your phone at 6pm in the evening, it would be £1 until midnight that day.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Sam Toomath said:

    Ken just discovered on Vodafone t&c’s that from 12/1/21 their minimum rates on their PAYG 1 tariff is increasing substantially. Cost of call up from 20p per minute to £1per call. Cost of a single text will be £1 and also data will reduce to only 50mb per day with £1 daily charge made after first kb. This mean minimum charge for using the service will change to £1 per day and whilst that still allows unlimited calls and texts the data is going to be reduced to one tenth of the current tariff allowance.
    Also a chargeable call/text will be required after 90 days then 2 SMS reminders will be sent by vf after 90/135 days and if you have not used the service you will be disconnected after 180 days.
    I have a vodafone sim in as a second sim in my phone for emergency use in case of no reception on primary sim so these changes mean that to make a call/text/data minimum daily charge will be £1. When were vodafone planning on advising their customers of these changes? You will need to update your article on this tariff.
    Time to part company with vodafone I think!

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sam,
      Very interesting, thanks for letting me know about that! I suspect they’re trying to push customers towards the bundles instead (e.g. the £5/month bundle with 500MB of data, or the Big Value Bundles from £10). I’ll make a note to update this page with details of the new pricing.
      Ken

    • Make Mustard replied:

      Yes, not only is it indeed time to part company with Vodafone, it’s also time to put in an OFcom complaint this move is nothing short of scandalous and I would urge all those with substantial credit on their PAYG 1 accounts to do the same.

  • John said:

    If I have moble data switched off and I am away from home and need it how long does it take to re-enable if I switch it on in settings?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi John,
      Thanks for your comment. It’s usually pretty instantaneous turning mobile data back on (one or two seconds I’d imagine).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Jake Mustard said:

    I don’t know if it was mentioned in the article, but PAYG 1 is Vodafone’s default tariff for Vodafone PAYG customers, for example, automatically after 7-days of failing to renew a BIG VALUE BUNDLE or non-prepaid SIM purchase.

    Whilst in my personal opinion their UK coverage and network quality is second to none, their bundles are not at all competitive, taking into consideration EE’s £5 bundle with 250 minutes and 500Mb data, as well as O2’s £10 bundle with unlimited minutes and 6Gb of data.

    The problem with PAYG 1 is that to derive the full benefit you’d have to unlock the £1 cap just after midnight and conclude your activities before midnight on the same day.

    Essentially it’s a light user solution, which can be maintained cost-effectively for about £10 per annum given Vodafone’s 9 month inactivity clause, I currently maintain one on a dual SIM handset for emergency contact

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jake,
      Thanks for your feedback! Yes, I agree, the Big Value Bundles from Vodafone aren’t looking very competitive at the moment. Partly, this is also because they’re pushing people towards VOXI where you’ll get a lot more data for the same price (at the moment, 12GB for £10 per month).
      The Pay As You Go 1 plan is a good option for people who use their mobile phone for less than 10 days each month. If you’re at home and only using Wi-Fi (and not making calls) for the other 20+ days, it won’t cost you a penny to use your phone on those days.
      Ken

  • Emma said:

    Hi Ken,
    I currently have £5 BVB which is not offered to new customers anymore. If I move to PAYG1, will I be able to move back to £5 BVB later or will it have to be the £10 bundle?
    Thanks a lot,
    Emma.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Emma,
      Thanks for your comment. It’s probably best to assume you’ll only be able to move back to the £10 bundle. I have, however, had a report in the comments here that you might still be able to add the £5 bundle online (something I wouldn’t rely on, but something you can try).
      Ken

  • johnmiller said:

    I have an original sim card for vodaphone which had no contract and only needed topping up when credit ran out no time limit and accidentally topped up using a big value bundle can I revert without using payg 1.thanks.john

    • Ken replied:

      Hi John,
      Thanks for your comment. I believe you can switch back to Pay As You Go 1 by calling 41146 from your Vodafone handset.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

        • Ken replied:

          Hi John,
          Sorry – I misread your message there – apologies for that. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it’s normally possible to change back to a plan that Vodafone no longer offers to new Pay As You Go customers (they’re usually trying to coax people off the old ones!). However, if you like, you could try reaching out to Vodafone Customer Services to see if they’re able to arrange this for you as it was an error in the first place switching to Big Value Bundles.
          Ken

  • Mike said:

    Is there an absoulte minimum usage on the Pay As You Go 1 tariff? I seem to recall earlier Vodafone required one call / text every 3 months. My usage will be very low!

  • Steve said:

    I’m going to our Turkish holiday home in May 2020, I have a vodaphone sim only on payg1, I am aware that Turkey is in your Europe Zone, would I be better buying a £10 bundle for the 14 day duration or stick with my spend a £1 per day cap, and then everything over the £1 spent givesvall calls, text and data free for 23 hours. Value your opinion on this,

  • Patricia Lowe said:

    I have recently bought Vodaphone pay as You go 1 deal. I am completely new to mobile phones, so am finding things a bit difficult. I am under the impression that when I am home and use my phone I will not be charged, do I have to connect to my router here? and if so how do I do it? as this morning I just looked up my emails on my phone and have been charged a £1.00. Also when I go into my Vodaphone it is telling me that my mobile data connection is not turned on, I don’t know what that means.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Patricia,
      Thanks for your comment. Do you have a wi-fi connection at home? If so, you simply need to connect your mobile phone to your wi-fi and you won’t be charged for usage by Vodafone. If possible, it’s best to disable mobile data as well if you don’t want to be charged accidentally.
      Ken

  • Sarah said:

    I want to keep my mobile service with Free in France but would like to use a sim card with vodaphone pay as you go when I’m in the UK. Do I need to provide vodaphone with a PAC which surely will discontinue my account with Free in France

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sarah,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, a PAC Code can only be used to transfer a phone number between two UK-based networks. Therefore, you won’t be able to transfer a phone number from Free Mobile in France to Vodafone in the UK.
      With regards to keeping your old service, it should simply be swapping out your Free Mobile SIM card for a Vodafone SIM card when you’re in the UK (and then back to the Free Mobile SIM card when you go back to France). You’ll just need to make sure your handset is unlocked. Alternatively, you can use a dual-SIM smartphone which will allow you to have both SIM cards in a phone at the same time.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Michael said:

    I would like to see if Vodafone are faster than Three on my 4G mobile broadband router. Vodafone’s mast is much nearer to our property, so in theory should be better.

    If I get a PAYG SIM, is the speed throttled or limited in any way? Would it be a fair test or do I need to take out a contract for unlimited data when the time comes?

    Apologies, I couldn’t see this question already answered. Thank you Ken for a fantastic website!

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Michael,
      Thanks for your comment. I think the best way to test this out is probably to get a VOXI SIM card with endless data. You’ll pay £30 for a one-month bundle with unlimited data, and it works on a Pay As You Go basis so there’s no need for a credit check. That SIM card definitely shouldn’t be throttled as they offer 5G download speeds on it. If you’re happy with performance, you can either decide to stay on VOXI’s £30 plan, or you can switch to Vodafone’s £30 Unlimited Max data plan which has a 12-month contract (along with some extras like VeryMe Rewards and Vodafone Global Roaming Plus).
      With regards to Vodafone Pay As You Go, unfortunately I don’t know whether this is throttled. It definitely doesn’t have access to the fastest speeds available on Vodafone’s Pay Monthly SIM cards or VOXI’s £30 plan. Therefore, using a SIM card from VOXI might be a more accurate test 🙂
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Henry H said:

    ON PAYG1 you are charged the daily amount If you switch your phone on and don’t make calls / receive calls / whatever.

    That’s unreasonable – other providers don’t charge until you actually user their services.
    Mebe that’s how Voda make their service economic…..
    I think that’s a pain….

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Henry,
      Thanks for your comment. You shouldn’t automatically be charged the £1 daily amount if you don’t use your phone for calling, texting or mobile data. I think what’s potentially happening is that your phone might be using data automatically in the background (e.g. for email notifications, other app notifications, instant messages via WhatsApp, etc). You could try disabling the “Mobile data” feature on your smartphone to see whether this stops you from being charged automatically.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

      • Henry H replied:

        Thanks for answering – not to be argumentative / disingenuous – BUT I checked with Voda’s CS and a nice gentleman (in the UK not Egypt!) stated that it was “broken as designed” – and that if I just switched my device on – in this case a MiFi it would trigger the daily charge. I challenged him, but he was firm with his statement.
        Other companies (well, I only use Three) don’t charge until you start to send traffic.
        Having ‘suffered’ with Voda’s diabolical systems for many years now I cynically think that they have taken the lazy way out / don’t know whether you’re sending traffic or not – so the charge gets triggered.
        ‘suppose I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth – the rates are very good for low volume web browsing – irritating as Voda doesn’t seem to keep a record of when I’ve used the service which can mean a disconnection / deletion of my details and account for which I then can’t produce a record. A case of Big Brother bullying the customer.

  • paolo said:

    Hello ! I have a Vodafone Big Value Bundles SIM card. How can I switch to the Pay As You Go 1 tariff without using calls to the operator? Is it possible to do this using SMS?

  • Chris Steer-Kemp said:

    Hi, my son has a Vodaphone 1 sim card. We went away Monday and he had £10 credit. Now 3 days later his balance is £0. Hiw is this possible?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Chris,
      Thanks for your comment. The best thing to do would probably be to get in touch with Vodafone as they should be able to give you a breakdown of the charges that have been incurred. The most likely scenario is there might have been some additional usage that isn’t covered by the £1/day charge (e.g. perhaps a call to a non-standard number)?
      Ken

  • Zenah Reed said:

    Hi Ken.

    I’m on the pay as you go 1 and find it great and will be moving my daughter to it as she manly uses her phone to txt me after dance or when out with her friends.

    I do have a question though. If I make a call that last say 6min or more will it be caped once it gets to the £1 after 5min or keep charging me at 20p per min for the whole call but all others are free after that. At the moment if I need to make a longer call I send a few txts first to get my unlimited minutes

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Zenah,
      Thanks for your comment. As far as I understand, the charge will automatically be capped as soon as you reach £1. There shouldn’t be any need to hang up and redial. So a phone call lasting for more than 5 minutes should only be charged as £1 and any further usage of your phone for the rest of the day will then be free.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Karl Newbold said:

    Hello. If i was to get the £5 top up sim and i do not use my phone at all say for 3 months will the £5 top up still be active?

    Reason i ask this is because i very rarely use my mobile (its for emergencies only. I might make 10 calls or 30 texts a year from my phone.

    Thank you,

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Karl,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, on “Pay As You Go 1” there are no regular monthly charges – you’ll just pay up to £1/day when you use your mobile phone. Therefore, you could leave your phone unused for 3 months and your credit would still be there. The main thing to be aware of is just the inactivity policy as leaving your phone unused for too long would cause it to be disconnected!
      On a side note, it might be worth having a quick read of my article on Pay As You Go SIM cards for light users. There might be some alternative SIM cards there that work out to be even better value than Pay As You Go 1.
      Hope this helps!
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Joe,
      Thanks for your comment. On Pay As You Go 1, your £10 usage would only last for 10 days if you were to reach the daily threshold each day. If you like, you could alternatively choose the Big Value Bundles tariff which gives you 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data for £10/month. This is probably a better value option if you’re a regular smartphone user. Alternatively, I recommend having a look at VOXI (also a part of Vodafone) – they’ll give you 6GB of data and unlimited minutes for £10/month.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Karen Hardman said:

    What happened to the big value bundle?
    That was better value for money yet l can’t find it anywhere on the recorded options, or is this intentional ?

  • Dave said:

    Hi ken
    With payg 1 do i have to turn mobile data on to get on the internet can i use my phone anywhere if i do this
    Thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Dave,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, you’ll need to switch on the “mobile data” setting on your phone to access the internet on-the-go with this tariff. Once it’s switched on, you can use up to 500MB of data per day (including whilst you’re out and about) for £1/day.
      If you’re using the internet over wi-fi, there is no need to switch on mobile data and you won’t be charged by Vodafone.
      Ken

  • Dave said:

    Hi ken
    I am a vodafone customer on payg but i’m thinking of going over to payg1 could i keep my existing number and would my credit be transfered
    Thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Dave,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, you can switch over to Pay As You Go 1 whilst keeping your existing phone number and credit. You’ll lose any remaining bundle allowances if you have one (e.g. from your Big Value Bundle), or any benefits specific to your old plan (e.g. Freebees). You can switch to Pay As You Go 1 by dialling 41146.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Rochelle said:

    Hi Ken,

    I recently got a new phone and sim for my grandma who rarely uses her phone. I got her onto payg1, but I have had a text on her phone saying that to she has been put onto a value bundle that and I will have to top up £10 a month. I used the 2345 number and it said to opt out of payg1 press whatever, so is the phone on value bundle or payg1?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Rochelle,
      Thanks for your comment. You can switch to the Pay As You Go 1 tariff by dialling 41146 from the handset. You should then be moved over the Pay As You Go 1, and you should receive confirmation of this fact.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Richard Woods said:

    Hi Ken,
    this SIM would be for emergency call from our lift so Minimum usage requirement is very important we we recently discovered our previous SIM had been deactivated without us knowing. In your ‘Best Pay As You Go SIM Card For Light Users’ article from 3rd Feb 18 you mention the Minimum usage requirement for the Vodafone Pay As You Go 1 tariff is Once every 270 days. Is that still the case?

    This looks like the best SIM for us from your reviews – would you agree? Any other suggestions very much appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Rich

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Richard,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, this information should still be correct – it’s discussed in more depth here and you can follow the links to read the full terms and conditions. Technically speaking, the terms refer to 180 consecutive days of non-use, after which you’ll be given a further 90 day grace period (so 270 days in total). I’d personally try to use it every 180 days just to be safe, but the terms suggest it should be fine to go to 270 days.
      Is there a facility to make periodic phone calls or text messages, to ensure the SIM card activity requirements are met?
      Ken

  • Denise said:

    I have automatically been put on the new PAYG 1 tariff and have £8 credit. Why does it then say I have no texts, no minutes and no data? Bit confused!

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Denise,
      Thanks for your comment. Vodafone’s Pay As You Go 1 tariff is more classic Pay As You Go rather a Pay As You Go bundle. For this reason, there’s no need to convert your credit into a one-month allowance of minutes, texts and mobile internet like there is on other plans.
      Rather, when you start using your mobile phone, Vodafone will charge you 20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p/5MB from your £8 of credit. This is capped at £1/day. When you reach the £1 daily threshold, you’ll then get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and up to 500MB of data for the rest of the day. The charge is only paid on the days when you actually use your phone.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Mel said:

    I have the vodafone sim in my spare phone which i keep in my van for emergencies or if i forget my main phone so use it very rarely. Is this the right plan for me and when do i have to pay? When you read the info. it appears to be say you pay a £1/day. If i load my phone with £10 will that last forever if i do not use the phone? As usual the details of plans never seem to say what is actually going to happen and appear designed to ‘lure’ people onto them (or am i just an old git 🙂 )

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Mel,
      Thanks for your comment. The Vodafone Pay As You Go 1 SIM card can certainly be a good option for you 🙂 You’ll pay a maximum of £1/day on the days when you use your mobile phone (20p/minute, 20p/text and 20p/5MB until you reach the £1 daily cap).
      You’re right in saying the credit should last a long time if you don’t use the phone. It doesn’t expire after 30 days like it does on a Pay As You Go bundle. The one thing that’s worth watching out for however is Vodafone’s inactivity policy which requires you to use your phone for a chargeable activity at least once every 180 days. Providing you do this, your remaining credit will not have any expiry dates.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

      • mel replied:

        Many thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the reply does not say how the fee is paid. I am assuming that the sim will have to be loaded with a minimum amount then the call charge, etc will be knocked off, but at no more than a rate of £1/day. Is that correct?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Dave,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, on the Pay As You Go 1 tariff, any credit remaining at the end of the month will carry forward to the next month.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Hector MacNeil said:

    My wife rarely uses her phone except for competitions GM etc. Seemingly this new PAYG 1 which Vodafone is automatically changing her to doesn’t include these numbers in their £1/day. But worryingly is the fact that in their TOC it mentions possible background “chatter”, whatever that is, which would be included.
    At the moment my wife just tops up when necessary after she’s used up her credit doing competitions I’m just worried that she’ll lose out with this new tariff being charged for usage she has no control over.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Hector,

      Thanks for your comment. You’re right: Vodafone’s £1/day charge only covers phone calls and text messages to standard UK numbers (most phone numbers beginning with 01, 02, 03 and 07). More precisely, you’re charged 20p/minute for these calls but it’s all capped so you’ll pay no more than £1/day. If she’s only ever using her phone for the premium rate phone numbers, this £1/day charge shouldn’t be activated (as it’s more of a cap, rather than an actual charge).

      With regards to the “background chatter”, this refers to when you have mobile data enabled on your phone but when you’re not actively using any applications. For instance, your mobile phone will check for new e-mails, WhatsApp messages, etc even when you’re not actively using it. So long as you disable the “mobile data” feature on the handset, there shouldn’t be any background chatter and therefore you won’t pay for this. It’s worth noting that the charge is again implemented as a daily cap: you’re actually charged 20p for every 5MB of data you use, capped so you’ll pay no more than £1/day.

      Hope this helps,

      Ken

  • Wendy Nugent said:

    Hello Ken. Forgive me, but there’s no mention of the Vodaphone “Basic” package which offers U/L minutes and texts and a very small amount of data for £6 a month…. or a bit more data for £8 a month. It’s tucked away on their website – but hard to find – and is also offered under the USwitch umbrella too. Part of the deal is that the price will only increase by RPI annually … which seems fair. Seems a bit too good to be true … but I’ve phoned them and had it confirmed – he said it’s cheap coz of the small amount of data.

    Thanks., Regards.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Wendy,
      Thanks a lot for letting me know about this! This is definitely a really interesting offer from Vodafone, though it does come with a 12-month contract (rather than being Pay As You Go). There are also a number of restrictions to be aware of on the tariff e.g. you won’t be able to use it when you’re outside the UK. For this reason, it might also be worth investigating alternatives like giffgaff’s £10 goodybag which, in my opinion, offers greater flexibility, no contract & the ability to use your mobile phone abroad.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

      • Wendy Nugent replied:

        Sorry for delay in replying. Just as a matter of interest, I spotted that O2 does a similar deal called Classic 321 (I would imagine you already know about it). But it does seem to included overseas use. For me it has the advantage that there is an O2 shop sited more conveniently than the Three shop … maybe there are more O2 shops in the UK? The staff were helpful when I went in to enquire. And I would guess that O2 coverage is no worse than Three …. but presumably it’s horses for courses on that point.

        Lastly, I have, for the moment, decided to stay with Asda PAYG with their 8p and 4p pricing for calls and texts due to their excellent customer support in the UK … the communication abilities of some overseas call centre staff are a bit daunting at times. Most phone call centre staff, like PayPal staff, are helpful … but, occasionally, not easy to understand.

        • Wendy Nugent replied:

          I should have said … the O2 Classic 321 deal is a similar deal to the Three 321 offering – but with, possibly, a couple of benefits over Three.

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Wendy,
          No problem, and thanks for getting back to me! O2’s Classic Pay As You Go tariff is a fantastic choice – in case you’re curious, I’ve reviewed it here in more detail. Like you say, it’s very similar to Three’s 321 tariff, and also comes with a number of benefits like O2 Priority. You can roam in the EU at no extra charge (but this is also possible on all other networks), whereas Three also gives you some non-EU destinations. Comparing the two, Three is probably still better value overall, as you can also buy an All-in-One bundle the times when you need it (whereas it isn’t possible to do the same on O2 Classic Pay As You Go).
          Finally, in relation to your very first comment, I’ve put together some notes on Vodafone’s Basic SIM Only deals here.
          Hope this helps!
          Ken

          • Wendy Nugent. replied:

            Hello.

            Just to say I called O2 PAYG Customer Service the other day (August 2018). Asked if he could confirm (or otherwise) that you MUST top up with a tenner every six months. The fella said – NOT necessary to top up, but you need to make a chargeable call … and advised doing so every couple of months rather than call once every six months. He couldn’t direct me to a written statement to that effect though, but was certain that that was the case. And the Ts and Cs do still state that top up is required to keep your number live.

            I suppose it would be prudent to take out a plan using a number that isn’t particularly precious in order to get first hand knowledge rather than take the chance that a cherished number might get lost … but I do believe they let you know that they intend disconnecting you (in the event you do nothing for six months).

  • Patience said:

    VODAFONE’S PAY AS YOU GO 1 DOES NOT WORK OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM WHEN YOU ARE ABROAD IN EUROPE.

    ITS A BIG LIE WHOMEVER CLAIMS THIS WORKS PROPERLY OUTSIDE THE UK.

    I subscribed to this service on 28.3.18 and I happen to travel to Finland.
    NOBODY from the UK can contact me, whilst I am in Europe because it cuts-off after 1 ring.

    Whilst I am travelling in Finland NOBODY in Finland can contact me on 07464****** because it rings once and cuts-off automatically as call cancelled.

    Whilst in Finland today 04.04.18, I conducted an experiment this afternoon and asked my friend in Finland sitting next to me to ring my Mobile Phone +447464****** what happened was the phone rang Once on my phone and it automatically cancelled itself. On my Friends Phone he was getting my voicemail inbox.

  • Jackie Harris said:

    I have only just found out about the closure of Talkmobile’s PAYG – no email, no text and I still have Talkmobile (or at least that’s what it says on the Home screen of my mobile) service at the old Talkmobile rates of 10p access charge for voice calls.

    I’d prefer to stay with Vodafone, so with this Pay As You Go 1 tariff, would I only pay for outgoing calls and texts (that I make infrequently).

    Also, as I have an older style 2G phone I can’t use Three.

    It seems that there are considerably fewer true PAYGs out there now – so many require regular top up. I did look at O2 Classic tariff, but I see from the Ts and Cs that you have to top up £10 every six months.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jackie,
      Thanks for your comment. I’ve got a guide to all of the traditional or “true” Pay As You Go tariffs so possibly worth a quick look when choosing your new mobile network! 1pMobile is the cheapest (1p/minute, 1p/text & 1p/MB) but requires you to top-up £10 every 120 days. ASDA Mobile is probably my recommended all-round option: they charge 8p/minute, 4p/text and 5p/MB (coverage from EE and no minimum top-up required, you just need to use your phone at least once every 270 days).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

      • Jackie replied:

        Hi Ken,

        Thanks for your reply. I think a visit to the local Vodafone store is on the cards. I would prefer to stay on the Vodafone network (I already have a Plusnet contract with coverage from EE and the signal on that isn’t that great). I make very few calls and texts from my main phone, so I need to clarify that the £1 per day charge is only levied when I MAKE calls and send texts, rather than receive them.

        I’m also hoping that moving to Vodafone will enable someone between Talkmobile and Vodafone to sort out the PAC issue – I really don’t want to lose my number.

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Jackie,
          Thanks for your reply. I’m pretty sure the £1/day charge is only levied when you make or send outgoing phone calls and text messages (the pricing is structured in such a way that you’ll pay 20p/minute and 20p/text, capped at £1/day). Saying that, do check with Vodafone directly if you’d like official confirmation and for information on how to move your phone number over in the most efficient way.
          Thanks,
          Ken

  • Miles said:

    This is a very expensive PAYG option. If you need the Vodafone network maybe due to where you live you should consider Talkmobile. You could easily be paying £30 per month for a payg sim – you can get a good contract phone for £30 per month. Why would someone pay 20p per minute and 20p per text when they are 1p from 1p mobile using EE network? Surely no one will be fooled by this. Very strange offering

    Great site Ken for all things mobile – keep up the good work?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Miles,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, I believe Talkmobile has now been closed down and Vodafone is encouraging Talkmobile customers to switch to their own brand. I do agree, however, this isn’t a particularly good deal for people who use their smartphone every day. It is however a potentially interesting tariff if you’re someone who rarely uses their phone but then uses it for a lot of things when they do (e.g. for someone who uses their phone only at the weekends).
      Ken

      • Miles replied:

        I have just seen that talk mobile have been taken over by Vodafone and the payg offering has been withdrawn. Clever move by Vodafone to limit cheap access to the Vodafone network

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Miles,
          Yes – very unfortunate! It’s been rumoured for a couple of years already – when Mobile by Sainsbury’s shut down in 2015, TalkTalk came out and said Vodafone was pulling out of the MVNO market. Whilst Vodafone denied the claims, no independent MVNOs have launched on the Vodafone network for two years (VOXI is a slight exception, though it’s really a sub-brand of Vodafone rather than an independent MVNO). TalkTalk Mobile is in the process of moving to O2, leaving Lebara the only MVNO with coverage from Vodafone.
          Ken

          • margaret ann graefe replied:

            Yep experiencing same, as soon as I switch on phone I have been charged £1 where as I topped infrequently. Since 12th January have had a £1 deducted. this is not good enough for customers who have been with Vodafone for years.

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