Vodafone offers ‘Pay As You Go Plus’ plans from £10. Compare Vodafone’s no-contract Pay As You Go bundles.

If you’re looking for a flexible Pay As You Go plan where there’s no contract and no need for a credit check, Vodafone offers Pay As You Go Plus plans from £10 per month. They’re available with 5G connectivity, as well as support for eSIM, making it easier and faster to get connected to their network. You’ll also get VeryMe Rewards, for access to exclusive discounts and offers.

In this article, we’ll review Vodafone’s Pay As You Go Plus service, as well as their other Pay As You Go plans such as VOXI and their Big Value Bundles. We’ll also look at the key features and limitations, along with the coverage available and how to keep your current phone number.

Plans From: £10 per month
Vodafone PAYG Plans
What We Like:
  • There’s no contract and no credit check on all Pay As You Go plans.
  • Support for 5G speeds, as well as eSIM, on Pay As You Go Plus plans.
  • VeryMe Rewards gives you discounted meals, coffee & family day outs.
What We Don’t Like:
  • Plans are relatively expensive: you’ll get better value on Vodafone Basics.
  • Roaming is not included: you’ll pay £2.42 per day to roam in Europe.
  • Classic Pay As You Go is now expensive & very difficult to find.
Coverage: Vodafone coverage (4G & 5G) – check postcode

Vodafone Pay As You Go Plans

In the UK, it’s still possible to join Vodafone as a Pay As You Go customer, with no contract and no need for a credit check to sign up.

There’s a choice of different Pay As You Go plans, with the most popular one being Pay As You Go Plus. It’s also possible to sign up on VOXI Pay As You Go, on Big Value Bundles, or on Pay As You Go 1.

Pay As You Go Plus

If you’re joining Vodafone as a new Pay As You Go customer, their default option is now to join on their Pay As You Go Plus plan. This is their newest Pay As You Go offering, with support for 5G speeds as well as eSIM technology on all of the plans.

When you join on Pay As You Go Plus, you’ll be able to get 8GB data for £10 per month. As a special offer until the 9th January 2025, there’s also a bonus 19GB data per month for the first 3 months. This means you’ll be able to get 27GB data for £10 (reverting to the standard 8GB for £10 after the first 3 months).

For heavy users, there’s 25GB data for £15 (75GB for the first 3 months), 50GB data for £20 (150GB for the first 3 months), 150GB data for £30 (300GB for the first 3 months), and unlimited data for £40 per month:

Network Data Monthly Cost
Vodafone
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
8GB
data
£10.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
Vodafone
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
25GB
data
£15.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
Vodafone
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
50GB
data
£20.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
Vodafone
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
150GB
data
£30.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
Vodafone
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
Unlimited
data
100Mbps max speed
£40.00
per month
No contract
See deal  

With Pay As You Go Plus, you’ll need to provide your credit card or debit card details when you sign up. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to set your plan to renew automatically every 30 days. However, there’s no obligation to keep renewing it, as you can switch off the ‘Auto-Renew’ feature at any time.

VOXI Pay As You Go

If you’re looking for a contract-free plan that gives you the same coverage, but with more data for the same price, you could consider getting a VOXI Pay As You Go SIM.

VOXI is part of Vodafone, but they offer slightly different plans under a separate, distinct brand. In the background, the service is powered by Vodafone Pay As You Go, with some additional features layered on top such as Unlimited Social Media, Music and Video.

Network Data Monthly Cost
VOXI
  • Vodafone coverage
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
45GB
data
Unlimited Social Media
£10.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
VOXI
  • Vodafone coverage
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts

Offer ends 28th Nov

75GB
data
Unlimited Social Media
Unlimited Music
£12.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
VOXI
  • Vodafone coverage
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
105GB
data
Unlimited Social Media
Unlimited Music
Unlimited Video
£15.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
VOXI
  • Vodafone coverage
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts

Offer ends 28th Nov

300GB
data
Unlimited Social Media
Unlimited Music
Unlimited Video
£20.00
per month
No contract
See deal  
VOXI
  • Vodafone coverage
  • Unlimited mins
  • Unlimited texts
Unlimited
data
Unlimited Social Media
Unlimited Music
Unlimited Video
£35.00
per month
No contract
See deal  

Although it’s a different range of plans, it works very similarly to Vodafone’s other Pay As You Go plans. You’ll get access to 5G coverage on all of the VOXI plans, with no contract and no need for a credit check. You’ll also benefit from automatic renewal. One difference is that you won’t have access to VeryMe Rewards. However, there’s a separate VOXI Drop customer loyalty programme instead.

If you’re an existing Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you can move your plan to VOXI at any time.

Big Value Bundles

If you signed up to Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service before January 2024, you’ll have been placed on their Big Value Bundles.

The old ‘Big Value Bundles’ are very similar to the new ‘Pay As You Go Plus’ plans, but you’ll get a smaller amount of data included on each one. In addition, the Big Value Bundles are restricted to 4G coverage (unless you choose the £40 Big Value Bundle which is 5G-enabled). There’s no support for eSIM on these plans.

Vodafone’s Big Value Bundles are as follows:

  • £10 Big Value Bundle: 7GB data with unlimited minutes & unlimited texts.
  • £15 Big Value Bundle: 20GB data with unlimited minutes & unlimited texts.
  • £20 Big Value Bundle: 40GB data with unlimited minutes & unlimited texts.
  • £30 Big Value Bundle: 100GB data with unlimited minutes & unlimited texts.
  • £40 Big Value Bundle: Unlimited data with unlimited minutes & unlimited texts. 5G ready.

The only real benefit of choosing a ‘Big Value Bundle’ over ‘Pay As You Go Plus’ is the fact that you’re able to roll over your unused data into the following month’s bundle. For instance, if you have 2GB of unused data left on the £10 bundle, your data allowance in the following month would be boosted to 7GB + 2GB = 9GB data.

If you’d still like to sign up for a Big Value Bundle, you can do this by choosing the “order a free SIM card” option on Vodafone’s Pay As You Go website. Once you’ve done that, you can choose your Big Value Bundle by texting BIGVALUE followed by the monthly price to 2345. For instance, to buy the £10 Big Value Bundle, you’d text BIGVALUE10 to 2345.

Pay As You Go 1

If you’re looking for a classic Pay As You Go plan where there’s no need to top-up every month, Vodafone has an alternative plan known as Pay As You Go 1.

From the 11th December 2024 onwards, you’ll pay £2 per day to use your mobile phone on Pay As You Go 1 (prior to this, it was £1 per day).

This £2 daily charge gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts, and 50MB of mobile data. Crucially, you’ll only pay it on the days where you actually use your phone. For this reason, it can be a better value option if you use your mobile phone for less than 5 days per month. However, most other users will likely be better off with a bundle.

In the past, Pay As You Go 1 used to be a pretty good option if you were a light mobile user and you only needed to use your phone from time to time. However, a succession of changes has made it a less attractive deal, and there are now far better options out there for light users.

When it originally launched, you could get 500MB data for £1 per day on this plan. In January 2021, this was reduced to only 50MB data for £1 per day. A further change in December 2024 saw the daily charge increasing to £2, meaning you’ll now get just 50MB data for £2 per day.

If you’d still like to sign up for Pay As You Go 1, you can do this by ordering a free SIM on the Vodafone website. Once you get it, you’ll need to text PAYG1 to 49503. There’s no monthly fee for keeping your SIM card active on this plan – you’ll just need to make a chargeable activity at least once every 180 days.

Vodafone Pay As You Go Features

No Contract & No Credit Check

On all of Vodafone’s Pay As You Go plans, there’s no contract and no need for a credit check. This means you can easily sign up without providing lots of information. You’ll also be able to change, pause, or cancel your plan at any time.

If you’re willing to undergo a credit check, the Vodafone Basics plans are a good alternative to Pay As You Go. On Vodafone Basics, you’ll get more data for less (e.g. 6GB data for £7, 40GB data for £8, and 60GB data for £10). However, you’ll need to sign up for 12 months and there’s a credit check required on it.

VeryMe Rewards

As a Vodafone Pay As You Go customer, you’ll have access to VeryMe Rewards. This excludes customers with a VOXI Pay As You Go plan, who’ll get access to the VOXI Drop instead.

VeryMe Rewards is Vodafone’s customer loyalty programme, giving you exclusive offers, discounts and freebies each week. As part of that, you’ll get discounted meals and coffees, powered by ‘Eat Local’ from the Gourmet Society and ‘Local Blend’ from the Coffee Club (these are cut-down versions of the full membership, including only independent stores). You’ll also get a Kids Pass membership for discounted family days out, as well as other offers through the year such as discounted cinema tickets.

In our opinion, having access to the VeryMe Rewards programme is a nice bonus that can save you a fair bit of money. However, the best deals and freebies often have limited availability, so it’s easy to miss them if you’re not checking the app fairly regularly.

Auto-Renew

For convenience, you can set your Vodafone Pay As You Go plan to renew automatically every month. To do this, you’ll need to provide them with your credit card or debit card details. The payment for your Pay As You Go bundle will then be taken automatically each month, in the same way you’d pay for other subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify.

There’s no obligation to use the Auto-Renew feature and you can choose to switch it off at any time. If you do so, your plan will continue until the end of your current 30-day bundle. You’ll then revert to their ‘Pay As You Go 1’ rates, unless you buy another bundle.

eSIM

On Vodafone’s Pay As You Go Plus service, you’ll be able to get your plan on an eSIM. Essentially, this is a faster way to get connected to Vodafone’s network as you can simply download the plan onto your eSIM-ready phone. In most cases, it also allows you to use dual-SIM technology, so you can have two phone numbers on your device at the same time.

Unfortunately, eSIM technology isn’t currently available on VOXI Pay As You Go, Big Value Bundles, or Pay As You Go 1. If you’re on one of these older plans, you’ll need to upgrade to the latest Pay As You Go Plus plans to get an eSIM.

Vodafone Pay As You Go Drawbacks

In our opinion, there are a couple of significant disadvantages when you sign to Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service:

  • Vodafone’s Pay As You Go plans are relatively expensive. At present, you’ll get just 8GB data for £10 on Pay As You Go Plus. In contrast, there’s a massive 60GB data for £10 when you sign up on Vodafone Basics (on a 12 month contract). This makes the Vodafone Basics plan much better value. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a no-contract plan with coverage from Vodafone, consider VOXI or Lebara Mobile for better value usage.
  • International roaming will cost you extra. Unfortunately, there’s no inclusive roaming on Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service. To use your mobile phone in Europe, you’ll need to pay an extra £2.42 per day. This can be reduced slightly when you buy a European roaming pass (£12 for 8 days, or £17 for 15 days).
  • Vodafone’s classic Pay As You Go is expensive, and difficult to find. If you’re looking for a classic Pay As You Go service where there’s no need to top-up every month, this is still available in the guise of ‘Pay As You Go 1’. However, it’s now an expensive option, with a £2 daily charge for 50MB data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. In addition, it’s difficult to find (you’ll need to order a free SIM from their website, before texting PAYG1 to 49503 to switch to it).

Vodafone Pay As You Go Coverage

You’ll have access to 99% population coverage on Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service. This is powered by their 4G network. In addition, there’s 5G coverage available if you’re on Pay As You Go Plus, on VOXI Pay As You Go, or on the £40 Big Value Bundle.

According to Vodafone, you can expect an average download speed of 23-35Mbps on their 4G network, and an average download speed of 150-200Mbps on their 5G network.

You’ll have access to 4G Calling and WiFi Calling on all Pay As You Go plans.

Before signing up for Vodafone Pay As You Go, it’s worth checking to make sure you can get coverage where you live. To do this, enter your postcode on Vodafone’s online coverage map:

Check Vodafone Coverage (vodafone.co.uk) →

Unfortunately, Vodafone’s 5G Ultra service (5G SA) isn’t currently available to Pay As You Go customers.

Keeping Your Phone Number

It’s easy keeping your current phone number when you move to Vodafone.

To move your phone number to Vodafone, start by asking 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.

Once you’ve done that, you can order your new Pay As You Go SIM card from Vodafone’s website. Upon arrival, you can then provide your PAC Code to Vodafone through this online form. They will then schedule the transfer of your phone number (normally for the next working day).

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

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to Vodafone

Select your current mobile network:

  More Options

Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to transfer Pay As You Go credit from another mobile network to Vodafone. You should therefore try to use it up before the number transfer takes place. Any unused credit remaining on your old mobile network will be lost during the transfer.

More Information

For more information on Vodafone’s Pay As You Go service, please see their official website.

Your Comments 183 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 183 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

  • Tim said:

    I was able to get the £5 BVB for my new PAYG SIM via login to the account through the Vodafone website in August 2020 but I also note that it’s not advertised on the general website. 100MB for £5 is not “Big Value” compare to the £10 offering but I don’t need more.

  • James Buckley said:

    I got the 5 pound bundle in June 2020, I just texted BVB5 to 49501. I use a Nokia Dumbphone with Opera Mini 8- and it compresses the pages that i visit. For example, if I want to visit Facebook it only uses up 3 Kilobytes. By my estimate (100 MB per month), I could load up facebook around 30,000 times before running out of data.

  • 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!

  • Richard said:

    As an existing PAYG customer (SIM registered in July 2016) I managed to “downgrade” my Big Value Bundle to the £5 version.

    The way I did this was to text “BIGVALUE5” to 2345 having already topped up. This was on 7th March this year.

    The reply from Vodafone was: “Hello. We’ve added your £5 Big Value Bundle, giving you 150 mins, 250 texts and 100MB of data for 30 days. This renews every 30 days if you’ve enough credit. Any unused minutes, texts or data you have will roll over into the next 30-day period. To opt out call 2345 free. On Pay as you go 1 too? Just to note, if you use up your allowance, the £1 daily limit won’t apply and you’ll pay different rates. Head to http://www.vodafone.co.uk/bvb for terms.”

    Hope this is useful to someone. Couldn’t find a reference to a £5 bundle on the Vodafone website, does this not work on a new PAYG SIM?

  • 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

  • Sim said:

    Hi Ken

    Can I use in TP link pocket wifi portable instead of the smartphone to do the tethering/hotspot?

    Using the Voxi or vodafone plan for the pocket wifi and across europe (not UK) for less than a month

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sim,
      Yes, it should be possible to do this – you can simply put the Vodafone or VOXI SIM card inside the pocket wi-fi device.
      Hope this helps,
      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?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Heather,
      Thanks for your comment. It should be possible to purchase a Vodafone Pay As You Go SIM card at some UK supermarkets, convenience shops and mobile phone stores. You’ll probably find that there’s a small fee for the SIM card when you get it in person (around £1, or increasing to as much as £10 when you buy at the airport).
      Ken

  • Jodie said:

    Hi there, I am from New Zealand and are in Euro zone fore three months and have vodafone pay as you go. Would I be able to use the same sim in 10 months time, for another 3 months if I dont keep it topped up. Would it still be active

  • 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

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Paul,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, Vodafone includes Turkey as part of their Europe Zone, so you can use your allowances at no extra charge when travelling to Turkey.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • al said:

    Hi,

    im from south africa, but am going to Uk next week and then around europe. I want to have a sim that would work in most European countries, when im not on wifi. a one month bundle would be perfect. Would all of those networks above work in europe, and would the costs for roaming be about the same, or are there some differences and pitfalls i need to be aware of?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Al,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, all UK mobile networks that offer international roaming on their SIM cards are now legally obliged to offer roaming at no extra cost within the EU. Therefore, you can pretty much choose a Pay As You Go bundle from any network, and you can continue using the allowances whilst you travel around Europe.
      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

  • Rhett Hammond said:

    I didn’t realise crediting my account my account wasn’t enough. You actually have to BUY the bundle or they nick two pounds of credit when you use your data, not only a pain in the arse, it feels a bit like theft…

    • 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

  • May Clark said:

    Very disappointed in the service l got, bought a new phone and got a contact l didn’t want, l cancelled it very quickly now l have found out because of that unwanted contact l am no longer in the friends and family account l have been in for years, thanks to a jobs worth in the Vodafone shop . Not happy

  • 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

  • Steve lock said:

    I been buying 10 BVB FOR THE LAST YEAR AND I ISUALLY GET 500 MINUTE UNLIMTED TEXT BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN IM BEING TOLD THE PACKAGE WITH 500 MINUTES DONT EXIST IM NOT GOING MAD to be told its only 250 minutes now rip off absolute rip off

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Steve,
      To my knowledge, I’m not aware of Vodafone offering 500 minutes on the £10 Big Value Bundle, unless this was part of a time-limited promotion they might have been running. Have you considered other mobile networks instead? For instance, giffgaff offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of internet for £10/month, so the extra minutes should hopefully make this even better than the deal you previously had from Vodafone.
      Hope this helps,
      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.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Valentina,
      Many thanks for your comment. I’m not aware of Vodafone selling a 30GB recharge card on Pay As You Go in the UK. Could it be possible you’ve purchased another product (e.g. mobile broadband or something else outside the UK)?
      Ken

  • 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

  • Andrew Mcclelland said:

    I’ve got a pay as u go £20 bundle an it keeps cutting me off when I make a call an it says I’ve no talk time , but I thought i has a thousand minutes , so what happening

  • 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.

  • BG said:

    my pay as you go bundle of 10£ expires on the 15th sept. i hv about 950 rewards points. i will not be renewing the bundle after 15th as i am leavin uk on the 26th sept. will i be able to use the rewards point to use data and texts after non renewal?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi BG,
      You can see the Vodafone Rewards catalogue here. I’d probably recommend trying to use the points before you leave the UK (e.g. you could buy a NOW TV entertainment pass, a Selfie Stick or something like that). Alternatively, you could use your Reward points to buy an allowance (e.g. 350 points for up to 500MB data to use over a week).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Jenny Mackenzie said:

    Hi Ken!
    First and foremost, a huge “Thank You” for all the hard work you put into continuing to maintain this brilliant resource! 🙂 If I may I’d like to correct a couple of things about the Vodafone bundles, and also to share my experience with PAYG here in the UK.

    Vodafone have modified the £30 bundle, since 1st July. It now offers Unlimited texts, 3000 minutes of UK calls, and 20GB data. Another point worth highlighting is that unused data ROLLS OVER – which I think is unique among the PAYG offers.

    ALSO important to note: the bundle can be used exactly as in the UK in many non-EU countries (obviously within the EU, roaming charges have been abolished by all carriers). My own situation is that I divide my time between (non-EU) Switzerland and the UK for work, and I need a generous allowance of both calls and data here, but as a part-time resident, I cannot commit to a monthly contract. However, I can afford a decent bundle.

    In fact TWO: I have the £30 bundles from both O2 and Vodafone. Both have their strengths and their weaknesses – fortunately not the same!! But it means I have a combined 40GB of tetherable data, up to 20GB of which can be rolled over to the next month, and when I arrive back in Switzerland I don’t need to rush to insert a local SIM before using my phone or fear horrific costs.

    O2 offer great customer service; Vodafone’s is virtually non-existent.

    O2 doesn’t allow me to roll over data, or use my bundle in another country, but it offers great international rates from the UK via O2 WorldChat.

    I do realise that £60 a month will seem OTT to some readers, but in the end it comes down to “horses for courses” doesn’t it? I have no landline, no broadband in this country. So that sum represents the totality of my telephone and internet spend with two reliable 4G carriers. I regularly tether to my laptop and tablet, and have no problems either uploading work or relaxing with Netflix or Amazon video.

    Anyway, forgive the lengthy post, but I hope it might help some other trans-national professional like me to find reliable, cost-effective communications solutions, which can be very difficult for folk without a permanent address in the UK.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jenny,
      Wow, thank you so much for your super detailed contribution as well! I’ll update the information about Vodafone’s new Big Value Bundles very shortly. Thanks also for the information about EU roaming – you might also be interested to take a look at this article which discusses the new EU roaming legislation (including which mobile networks allow you to roam in Switzerland, fair usage policies for roaming in Europe, etc).
      Thanks again!
      Ken

  • Ken Peck said:

    Hi namesake,

    There is an error in your report.

    “ASDA Mobile makes use of coverage from EE, whilst giffgaff makes use of coverage from Vodafone.”

    giffgaff actually makes use of coverage from O2.

    Love your column, thanks for all the interesting info.

    Best regards,

    Ken.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi there fellow Ken,
      Many thanks for the heads up about this! Looks like I made a typo and failed to pick up on it whilst proof-reading it over! I’ve now amended it as suggested – thanks so much for letting me know about this!
      Ken

  • michael said:

    ive been with Vodafone for years but over time there service has gotton so bad where i live i decided to look for a better network. In my location im at now the 4g signal is terrible and nearly every network i see is cheaper than Vodafone,ive decidded to move over to giffgaff which has the o2 network with great signal on 4g in my area,and the £10 buddle much cheaper than Vodafone.
    I was able to keep the same number also u just need the pac code from Vodafone and pump the code and number you want to keep in your account settings on giffgaff website and 4 days later you have the same number.The move from Vodafone was very easy and they gave me he pac code by phone and also followed with a text ty for that Vodafone,thought it would be a nightmaire but it all went well

  • Minh Hoang Ke said:

    I want to ask, I did top up £20 to new sim card, I did not buy bundle but vodafone did auto buy bundle and minus £20 from my balance. I want to top up for unlock phone. Can I complain and take £20 back?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Minh,
      Sorry about this – unfortunately, Vodafone will automatically do that if you’re subscribed to their Big Bundles tariff (to avoid this, you’ll need to choose one of their other tariffs e.g. Freebie Data). As you weren’t aware this would happen and as you were topping up specifically to unlock your handset, I’d recommend giving Vodafone Customer Services a call (dial 191 from your Vodafone handset or call 03333 040 191 from any other phone). If you haven’t used the bundle, they might be able to cancel it and return the credit to your account.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Ameera said:

    I have been robbed blind the last couple days by Vodafone. I have put nearly £80 quid on trying to get my £40 big bundle, and all it repeats is, “I don’t have enough credit”, when I still have at least £48, also my date has run out on previous bundle, so should be able to buy one. I’m sick of Vodafone, therefore, leaving once credit runs out.

  • Brody Jones said:

    I got a 10 pound freedom freebee on the 26/09/15 it is now 10/10/15 and my unlimited texts have stopped sending, this is not the first time this has happened. I am really not happy with it and I am thinking about leaving Vodafone.
    I called the 191 but it just confused me as I didn’t know what do it and it was frustrating.

  • James said:

    I have spent £30 I really want my £10 big bundle plus I want my £20 back, been with Vodafone for years an this is how they get money out of you

  • nicole said:

    hi, i have tried for the last two, three days to try and buy the £10 big value bundle, the auto recorded messages says that it has gone through and they will send me a message when i am able to use it but they havnt sent me a message what should i do?

    • Douglas tuesday replied:

      I recently bought a Vodafone smart 4 max. I have cancelled my 20 pound bundle and prior to my bundle expiring I have successfully bought a 10 pound bundle but this has not appeared on my phone. Any thoughts.

  • Caitlen said:

    Bought a £10 bundle pack yesterday, it’s saying the sim Is activated as it was a new SIM card I got aswell but for some reason my texts wont send when I am meant to get unlimited texts with the bundle deal. It also keeps saying no service then coming back on. Any help? Getting very annoyed, paid for something I can’t even use, need a solution and fast???

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Caitlen,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, it sounds as if you might have either poor coverage or a misconfiguration on your Vodafone handset. The best thing to do is probably to bring your handset into a Vodafone retail store: they should be able to take a look at the handset and should hopefully help in diagnosing the problem.
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Vi,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, you will need to put extra money on if you want to send MMS picture messages on Freedom Freebees/Big Value Bundles. Picture messages are 36p each and are excluded from your bundle allowances.
      To save money, I would suggest you instead send the picture message via an app on your smartphone (e.g. use something like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger). There’s no extra charge when sending photos through an app and the data usage comes out of your normal data allowances.
      Ken

  • Barry Stavers said:

    I have one of those Vodafone mobile wifi units. I have used up the initial preloaded data. How do I top it up and what will I get for my money?

    Thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi there,
      For more information on topping up your Vodafone mobile broadband dongle, see this page on Vodafone’s website (you can click the link to “buy a data plan”). A list of available data packs can be found here on Vodafone’s website (click the ‘Pay As You Go’ option). To summarise, you can buy a 30 day data pack: it’s £3 for 200MB, £5 for 250MB, £10 for 1GB or £20 for 3GB of data.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • cherril Anderson said:

    Twice I’ve bought a ten pound freedom freebie and twice I’ve been given unlimited texts and 500mb of data but no minutes of calls. How do I dort this out?

  • Ray said:

    It shows unlimited text when I top up, but when I reach/send a 1000 I cannot send any more text? What’s the problem with that? Shouldn’t it be unlimited

  • Neil waters said:

    I’ve never had a Vodafone freebee, just bought a phone and put £10.00 on it… got my freebie but after two hours I haven’t received the 30 days free internet which I was promised in store. please help thank you. Neil

  • Jeanne O'Brien said:

    I bought a £15 freedom freebie on the 28th December 2014, and do not appear to have any minutes added to this pack. Can you help please?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jeanne,
      Is it possible your Freedom Freebee bundle has just expired today (it’s just gone 30 days since the 28th December). If you were charged for the Freebee but you didn’t receive minutes for the whole of the past month, it’s probably worth asking Vodafone Customer Services (dial 191 from your Vodafone handset). Unfortunately, it’s only Vodafone who can investigate this further as only they have access to your account.
      Ken

  • fiona donald said:

    Twice I have phoned & set up a freebee bundle & both times have been told I will be sent a message within an hour and I’m still waiting 2 days later not happy at all

  • Georgia said:

    I have just topped up £20 and usually I would get the £20 plan with 500 minutes, unlimited texts and I think it’s unlimited data. I rang 2345 back up a few minutes later to find out it’s taken £2 away, now I can’t get my plan.
    The £10 one isn’t enough minutes etc for me… I’m a young mum and don’t have enough money to carry on buying top ups that aren’t going to work, I’m really disappointed that the £2 went for no reason, as I’ve not used it for anything. The last time I topped up it was 20 pound and Vodafone to it all so I don’t know how I could have used it, and I haven’t used the lending £3 either, as it’s £2 that’s come off out of the blue for nothing.
    I’ve had enough of Vodafone taking advantage of this, as last time it never gave me my plan either and ended spending the credit because I needed it. I have a 4month old and only get £34 pound for him and myself and that’s all. I haven’t got money to carry on topping up because Vodafone is a terrible network! And I don’t have money to get my phone unlocked to other networks or to buy a new phone!!

  • andy webb said:

    I put 10 pounds on my phone and I did not get the package deal that I was meant to have so I went and put another 5 pounds on so that I could get my freebee. I think vodafone is rubbish so I am thinking of going back to giffgaff and leaving vodafone

  • duncan said:

    Hello
    I went to the newsagents yesterday to get a voucher and top up my freebee, on doing so Ithen phone 2345 and enter the number on the voucher. Why was this not deemed as a freebee top up only standard top up, I have used the phone today only to find out I have only 2 pounds of credit left, I feel vodaphone goes out of its way to entrap people by making it difficult to add the freebee using a voucher topup.

    what have I done wrong please, how can I be sure this will not happen again.

    regards

    duncan

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Duncan,
      Thanks for your comment. Was the previous Freedom Freebee still active on your account (i.e. was it still within 30 days of your previous top-up)? If so, the top-up wouldn’t have converted into a Freebee automatically. This is because, unfortunately, it’s not possible to renew your Freebee early.
      If your previous Freedom Freebee has already expired then the top-up should have been converted automatically into a 30-day Freedom Freebee. In this case, it’s worth getting in touch with Vodafone Customer Services on 191. They should hopefully rectify their mistake and add the Freedom Freebee retrospectively to your account. They should also refund your previous out-of-Freebee spending.
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Pat,
      Thanks for your comment. With Freedom Freebees, your top-up is converted automatically into a 30-day bundle. For instance, if you were to top-up £10 then you’d automatically have the £10 Freedom Freebee bought from your credit. You’ll have 150 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of internet to use though the airtime balance on your account will be zero.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Derrick said:

    Are the out of bundle charges which apply once you have used up the freebies limited to the initial cost, ie if you top up £10, use your allowance and use £10 of other stuff dose the sim stop charging?
    I’m worried that the kids could run up big bills if its not capped.
    Thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Derrick,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, the out-of-bundles charges will not be capped. If the allowances in your bundle have all run out, you’ll pay a rather punitive 35p/minute and £2/day for up to 50MB of internet. It’s also not possible to renew your bundle early which underlines the importance of choosing the right bundle (i.e. there’s no possibility to upgrade from the £10 to £20 Freebee in the middle of the month). To reduce the chances of running up a large bill, you could make sure there’s very little credit on the SIM card (it’s only possible to spend money that’s been topped up to the SIM card – no credit facilities are available on Pay As You Go).
      Alternatively, consider a network such as giffgaff. £10/month will get you 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet. Out of bundle rates are lower at 10p/minute and 20p/day for up to 20MB of internet. You’re also able to renew your bundle early (so you simply buy a new £10 bundle if the 500 minutes runs out early). You can get a free SIM card here.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Kimberley,
      You can find out the remaining allowances on your Freedom Freebee plan by calling 2345 from your Vodafone PAYG handset. You could also use the My Vodafone app (available on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • hi sharon said:

    Hi I’ve bought new google phone with sim and got a ten pound too up to receive the 30 days data I’ve now topped up twice with same amount and still waiting to receive this. Obviously I. Now have used the top up but can u please tell me how long it is before you take the ten pound for data thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sharon,
      Thanks for your comment. Have you double-checked that you’re on the Freedom Freebees tariff as opposed to another tariff (e.g. Freebees Minutes)? If you’d like to switch to the Freedom Freebees tariff, dial 4354 from your Vodafone PAYG handset. You should then be able to buy the £10 Freebee. Alternatively, if you meant the Freebee Data tariff, you’ll need to call 4358 to switch to the tariff. More info about the different tariffs here.
      Ken

  • Iris said:

    Hello Kat,
    I have topped up £20 for the freebee data payg plan and noted I can keep the £20 credit. I used £5 to buy for the extra local minutes. The question is that can I use the remaining credit £15 plus I top up £5 again for the following month to start another £20 freebee data plan ? Or the credit inside can only buy all other extra?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Iris,
      The Freebee Data plan allows you to keep your £20 credit (it’s different from the Freedom Freebees mentioned in this article). On Freebee Data, you receive 1GB of UK data every time you top-up (the free data will last for 30 days). Next month, you’ll need to top-up another £20 in order to get the free data from Vodafone. If you don’t, you’ll pay the normal PAYG rates of £2/day for up to 50MB of internet. You could also convert £5 of credit into 500MB of data (you can call 34441 if you’d like to do this).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Kat,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to transfer credit between networks. Hence, you can’t transfer your Vodafone credit to your boyfriend’s account which is on O2.
      Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
      Ken

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