Pay As You Go for OAP

alex.krycek

Hi everyone

I am trying to help out an OAP here, all advice is welcome.

The gentleman is currently on Bill pay but does not use the phone much so wants to save some money by going PAYG. He also does not use a smart phone so will not use any data at all, just calls. He doesn't send SMS but receives the odd one.

He basically just need a sim that can receive calls/SMS and ideally would just have some credit for if he ever needs to make a call. To be honest he would probably only need to top up €10 once or twice a year.

I see most networks are needing you to top up every month or you lose your calls so they are essentially like bill phones without contracts. Money is very tight so he would prefer the old way of putting credit on the phone and it staying there till it was used up etc.

Can anyone recommend a network that has such a sim PAYG deal?

Thanks in advance!

Alex

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058355637/pay-as-you-go-for-oap

I have an Eir Pre-pay SIM in an electric gate. I just top it up by €5 every 6 months to keep it alive. It is really just for incoming calls & SMS commands, although it can send occasional outgoing SMS messages. You need to top up within 150 days to keep outgoing working, but you get an extra 30 days of incoming service before you need to top up - so effectively 6 months. Ignore all the marketing of "Simplicity" plans on the website - these involve monthly top-ups and bundled minutes/data. If you don't opt in to a Simplicity Plan, you will remain on an old-fashioned pay-as-you go plan, with higher usage charges, but no regular top-ups. All the marketing is geared towards the Simplicity plans, but the pure pay-as-you-go is still there. This is probably perfect for a low usage customer.

alex.krycek

Thanks for this @babelfish1990, exactly what I was looking for. Do I just go into the Eir store and ask for a PAYG sim as I see the Simplicity plan on the site when I go to transfer number and also the following has no texts on the 10euro sim (https://eir.ie/mobile/prepay/) ?

Ten Pin

Vodafone PAYG SIMs stay fully active for 6 months for €5 top up. It stays active for incoming calls / SMS for a further 2 months.
While texts cost 22c, calls cost 45c per min plus 9c connection fee so it's only suitable for rare, short duration call usage.

If needed, Vodafone have an add-on of 100 minutes of calls for €5 that lasts 28 days (whether used or not).

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122252320#Comment_122252320

Yes - just go into an Eir store and ask for a PAYG SIM without a Simplicity Plan. They should arrange the porting over of the existing number.

Probably best to avoid Vodafone at the moment, as they have switched off 3G and many users are reporting problems with lack of 4G/5G. Your friend's existing feature-phone may not have VoLTE (Voice over 4G) or WiFi calling, which would mean he would only be left with 2G on Vodafone.

alex.krycek

Thank you @Ten Pin and @babelfish1990 for your help. I will go into the store and get the sim.

babelfish1990

Just remember to check that your friend is out of contract on their Bill-pay phone, so they don't get hit with a penalty from their existing provider.

Also check that their phone isn't network locked. You can do this by popping a SIM card from a different network into the phone, and checking that it can make calls ok. If the phone is network locked, you may be able to get it unlocked by the existing provider before porting over.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058355637/pay-as-you-go-for-oap

All the networks have sim only deals where after the initial top up you can revert to e5.00 top ups every 6 months.But the charges for calls or texts do vary between.

alex.krycek

Hes definitely out of contract, but good point about the handset lock, will check it out before porting out. Thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated!

Ten Pin

AFAIK, Eir SIMs are kind of free but they add the cost of the plan so effectively the SIM costs the price of the first plan. The cheapest plan is €10 and lasts 2 weeks. In order to have credit after those 2 weeks are up, €5 top up is needed. Make sure to NOT add €10 as that will be consumed by the €10 plan and there'll be no credit available.

Ezeoul

Would it mot be simpler to go for something with a low prepay monthly rate?

E.g. 48 is only €13 a month, and he never has to worry about topping up, running out of credit, keeping calls short, or the sim being suspended.

zell12

free Lyca sim, 500 minutes a month for €75/year

https://www.lycamobile.ie/en/bundle/national-s-longterm/?m=3

alex.krycek

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122254617#Comment_122254617

To be honest it would probably be easier to go the 48 / GoMo route but money is the deciding factor here and I know it works out around €150 per year but this gentleman would prefer not to spend that kind of money for something he won't be using much. The idea is to top up the credit once or maybe only twice per year. A family member will be looking after that side of things for him as he wouldn't be able to do this himself.

GIMP

Just a thought can they claim phone allowance if they are a pensioner, it would lessen their cost?

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122255526#Comment_122255526

A family member will be looking after that side of things for him as he wouldn't be able to do this himself.

Honestly? If he can't manage it himself, that would make me more nervous that the one time he'd really need the phone, he'd run out of credit or something, and all the more reason to go automated.

€150 is not a lot to spend for peace of mind.

Ten Pin

IMO Vodafone's 100 minutes add on for €5 per 28 days is a good compromise between value and ability to make calls. Add-ons can be bought on the VF web portal so whoever is looking after it can top up and buy it remotely so that he can always make calls.

Works out at €65 per annum.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122256534#Comment_122256534

Long since gone. There was a brief period you could get it paid as bank transfer rather than direct to eir for landlines I think but that is also gone.

Definitely check that they are getting the remainder of the Household Benefits Package though. Free TV licence and you can get the electricity/bottled gas (if you don't have mains electricity!) allowance by bank transfer leaving you free to use any supplier.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122256534#Comment_122256534

Over 70 or 80 years and worth e2.50 a week but means tested as part of the winter fuel allowance package

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122257095#Comment_122257095

Forgot about that - its a different payment to the old one which covered eir line rental and handset rental