Keeping a sim active when not in use

[GlenSydney]

Hello

I live in Australia and use an O2 Pay & Go sim when I visit the UK every two years.

Whilst back in Australia I send a text every 6 months to keep the sim active.

I understand I also have to top up every 999 days to keep the Sim alive as well.

Currently I have £13 credit balance sitting on the account.

In order to meet the requirement to top up every 999 days do I need to recharge by paying more money on to the account or can I just buy my next plan out of the credit I already have on the account and achieve the ‘top up’ within 999 days that way?

I’m also thinking the next time I am in the UK I will change from my old ‘O2 Unlimited’ tariff to a £10 ‘Big Bundle’ as it has much better conclusions.

Then after my visit I would not leave enough credit on the plan for it to deduct another month at £10, but just keep the Sim active by 6-monthly texting until I came back again.

Thank you for any advice.

Regards

Glen

[Cleoriff · Accepted solution]

Hi @GlenSydney

You are doing absolutely the right thing to keep your sim active according to the terms and conditions

7.1. If you do not carry out any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period your Mobile Phone will be disconnected and you will lose any remaining credits balance on your Account. If you wish to be re-connected after this time you will be given a new Mobile Phone number.

As for topping up... you can't use existing credit but there are various ways to do it...

http://www.o2.co.uk/topup

As for the new payg tariffs these are the ones to choose from...

http://www.o2.co.uk/tariffs/payandgo

[MI5]

I wouldn't advise the big bundle tariff as this is intended for continuous use.
If you topped up at a later date it would take your top up and allocate the allowances which you wouldn't be able to use unless in UK.

[GlenSydney]

Thankyou both for that advice.

It sounds like I'm better off staying on 'O2 Unlimited'.

It gives me options of:

Top up £10 to get unlimited O2 to O2 texts, plus 50MB UK data. Top up £15+ to get unlimited O2 to O2 texts and calls, plus 100MB UK data. Also includes international calls from the UK starting at 1p/min.

That should suffice as when I visit I can usually use Wi-Fi in the hotel.

Cheers.

[MI5]

Sounds good to me.

[jonsie]

That is the best tariff for your particular needs and usage tbh.

[Anonymous]

Hi @GlenSydney I'm glad you could find an answer to your question here in the community. Please, do come back if you have any other questions.

[GlenSydney]

Hello

Just seeking an update on the above issue with plans currently available please.

To recap, I live in Australia and use an O2 Pay & Go sim when I visit the UK every year or two.

Whilst back in Australia I send a text every 6 months to keep the sim active and I ensure that I top up every 999 days to keep the Sim alive as well.   It has about £10 credit at the moment.

I’m currently on an old plan called ‘O2 Unlimited’ which gives me options of:

Top up £10 to get unlimited O2 to O2 texts, plus 50MB UK data. Top up £15+ to get unlimited O2 to O2 texts and calls, plus 100MB UK data. Also includes international calls from the UK starting at 1p/min.

That works OK when I'm in the UK for calls & texts but is not very good value for data.

Is there a better value calls / texts / data plan these days for someone like me making only occasional use of the sim?

Thank you for any advice.

Regards

Glen

[Cleoriff]

Hi @GlenSydney 

Everything you need to know about ALL PAYG tariffs is here...

You may be better off with the Classic

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/pay-as-you-go

[MI5]

@GlenSydney login to your MyO2 and change your tariff to the Classic PAYG.