Keeping number after contract is up - currently abroad.

[Mking22222]

Hi there,

I currently live in Vietnam and am unlikely to return to the UK for some time due to the current global issues. My Pay Monthly contract finishes next month and I wish to ensure I can keep my number without starting a new tariff. I am happy to switch to a PAYG contract, but trying to get a new SIM sent to me here would be risky as the postal service here is very unreliable.
Does anybody have any experience or advice for whether this is achievable and how I might go about it?
Thanks in advance.

[Cleoriff]

@Mking22222 

The way to keep your number is to do nothing. If the device is paid off then your airtime will continue to roll on monthly. However, the problem you have is O2 only allow phones to be used abroad for what they class as a holiday period which is no more than 63 days in any 4 month period. It's called a fair usage policy

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/o2-consumer-fair-usage-policy 

One way out of this is to use a local sim for about a month and then reinsert your O2 sim and continue using it for up to another 63 days.

Hope that helps and welome to the forum.

Edited to add @Mking22222 O2 will not send sims to anywhere but a UK address. Changing to PAYG would also be far more expensive whilst you are in Vietnam.

[Mking22222]

Thank you so much for the swift response and information provided. I currently use a local SIM and actually rarely use my O2 sim other than when I need to retrieve an OTP for a service back home.

If I allow the airtime to ‘roll-on’ will I still be paying a monthly fee? How is that calculated?

[Cleoriff]

@Mking22222 

If your original contract was with O2, it would have been a Refresh contract Guide: How does O2 Refresh work? This means it would be in 2 parts, the device and the airtime. Once the device is paid off, the airtime will continue to roll on unless you 1) cancel it or 2) Upgrade to a sim only.

If you bought your contract from a third party then it would NOT be refresh, it would be a standard two year contract and all of that (Device and airtime) will roll on until you cancel or upgrade to a sim only.

Important to note the word UPGRADE to  sim only. You can check your options in My O2 and if eligible for an upgrade you will see this

When you UPGRADE, you keep the same number as all changes are made on your account and not the sim.

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@Mking22222 

You are on standard rates in Vietnam so are not restricted to 63 days EU travel restrictions.

The safest way for you is to do nothing and just continue paying your airtime each month until you return to UK.

Standard Rates

Our Pay Monthly customers will be charged at the following rate when calling or texting from this country.

Making a local call to landlines or mobiles will always be the same price as calling home when you're abroad.

Sending a picture message (MMS) costs 65p and it's always free to receive a text.

When in:       Calling:  

Making calls - per minute	£2.00
Receiving calls - per minute	£2.00
Sending texts - per message	50p

Cost per MB of using data:

Data usage

£7.20*

* O2 will automatically cap your data usage to £51.50 (50 MB) a month whilst you're abroad

Find out more about using data abroad.