Giffgaff Goodybags: Low Cost SIM Only Deals on O2 Virtual Network

May 22nd, 2013

O2′s giffgaff offers a range of Pay As You Go bundles from £5/month. Unlimited internet starts from £12/month.

giffgaff is a low-cost mobile network that’s part of O2. Running on the same masts and infrastructure as its parent company, giffgaff has a range of low-cost Goodybag deals that start from £5/month. Of particular note, they provide unlimited internet on their Goodybags from £12/month. This is ideal for heavy users and for people who love downloading and using apps on their smartphone.

giffgaff goodybags are SIM only packages. You’ll need to provide your own smartphone: this can either be a handset purchased from O2 or a handset you’ve unlocked from another network.

In this article, we take a look at the Goodybags from giffgaff. We’ll look at how they compare against rival offerings and what you need to do to get started with a Goodybag.

Who are giffgaff?

giffgaff is a low-cost mobile network that’s part of O2. Operating under a brand that’s separate from the parent company, giffgaff’s sole offering is a SIM card. As they don’t provide handsets directly, you’ll need to provide your own handset to use with the SIM card. This could either be a SIM-free handset or a Pay As You Go handset that you’ve purchased elsewhere. You can also use a smartphone that was originally purchased on contract.

The key difference between giffgaff and rival offerings is the price. To take an example, O2′s Pay & Go Go Go tariff comes with 75 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of internet for £10/month. After 3 months, the allowances will increase to 150 minutes, 1000 texts and 500MB of internet. Although this is a fairly competitive offering amongst the major networks, giffgaff’s £10 Goodybag provides much better value from day one. With giffgaff, you’ll get 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet. Not only is the tariff more straightforward, it’s cheaper and provides better value.

There are several reasons why giffgaff can offer lower prices. One of them is the fact that giffgaff does away with call centres. Instead, customer support is wholly handled online. Account queries are dealt with through a secure website whereas general queries are handled through an online community. Marketing is also outsourced to members: giffgaff users are encouraged to promote the service to their friends and family. They are rewarded for these efforts. Apart from that, the coverage you’ll receive on giffgaff is identical to that on O2. See our full review of giffgaff for more information.

What is a Goodybag?

A Goodybag is a bundle of airtime that lasts for one month. It includes calls, texts & internet access. giffgaff customers can purchase a Goodybag using their Pay As You Go airtime credit. This will generally provide better value than paying on a “per call/text/megabyte” basis.

There are currently a choice of six Goodybag packages:

	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	60 & 1 min per min of calls received	300	20MB	£5.00
	200	Unlimited	250MB	£7.50
	250	Unlimited	1GB	£10.00
	250	Unlimited	Unlimited	£12.00
	400	Unlimited	Unlimited	£15.00
	1,200	Unlimited	Unlimited	£20.00

Calls to voicemail are deducted from your inclusive allowance of minutes. If you use up the inclusive airtime allowances, you’ll pay giffgaff’s standard Pay As You Go rates. These are 10p/minute when you’re making a phone call and 6p when you send a text message. Data costs 2p per megabyte if you go over the inclusive allowance.

Get a free SIM card from giffgaff »

Calls & texts from giffgaff-to-giffgaff are free. Providing you top up at least once every 3 months, you’ll get free calls and texts to other giffgaff members. This is regardless of whether you buy a Goodybag. Calls to other giffgaff members will not be deducted from your allowance of minutes. Video calls are free when you’re calling someone else on giffgaff.

Download Limits. The £5 Goodybag, £7.50 Goodybag and £10 Goodybag have a download limit. See our guide to download allowances for an indication of what these terms mean. The £7.50 Goodybag (with 250MB of data) is suitable for light users. For the majority of smartphone owners, we’d recommend the 1GB allowance on the £10 Goodybag. Alternatively, the unlimited internet packages (£12 and above) also provide good value.

BlackBerry Customers. If you have a BlackBerry Curve, a BlackBerry Bold or a BlackBerry Torch, you’ll need to buy the BlackBerry Add-On. This will cost an additional £2.50/month above the cost of your Goodybag. The BlackBerry Add-On comes with push e-mail, web browsing and BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). If you have a BlackBerry 10 device (BlackBerry Q5, Q10 and Z10), these features will work without the BlackBerry Add-On.

Hokey Cokey (£5 Goodybag). The Hokey Cokey Goodybag is rather unique in the mobile industry. You’ll start off with an allowance of 60 minutes, 300 texts and 20MB of internet. Once the Goodybag is active, you’ll receive an extra minute for every minute that you’re called (excludes calls from other giffgaff members). For instance, someone who receives 100 minutes of inbound phone calls would see their allowance bumped up to 160 minutes. The extra minutes will expire with your Goodybag at the end of the month: they cannot be rolled over.

How do Goodybags compare against the competition?

In the following tables, we show how Goodybags compare against rival offerings from O2, Three, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Bundles around £10/month

giffgaff offers 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB internet on their £10 Goodybag. In terms of minutes, giffgaff offers more than double that offered on rival networks. Whereas most of the mainstream networks offer just 100 minutes, giffgaff offers 250 minutes. giffgaff also has the advantage of larger download allowances. The £10 Goodybag comes with a 1GB internet allowance whereas the £12 Goodybag comes with unlimited internet.

Network	Bundle Name	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	£7.50 Goodybag	200	Unlimited	250MB	£7.50
	£10 Goodybag	250	Unlimited	1GB	£10.00
	Pay & Go Go Go	75*	500*	250MB*	£10.00
	All-in-One 10	100	3,000	500MB	£10.00
	£10 Smart Pack	100	400	1GB	£10.00
	£10 Freedom Freebee	100	300	50MB	£10.00
	£12 Goodybag	250	Unlimited	Unlimited	£12.00

If you’re on O2 Pay & Go Go Go, the allowances will automatically double after 3 months. If you top-up every month, you’ll get 150 minutes, 1000 texts and 500MB internet from the third month onwards.

Orange has a Pay As You Go tariff but it works in a slightly different way. When you top up by £10, you’ll be given a free allowance of 400 texts and 1GB internet. This lasts for one month. If you’re making a phone call, this is charged out of your £10 credit. With calls costing 30p/minute, you can make the equivalent of 33 minutes of outgoing phone calls using your £10 airtime balance.

Bundles at £15/month

giffgaff and Three offer unlimited internet at the £15/month price point. giffgaff has a slight advantage in the number of minutes (400 minutes rather than 300).

Network	Bundle Name	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	£15 Goodybag	400	Unlimited	Unlimited	£15.00
	All-in-One 15	300	3,000	Unlimited	£15.00
	£15 Smart Pack	200	600	2GB	£15.00
	£15 Freedom Freebee	200	600	100MB	£15.00

Bundles around £20/month

giffgaff offers 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet for £20/month. This compares favourably against rival offerings. The £20 Goodybag comes with more minutes and a larger download allowance.

Network	Bundle Name	Minutes	Texts	Internet	Monthly Cost
	£20 Goodybag	1,200	Unlimited	Unlimited	£20.00
	Pay & Go Go Go	250*	2,500*	500MB*	£20.00
	£20 Freedom Freebee	300	3,000	500MB	£20.00
	£25 Smart Pack	500	Unlimited	3GB	£25.00
	£30 Freedom Freebee	500	3,000	500MB	£30.00

If you’re on O2 Pay & Go Go Go, the allowances will automatically double after 3 months. If you top-up every month, you’ll get 500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB internet from the third month onwards.

SIM Only Contracts

If you’re willing to take out a contract, cheaper deals could be available on a SIM Only contract. For a full comparison of giffgaff against SIM only contracts from other networks, see our full guide to the UK’s SIM only deals.

What is the coverage like on giffgaff?

giffgaff uses the O2 network – you’ll be using the exact same masts as an O2 customer. You can check the coverage in your area by using the O2 coverage checker.

Are there limits on how the data allowance can be used?

If you’re on a Goodybag with unlimited internet, giffgaff does not allow you to tether (you can’t share the internet connection with another device e.g. a tablet or a laptop). Aside from that, there is no fair usage limit for the internet allowance. According to giffgaff, internet is truly unlimited providing it’s for personal use.

Like most other networks, giffgaff has a traffic management policy. Video optimisation has been applied since December 2012. This may lead to a small reduction in picture quality when you’re watching online video.

Will my handset be compatible with giffgaff?

giffgaff do not provide handsets so you’ll need to provide your own. The following handsets are compatible with giffgaff:

• SIM-free handsets. SIM-free handsets are unlocked and are ready to use on any network. You can buy a SIM-free smartphone from many retailers including Amazon.co.uk.
• Handsets purchased from O2. If you have a handset that was purchased from O2, it should already work with a giffgaff SIM card. If you’re looking for a new handset, you can buy a range of Pay As You Go phones from the O2 website.
• Handsets purchased from another UK network. If you have a handset that was purchased on another network, you may need to unlock it before it can be used on giffgaff. This usually costs no more than £15 to £20. We’ve got in-depth guides to unlocking your iPhone, unlocking your Galaxy S2 or Galaxy S3 and unlocking your BlackBerry.
• Handsets purchased from outside the UK. Most international handsets will work on giffgaff providing they’re unlocked and compatible with GSM mobile networks. For 2G coverage on giffgaff, your handset must support GSM at 900MHz. For 3G coverage on giffgaff, your handset will need to support 3G/HSDPA at 2100MHz. Handsets that are based on CDMA technology (e.g. handsets from Sprint & Verizon in the USA) will not work on any UK network.

I’m switching to giffgaff. Can I keep my existing phone number?

Yes. Order a free SIM card from giffgaff. Once the SIM card has arrived, contact the Customer Services for your existing mobile network and ask for a “PAC Code”. This is a nine-digit code that will authorise giffgaff to take control of your mobile number. This code should be entered on giffgaff’s “Transfer Your Number” form. It can take up to 24 hours for your number to be transferred.

For a step-by-step guide to transferring your number to giffgaff, see our PAC Code Finder.

I’m a giffgaff member. How do I purchase a Goodybag?

You can buy a Goodybag by logging in to the giffgaff website. There are two options when buying a Goodybag: you can either pay using your existing airtime balance or you can pay using a credit card or debit card. For added convenience, it’s possible to use the auto top-up feature. This will automatically charge your credit/debit card and renew your chosen Goodybag.

How do I get a free SIM card from giffgaff?

You can order a free SIM card from the giffgaff website. If you have an iPhone 5, you should select the “Nano SIM” option. For all other devices, select the “Standard & Micro SIM” option (this should be selected by default).

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About Ken

I'm a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology. I've been blogging at Ken's Tech Tips since 2005 with the aim of demystifying mobile technology for the rest of us.

Before writing about mobile technology, my background was in space & atmospheric physics. I have also worked in software development. Nowadays, I help companies to explain mobile technology to their customers. Please check out my portfolio or get in touch for more information. I'm also on Google+.

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