Talk for free: Free calls on your Pay As You Go mobile
February 17th, 2009
A few weeks ago I told you how to get free texts on your existing phone and network simply by ensuring you’ve opted in to the freebies. Many UK mobile operators also offer free calls to Pay As You Go customers when you top up – and the original amount you topped up with is preserved. I hope this page serves as a reference for all of those tariffs.
photo: law_keven
First things first…
Do you get free calls on your landline number? It’s quite likely you might already have free off-peak calls on your landline – sometimes it’s bundled with broadband subscriptions (e.g. Sky Talk, Tiscali). If you’re at home and you’re calling another landline, you might as well use your landline. It won’t count towards your minutes allowance.
Do be careful with your free landline calls though:
- Usually this doesn’t apply to calls to mobiles. You’ll be charged >10p/min to call a mobile from a landline.
- It might not include international calls
- There will probably be a 60 minute limit to free calls – after that you could be charged around 6p/min.
O2: Various Tariffs
O2 has four different tariffs offering free calls – select one depending on whether you want free calls to a local area, to a foreign country, to O2 mobiles or any number.
Favourite Place: Lots of free minutes but only to a limited range of numbers
| Monthly Topup | Free call allowance |
|---|---|
| £10 | 500 minutes to UK landlines in a chosen postcode and O2 mobiles |
| £15 | 1000 minutes to UK landlines in a chosen postcode and O2 mobiles |
| £30 | Unlimited minutes to UK landlines in a chosen postcode and O2 mobiles |
Text your postcode to 22204 free (O2 customers) or opt in in O2’s website.
O2 Unlimited: Lots of free minutes but only to O2 numbers
| Monthly Topup | Free call allowance |
|---|---|
| £10 | Free texts to O2 numbers |
| £15 | Free calls and texts to O2 numbers |
Text LINK to 21300 free (O2 customers) or get a free SIM card from O2.
Your Country: Free minutes to international numbers in one chosen country
| Monthly Topup | Free call allowance |
|---|---|
| £10 | 50 minutes to an international number |
| £15 | 100 minutes to an international number |
| £30 | 200 minutes to an international number |
Text YOUR COUNTRY to 21300 free (O2 customers) or get a free SIM card from O2.
Orange: Canary
| Monthly Topup | Free call allowance |
|---|---|
| £10 | 120 evening and weekend minutes |
| £20 | 180 evening and weekend minutes |
| £30 | 240 evening and weekend minutes |
You also get free Facebook, 2for1 on Cinema and Pizza Express, etc. More info on Orange PAYG freebies.
Not sure if existing customers can switch to this tariff; it’s worth a check with Orange customer services. Let us know how successful it is. Otherwise, get yourself a brand new SIM card.
T-Mobile: Double Your Credit, Rewards
T-Mobile doesn’t explicitly have a free calls package so compared to the other major mobile networks, T-Mobile falls short in this area.
Instead, if you top up £10 in one week, you’ll get a bonus £10 to use at the weekend. Text STRETCH to 441 to opt in.
You can also sign up for free goodies by texting GOODIES to 441 where you’ll get either free texts, minutes or mobile internet browsing.
It’s well worth signing up for “Double your credit” and “Goodies” if you’re on T-Mobile, but unfortunately no real free calls as on the other networks. The upside is you can use your free credit on texts or data as well.
Virgin Mobile: Daily Bonus
Minutes 6 to 10 are free for Virgin Mobile customers on the Daily Bonus tariff. Text BONUS to 789050 or opt in on Virgin’s website.
Vodafone: Free Weekends
Again… Vodafone has no real free calls package. But to opt in to Free Weekends. If you spend £5 during the week, calls and texts are free at the weekend. If you spend just £2.50 during the week, texts are free at the weekend. 60 minutes max per call.
| About Ken | |
 | My mission is to demystify the world of mobile technology for general audiences and to communicate how mobile technology can enhance every aspect of our daily lives. I've been maintaining the Ken's Tech Tips website since 2004. I have experience communicating mobile technology and presenting new mobile products both online and offline, including at various trade shows and events. You can check out my profile or drop me an e-mail. |
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…….how do u get free internet browsing on o2?
[...] previously written articles about how to get free calls and free texts on your existing Pay As You Go mobile. Since, I’ve recieved dozens of messages [...]
[...] year or so, the major mobile networks have launched new tariffs offering all kinds of freebies: free calls, free texts and even free internet access. It’s easier than you think to switch [...]
There is also a new company, which is part of O2 called GiffGaff. They give you free calls to anyone on GiffGaff as long as you top up £10 a month (sounds like a good idea to get all your friends to join GiffGaff).
As well as that you also get free calls to all 0800 numbers so you could use a calling card for the rest of the calls.
Plus at the moment they’re giving free internet access (I’m guessing that if you had something like an iPhone you could even get VOIPStunt working on it too).
Really good deal, the way they offer such a good deal though is by not advertising, they rely on word of mouth advertising.
http://giffgaff.com/