£5 Credit with new GiffGaff Account - Good for UK and EU roaming

[exceladdict]

I've just signed up using a referral link to GiffGaff for some upcoming travel. Physical sim took about two weeks to arrive, and cost nothing to order. esims are not currently available.

On activation, signing up to a a £10 (~$19 AU) recurring plan (but then immediately cancelling the recurring billing) grants 20gb of data for use within the UK for a month, 5gb of which can be used for roaming in the EU.

Signing up with a referral link gets you a £5 bonus, and gives the referrer £5 of 'payback' which can be withdrawn to paypal once every six months. I couldn't use the £5 bonus for being referred towards my first pack but it is now sitting in my 'credit'.

There are many other roaming options so be sure to consider what's best for you, this may or may not be the best offer for your situation but seemed like a more cost effective option for me instead of paying a daily roaming charge from my AU-based provider.

If you do sign up, using my link or otherwise, please feel welcome to add your referral link to this thread.

Will report back in a while once I've had the opportunity to test how it's gone across the UK and in a few EU locations.

 

[coolstepslg]

report back rates and costs in a few EU locations. it would be good if the whole 20gb data was for the EU too?

 

[SYD]

report back rates and costs in a few EU locations. it would be good if the whole 20gb data was for the EU too?

Yes, once you buy the “Goody bag” but i believe you have to start off in the UK for it to roam in Europe for free.

You can actually buy the SIM cards in Tesco, Sainsbury etc for about £1 and set it up, add credit etc shortly thereafter.

 

[exceladdict]

Yes, once you buy the “Goody bag” but i believe you have to start off in the UK for it to roam in Europe for free.

You can actually buy the SIM cards in Tesco, Sainsbury etc for about £1 and set it up, add credit etc shortly thereafter.

Activated card two days before leaving AU, has worked from arrival in EU. However, received a text today, saying that because I haven’t previously used the service in the UK, I can only use the EU roaming feature for two weeks. This won’t be a problem for me, but worth keeping in mind for anyone else wanting to use the card for 2+ weeks in the EU without a UK trip in that window.

 

[Duffa]

I've had a Tesco Sim for about 5 years now. I buy a £10 Rocket Pack which gives me a month of calls texts and data in UK. And data roaming in Europe which is great. Means I can use internet at all times and receive calls in EU countries.
I keep the Sim in an old phone and send it a text every few months when not travelling to keep it active. Not sure it this makes any difference???
Have never run out of anything on this plan though my daughter (20-something) almost used the data on a 3 week trip.

 

[SYD]

I've had a Tesco Sim for about 5 years now. I buy a £10 Rocket Pack which gives me a month of calls texts and data in UK. And data roaming in Europe which is great. Means I can use internet at all times and receive calls in EU countries.
I keep the Sim in an old phone and send it a text every few months when not travelling to keep it active. Not sure it this makes any difference???
Have never run out of anything on this plan though my daughter (20-something) almost used the data on a 3 week trip.

GiffGaff sends you emails if your sim is going to be cancelled etc. Usually just turning it on is sufficient to keep it alive. Although I do recall making a call to myself.

 

[VPS]

I think UK SIMS have 6 month grace before they cut off. I've had a 3 SIM for years and apart from Covid when I sent to a friend in the UK I've been able to keep it active

 

[SYD]

I think UK SIMS have 6 month grace before they cut off. I've had a 3 SIM for years and apart from Covid when I sent to a friend in the UK I've been able to keep it active

GiffGaff give you a couple of years. I got a warning over Covid but managed to keep it going. Fortunately I was in the UK this time last year and back in a few weeks.

 

[VPS]

GiffGaff give you a couple of years. I got a warning over Covid but managed to keep it going. Fortunately I was in the UK this time last year and back in a few weeks.

Thanks - I might change to GiffGaff then

 

[levelnine]

Activated card two days before leaving AU, has worked from arrival in EU. However, received a text today, saying that because I haven’t previously used the service in the UK, I can only use the EU roaming feature for two weeks. This won’t be a problem for me, but worth keeping in mind for anyone else wanting to use the card for 2+ weeks in the EU without a UK trip in that window.

How long have you been in the EU?

I received the identical message yesterday after roaming in the EU for only 7 days. Strikes me as a relatively short cut-off (3 weeks in total before you have to use it in the UK).

 

[exceladdict]

How long have you been in the EU?

I received the identical message yesterday after roaming in the EU for only 7 days. Strikes me as a relatively short cut-off (3 weeks in total before you have to use it in the UK).

Card had been in use maybe 24 hours before I got the message. I did turn it on very briefly in AU about a week ago though, just to check it was active. Maybe that puts me on the same timeline as yourself

 

[luckypierre]

I've had a Tesco Sim for about 5 years now. I buy a £10 Rocket Pack which gives me a month of calls texts and data in UK. And data roaming in Europe which is great. Means I can use internet at all times and receive calls in EU countries.
I keep the Sim in an old phone and send it a text every few months when not travelling to keep it active. Not sure it this makes any difference???
Have never run out of anything on this plan though my daughter (20-something) almost used the data on a 3 week trip.

Similarly have had the same two uk mobile numbers for 10+ years on a tesco pay as you go triple credit tariff. The balance has never expired, though to be sure we also send an sms every 6 months or so to keep the accounts active. As always you have to figure the best deal depending on your call/sms/data usage

 

[exceladdict]

report back rates and costs in a few EU locations. it would be good if the whole 20gb data was for the EU too?

Wanted to come back with a positive review for giffgaff for Sweden (Stockholm <> ARN), then France (Paris <> CDG ), and finally the UK (London <> LHR).

Altogether cost £10 or $18.65AUD.

Summary timeline from posts above:

• Signed up with a referral link, received the free sim in about 2 weeks in AU.
• Activated a few days before leaving Australia, purchasing the 20gb (£10) 'goodybag' which included 5gb of roaming in Europe. Chose the auto-renewing option, as it had slightly more data, but then disabled renewal straight away.
  • I was not able to use the £5 of referral credit towards this first goodybag. I would only be away for 2 weeks so this worked out okay for me, if you'll be away for longer then want to ensure this is timed well so as to not waste your days of data in AU.
• I turned the sim on briefly to ensure it was active while still in AU but disabled data while doing so.
• Arrived in Sweden and it worked well.
• A few days later, received an SMS saying that because I hadn't used the service in the UK previously, I would only be able to use the roaming allowance in the eu for another 2 weeks before it would then start coming out of the credit (by this point the £5 of referral credit had been added to my account).
  • This was not a problem for me as I was going to be in the UK within 2 weeks.
• Service worked well with 4g and sometimes 5g throughout the three cities. Roaming bounced between a few providers but I don't recall any long-duration dropouts, other than when very underground on trains.
• I wasn't able to get the free wifi on the london tube working, but I didn't try very hard.
• GiffGaff app was handy for checking data efficiently. Much more stable than my experiences of the telstra app when roaming.

From time to time, I turned on my AU service to receive an OTP - I use an eSim on this service, so giffgaff went into the physical slot on my device. It seems I was successful in avoiding roaming charges. I wasn't brave enough to leave the AU sim on other than briefly to receive these OTPs though.

Altogether, it was success vs the $140 of day passes I would have otherwise purchased from Telstra. I'd recommend this option for people who:

• Will either spend only two weeks in Europe, or will spend longer but start in the UK or visit there in the first two weeks,
• Are happy to order & install a phyiscal sim, and have the time to do so (I'd order it a month out),
• Can work with 5gb of data for your time in Europe - this was fine with me as all of the hotels, and most major museums and cafes etc had decent wifi. Understand some people use more than this.

Don't forget to check out the International Roaming & Internet Access forum including the latest posts in the eSims, what is your experience. thread, which may have some better-suited options for your context. But if it looks like giffgaff will work for you, please consider using a referral link from this thread - if you use giffgaff, please feel welcome to add yours to the thread below!

 

[exceladdict]

Received an interesting email today which I think deserves a follow up post:

We haven't seen you around recently. We wanted to let you know that in just under 2 weeks’ time, any usage in the EU and selected destinations will be charged from your balance, even if you have a plan.

Inclusive roaming with a plan is created for giffgaff members who are typically based in the UK. It’s ideal for short trips to other places in the EU.

To remain eligible for inclusive roaming you need to use your phone again in the UK. You can check your status below in case you think you’ve done this already.

In a couple of weeks' time, you’ll be charged a little extra for using your phone while roaming.

• 10p per MB
• 3.2p per min
• 1p per text

If you don’t have a plan, the standard pay as you go charges apply.

So, my previous plan of holding onto the sim to use again if going to the EU will be contingent on the UK being the first stop on the said trip. I still think the free sim delivery / price works out to a decent option, but wanted to ensure anyone signing up was aware.

 

[SYD]

Received an interesting email today which I think deserves a follow up post:




So, my previous plan of holding onto the sim to use again if going to the EU will be contingent on the UK being the first stop on the said trip. I still think the free sim delivery / price works out to a decent option, but wanted to ensure anyone signing up was aware.

I had my GG SIM in the UK a week or so ago. Turned it on but didn’t need to top up credit and use it. I got a similar message shortly after arriving in Portugal - dang.

 

[Duffa]

I got a Tesco sim for Mrs D for 10 quid.
Signed up for a Clubcard in store and received
20Gb data
1000 minutes
5000 texts valid for 30 days.
Works like normal in UK, BUT
can make/ receive calls in Europe to Europe numbers as well as uk numbers.
All data is available while in Europe.

I use my tesco sim once every 6 months or so, when we travel J to Europe (thanks JS) !! That seems to keep the account active. I've had it for at least 4 years.

 

[coralda]

I've been using a prepaid EE SIM (from UK) in UK and seamlessly in Europe for several years. However they have recently reduced their roaming offer and we ended up paying relatively expensive weekly topups to use it in EU. In short - AVOID.