Mobile contracts cost you lots of money!
(A lot more than what you actually pay each month)
If you’ve been a member for even a short period of time, you would definitely know by now that we strongly advocate against locking yourself with any provider.
What may be good in your personal life, can be very detrimental for you as a consumer.
It’s been referred to by some as the ‘lazy tax’ but personally, I prefer to call it the “loyalty tax” (as I reckon nobody likes to be called lazy).
Whatever you call it, this ‘tax’ is very real and is costing Aussies billions (yep, that’s with a B!) every year.
Other than the direct costs of paying more than you have to for your mobile calls, text and data, there is also the indirect ‘opportunity cost’ that needs to be accounted for.
Opportunity Cost is an economic term which is defined as:
“A benefit, profit, or value of something that must be given up to acquire or achieve something else”.
In this specific context, it’s the hidden cost of not being able to take a superior deal from a competitor while you are stuck in a lock-in contract.
Therefore, you must always maintain your freedom to choose and getting yourself into a mobile plan with a lock-in contract (no matter how short) is a bad idea!
As a matter of fact, being a loyal consumer is not a wise move in general.
Go with a mobile plan that doesn’t lock you in.
The objection to contracts doesn’t come from some philosophical viewpoint but rather has everything to do with $$$ !
A no contract mobile plan will almost always offer better value than plans which lock you in. This is especially the case when considering the amount of included data.
There are some exceptions to this rule but they usually only apply for very specific usage patterns (e.g. when you wish to create a ‘data pool’ to share across several members of your household).
For everyone else, a no contract mobile plan is the way to go!
In addition to better value, a no contract plan offers you total freedom in the sense that you can give it the flick at any time if you’re not happy or a better deal comes along from a competitor.
Despite what you may think, this is extremely likely!
Many people don’t realise that but Australia is one of the most competitive markets in the world when it comes to mobile plans (if not the most competitive!).
This is mainly because of all the virtual operators (a.k.a MVNOs) which operate here and resell access to the Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks. Just take a look at this list and you’ll be amazed with the number of options on offer.
Due to this fierce competition between providers, mobile plans (and especially prepaid mobile plans) are one of only a few types of products and services which have actually become cheaper over the years!
“Will I lose my number if I switch?”
Many consumer surveys have shown that one of the things which worries customers the most about changing their mobile provider is the concern about keeping their existing number. Many people are simply afraid they will lose it if they switch.
However, this concern is unfounded as customers are always able to keep their existing number, if they so choose and this right is protected by what’s known as the “mobile number portability rules“.
Not only that but the process to do so (known as porting) is very easy, requires no technical skills and is completely free.
Porting requests are usually completed within just a few hours at most if you’re moving from one network to another but can take slightly longer if you are moving between different providers on the same network.
“So what is the best mobile plan if I use lots of data and don’t want to be locked-in?”
OK, now that we got the general information out of the way, I’d like to present to you what our research (and that of others too) has shown to be the best mobile plan with no lock-in contract currently on offer in Australia for those who need lots of mobile data.
This mobile plan offers you:
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Unlimited calls to all Australian landlines and mobiles (including 13/1300 numbers & voicemail access)
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Unlimited SMS and MMS to any mobile in Australia.
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20GB of 4G data on the relatively reliable Optus network.
The price: $35 per 30 days. You can even get the first month for just $4.90.
If you are willing to prepay for 90 days in advance, the price is $89 which effectively means you are paying $29.67 per 30 days but here is where things get really interesting:
For a limited time, you can get the first three months with unlimited calls and text and 54 GB of data for just $15 (Not per month but for the the ENTIRE 90 days!).
Have I got your attention? 😉
Many providers have recently started charging in 28 day cycles. This effectively means you end up paying for an extra month every year. Nice little trick for them but not so much for us consumers.
This mob doesn’t do it. Their plans still work on 30 day cycles.
This is much fairer, don’t you think?
OK, I won’t keep ‘teasing’ you any longer.
The provider I am talking about is CatchConnect and specifically their 20GB plan.
CatchConnect is a mobile prepaid service launched in February 2018 by Aussie online retailer Catch which you may know better by their previous name Catch of the Day.
The Catch Group (formerly Catch of the Day) was founded in 2006 by Gabby Leibovich and initially focused, as their original name suggests, on offering one single amazing deal per day.
Here is a story ABC news did on them back in 2011:
Since those early days, Catch of the Day (now the Catch Group) has gone from strength to strength and have grown significantly.
Nowadays, they are one of the biggest and most successful online department stores in Australia, with their biggest local rival being Kogan.
The Catch group is an Australian-owned company and run their operations from Australia with warehouses in Melbourne and Sydney.
Instead of moving offshore, they decided they will use the latest technology, including robots, in order to maintain their competitive edge.
Here’s another story from ABC news taking a look inside their warehouse:
As it became apparent in 2017 that Amazon is going to launch in Australia, Catch of the Day re-branded themselves as Catch and also launched a marketplace where other retailers can offer their products through their platform and take advantage of their existing customer base and distribution channels.
After Kogan relaunched their prepaid mobile service on the Vodafone network and has seen great success with it, the Catch group realised that running their own mobile service as an MVNO (i.e virtual operator) can be a great source of revenue and profits for them.
So, in February 2018 they did just that and launched their own mobile service on the Optus network.
While Kogan Mobile offers pretty competitive plans, I feel that the fact they run on the Vodafone network makes them not feasible for many people, especially those living outside the major cities and regional centres.
Therefore, I was very pleased to see that CatchConnect offers pretty much the same prices and data inclusions (especially on the plans with the higher data allowances) but on the Optus network, which has superior coverage to Vodafone in many cases.
You can check coverage in your local area here and if you’re happy with it, you can purchase the monthly plan or prepay for 90 days to get a lower price per month.
One sneaky thing to keep in mind with Catch Connect is that all their plans (30 day plans, 90 day plans and annual plans) auto-renew.
This is something you can get caught up with because Catch Connect does hold your payment details (credit card, debit card or disposable Visa/MasterCard gift card) as they don’t accept payments by PayPal, BPay or direct bank transfer.
While they don’t apply any card payment surcharges or extra usage charges if you exceed your data allowance (you’ll need to buy additional data yourself), they DO renew your plan automatically when its original term (30, 90 or 365 days) ends unless you turn auto-renewal off.
Saying that, they do make turning off the auto-renewal very easy through the account dashboard as you can see below:
If you don’t want your plan to be automatically renewed at the end of its initial term, you should turn auto-renewal off.
This is what I personally do myself.
“Optus has rubbish coverage where I live. What’s the best deal on the Telstra network?”
Fair enough. I can definitely understand that.
Despite some significant improvements seen with the Optus and Vodafone networks over the last few years, for some people, Telstra still offers the best coverage (especially in regional Australia).
The best prepaid mobile deal on the Telstra network is currently with Boost
For just $30 per month, you get:
- Unlimited calls & text in Australia;
- Unlimited calls & text to 10 countries; and
- 12GB of data which can also be rolled-over to the next month if you recharge before your current plan expires.
- 23GB bonus data on the first 5 recharges. This means that for the first five months, your total data allowance is a whopping 35GB for the same price.
If you are willing to pay a bit extra, $40 a month will get you an extra 10 GB of data for a total monthly data allowance of 22GB (as well as everything included in the $30 plan)+ 23GB bonus data on the first 5 recharges (so total data allowance of 45Gb in the first 5 months).
Until 25/02/2019, you can get the first month of the Boost $40 plan discussed above for just $20.
There is also something unique about Boost that you can’t get with any other virtual operator running on the Telstra network:
They are the only provider (other than Telstra themselves) that gets access to the 4GX Service which is Telstra’s faster 4G service.
All the other virtual operators on the Telstra network (such as Aldi Mobile, Woolworths Mobile, Belong, Lyca Mobile and others) use the Telstra wholesale network and the standard 4G service.
One example of what this means in practical terms is that if you’re living in regional and remote Australia, you may be able to get 4G data speeds where no other provider has them!
This means you should experience better data speeds with Boost compared to any other virtual operator on the Telstra network provided:
- You have a smartphone which is compatible with the 4GX frequency of 700 Mhz; and
- The 4GX network is actually available where you are. You can check whether that’s the case or not on their coverage map.
There is one little snag though with Boost Mobile:
All their plans run on a 28 day cycle which means that across a year, you end up paying for almost 13 months instead of 12.
While this sucks, Boost are offering one way (and one way only at this stage!) to avoid the 28 day cycle: auto-recharge
If you register your credit or debit card with them and agree to have your plan renewed automatically, this will always happen on the same day of the month.
For example: if you activated your plan on the 10th of the month and enabled auto-recharge, your plan will always get renewed on the 10th, regardless of how many days are in the month.
This means your billing cycle will only be 28 days in February (29 if it’s a leap year). In all other months, it will be either 30 or 31 days.
As this is a prepaid service, you can switch providers any time and once you port your number out of Boost, your service with them will be automatically disconnected which means any auto-recharge you’ve put in place should be cancelled automatically as well.
One final thing to be aware about Boost is the fact that if you are currently with Telstra (either a prepaid or postpaid plan) and want to port your number to Boost, the porting process is slightly different for you. It’s described here.
“Not keen on any of these options as I don’t use that much data in a month”
No worries!
We have a detailed report on mobile plans which outlines more options for you to choose from based on your usage patterns and across all the mobile networks operating in Australia (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone).
If you are in the market for a 4G-capable smartphone but don’t want to pay top dollar for some fancy features you most likely will never use (or be forced to go on a contract god forbid!), you can find a few suggestions here.
The Spending Hackers Recommend:
- If you are after a no-contract mobile plan with unlimited calls & text in Australia and lots of data – this is your best option.
- Your BEST options for broadband with lots of data and no contract.
- Smile – Save up to 40% on your dental bill WITHOUT taking private health insurance (or ‘double dip’ if you already have it)!
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Put us to work for you!
The Spending Hacker Concierge service is where we put our skills and combined decades of experience towards finding the absolute best deal for your individual needs & specific circumstances – full details on this page.
The Spending Hacker Scout service is where we not only find you the absolute best deal for your individual needs & specific circumstances but we also make sure you continue to always be on the best deal. If a better deal becomes available at any point in time, we let you know straight away- full details on this page.
so what happens after the 90 days?
you pay the normal renewal price for 90 days ($89), switch to a 30 day plan or switch to another provider altogether to enjoy whatever promotional offer that’s available at the time. You are free to do as you please
Family share plan.
$41.25 for 80gig on one sim
$15 ($10 discount) on the next sim include 3gig.
Three of us are sharing 86 gig.
Family share plan.
Which network and plan is that Barry?
Also, are you in a lock-in contract?
Optus.
Pretty sure its locked in.
My ladies were topping up on no lock-in contacts like it was candy.
So now we’re sharing heaps on a locked in at a very good price.
For $75 a month we’re sharing 86 gig.
So there are options other than no lock-in contracts.
Thanks for clarifying Barry.
As I wrote in the post, in some instances a postpaid plan (with or without a lock-in contract) may be appropriate. The most common use case for that is what you and your family are one which is a single data pool shared between several people.
HOWEVER, let’s take a look at the numbers for a second:
You are currently paying $75 a month for a shared data allowance of 86GB
With the current offer from CatchConnect, you can get 54GB of data per person (on the exact same network) for just $15 per person ($45 overall).
This data allowance is to be used over 90 days and as there is no contract, you are free to switch to another similar or better deal that will no doubt be available by then (which I can pretty much guarantee).
Also, because it’s prepaid, there is no risk whatsoever of a ‘bill shock’.
Your point is valid and for families who want to create a single data pool on a single account, going postpaid may be appropriate.
However, I would argue that signing up to a lock-in contract is not a good idea in pretty much all cases, especially if that lock-in contract doesn’t even get you a ‘free’ phone 😉
This is actually helpful, thanks.
Thanks, this is quite informative
Hi this info is incredibly useful, I am with Telstra they are good but a bit pricey. Might have to try some of the above mentioned options
My wife and I were both with Optus previously, paying WAY too much.
We switched to Vaya earlier this year once our plans were up, and we’re spending less than half of what we were paying when directly with Optus. I now spend $22 per month for unlimited calls and text, and 2GB data. As international calls aren’t important to me, this turns out to be $2.90 cheaper per month ($34.80 p/a) than Amaysim’s $24.90 deal, which only comes with 1.5GB – both on the Optus 4G network. My wife is on the lowest month to month plan at $18 p/mth, which includes $650 worth of calls (adds up to about 5 hours, depending on how many calls are made – good ‘ol flagfall isn’t cheap), unlimited SMS, and 1.5GB data; she doesn’t make as many calls as me, or waits until I’m home to use mine, so we don’t risk going over the limit, though we get notifications when we reach milestones on our usage, such as 50%.
For our circumstances, Vaya is better suited to us, and saves us more. However, I can definitely see the value in Amaysim if you can’t deal with the basic features of Vaya.
thanks it was the good information related to 4G plans.
I’m utterly appalled by the customer service that I received from Lebara on the telephone today. I suggest all customers with Lebara to cancel their contracts and never go with them again. Also, if you’re considering Lebara – don’t bother. The staff are unhelpful and don’t care about your needs. I just spent $30 on a SIM and they say I can’t use it because their staff member stuffed up the transfer. I’m now taking my complaint to the Telecommunications Ombudsman and will post negative reviews all over the web about this experience if I do not get my National Plan activated by 4 pm today.
It just took me one hour of my life waiting for a chat box on their web page to communicate with them. I rang their 1300 number twice and after going through promot after prompt i was informed they were busy and they hung up on me. Thier 567 number for help also hangs up. The only way to sort out a problem is via the web. Lol. i am changing providers and am prepared to pay a little more for service, I regret dealing with amaysim. vodaphone did the same thing almot but they hid their phone number so that no one could call them. hahaha, Vodafail and now Amayfail
Can you please check out Amaysim again? For the past three months their thethering capabilities have been reduced to zilch. I know of other people who have had the same problem. It is impossible to get through to them by phone. I now find I have to use the library computers just to be able to access my emails.
That’s strange. We haven’t seen anything similar from our end.
Are you using their SIM in an iPhone or iPad?
If so, it’s possible that they have started restricting tethering via these devices
We are all Android users here and in Android, it is impossible (to the best of our knowledge) for the network operator to block tethering so we haven’t noticed any difference over the last few months.
Here are two support documents from Amaysim regarding tethering. None of them suggests that Amaysim, as a network operator, has a policy of restricting tethering EXCEPT ON iPADS
https://www.amaysim.com.au/help-support/plans-pricing/can-I-tether-with-amaysim.html
https://www.amaysim.com.au/blog/plans-services/amaysim-guide-to-tethering
I have an Android phone and have had no problem tethering with amaysim. In fact, the only problem that I have had since switching to amaysim is the feelings of regret that I didn’t make the switch much earlier. $30 of pre-paid credit lasts twice as long as it did with Telstra and Optus, and that’s being conservative.
I’d be interested to know the percentage of customers that have joined amaysim and then switched to another provider – I reckon it would be extremely low. Best prices, best customer service (by a country mile) and have never had a problem with coverage or speed.
I read a lot of forums but very seldom write; I just had to with amaysim however, as I have found them to be outstanding.
Hi Thanks for the review. At the Moment I recently joined a prepaid Kogan plan using vodafones 4g network. Check it out. Unlimted calls txts and 11 Gb data love it easy to use and top up on their website. .05 cents for the sim card lol.
Hi, I have been with Amaysim on a $29.90 and more recently $39.90 pre paid system and in the last couple of months have noticed that I have to go on the internet to send text messages. I am not technologically minded but does that mean texts are added onto your date usage. Because Amaysim advertise Unlimited Texts.
Hi,
Perhaps something went haywire for a while because I have just renewed my pre paid and I can send messages without the data enable feature.
I just got a new phone from prepaid to a plan, I was told it would cost me extra to keep my old number. Not happy with this. Any advice?? And it’s Telstra I’m with
Who told you that Jared? Was it Telstra?
Either way, you can go back and tell them that it’s ILLEGAL as the phone company doesn’t own the phone number and neither do you for that matter.
All phone numbers in Australia are owned by the Federal Government and their usage is administered through an agency called ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority).
Quite a few years back, legislation has been passed to allow anyone to transfer their existing number across providers free of charge and as often as they wish. This legislation is known as the “Mobile Number Portability rules”:
http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Telco/Numbering/Portability/mobile-number-portability-information-for-industry
No phone provider can charge you anything to transfer (or ‘port’ as it’s called in industry jargon) your existing number between providers.
However, as porting a number out from an existing provider means that your account with them is automatically finalised and closed, they are allowed to charge you ‘break costs’ if you’re on a contract with them.
If you’re transferring your number from another provider with whom you’ve been on a Prepaid service, there definitely shouldn’t be any costs involved whatsoever.
There is an Optus prepaid plan that offers 15gb for $30… The $2 a day plan…. You can choose to use as much or as little everyday and $4 per gb is still the best value going
Hi Jess,
Thanks for the comment.
The plan you are referring to is no longer available for sale.
Optus used to have both the ‘daily’ (at $1 a day) and ‘daily plus’ (at $2 a day) plans in their prepaid plans range but the ‘daily’ plan has now been withdrawn from sale and only the ‘daily plus’ plan remain
http://www.optus.com.au/shop/mobile/prepaid/plans?SID=con:premob:2ndNav:premob:othr:Prepaid:pos2#daily-plus
This means that to getting 15GB for the month will now cost you $60
Furthermore, there is also a daily usage quota of 500MB which could be problematic if you have a few days in the month where you want to ‘binge’ on Netflix or YouTube while commuting.
We don’t like this kind of daily quotas in addition to the monthly quota because for many people, their daily usage throughout the month can be unpredictable and with these plans, unused quota from one day does not roll-over to the next day.
However, we would leave the readers to make up their own mind about what works best for them.
Thanks again for the comment 🙂
It’s a shame Australia doesn’t have Unlimited Data Plans like the US and parts of Europe. We live in a world where information should be free and open to everyone. Grow up Australia!
Totally agree with you!
I traveled to the U.K last year and was surprised when I found a relatively cheap unlimited data plan.
When I came back to Australia – I shopped around and was looking for a similar deal, but could not find one.
With this current Amaysim offer of:
“0/11/2015, you can score your first month on the Unlimited 5GB for the truly unbeatable price of $5 ”
Can I order it and hold off activating it until the 10th of December when my current pre-paid sim’s month ends – or will I have to go through the process to transfer my number across during the online purchase?
Thanks,
David.
Yes David. If you are not currently with Amaysim, you can order the SIM for your existing number. The SIM will arrive already pre-configured for your existing mobile number but the porting process will not commence until you initiate it through the Amaysim dashboard. Your first month will only start being counted once your number has been ported. You can definitely take advantage of this deal! 🙂
I have a plan using the Optus 4G network that gives me 10GB per month for $39.95:
https://www.bendigobanktelco.com.au/MainPage.aspx?service=MB
Thanks for the heads-up but I’m afraid you are not comparing like for like.
The plan you are linking to is a mobile broadband plan only (i.e. NO ability to make and receive calls and SMS).
If you are after something like that (i.e just Internet), then Virgin actually offers a better deal.
For the same price you are currently paying ($40), you can get an extra 2GB of data per month (for a total of 12GB per month) on the same network (Optus 4G).
https://www.virginmobile.com.au/Global/virgin-mobile/static/pdfs/cis-forms/cis-40-mbb-byo.pdf?v=1
I’m already on an Amaysim pre paid Sim – if I order a new one online with the save60 promotion can I activate it and keep my number or is the offer only available to new Amaysim customers, ( I couldn’t see that stated anywhere on their site).
Thanks and love your work on this site!
Thanks for the kind words David 🙂
Technically, the offer is only available to customers who are new to Amaysim but there is a simple little hack you can employ to overcome this.
All you need to do is port your number to another provider and then port back to Amaysim using the SIM you’ve purchased. If you do that, you are a ‘new’ customer again from Amaysim’s perspective.
I know it works because I have done this myself many many (many!) times 😉
What I usually do is port my number to another provider (usually Lebara in my case), stay with them for a month and then port back into Amaysim as a ‘new’ customer. For example, in 2014 alone, I was a ‘new customer’ with Amaysim six times.
I’ve never tried porting out my number and then porting it back in the next day so can’t guarantee this will work but if you’re willing to stay with the other provider for at least a few days (or longer), I’m pretty certain this hack will work and you will come back to Amaysim as a ‘new customer’.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by 🙂
Ended up going for the Optus $45 sim with 4GB data and one month free when ordered online.
Good stuff David but please keep in mind that the one free month does not apply to the first month.
If your plan was to ‘park’ your number with Optus for the month before coming back to Amaysim, this particular plan will still cost you $45 for the first and then you might as well stay for the second month to get your free month before returning to Amaysim (where you get an extra 1GB of data compared to the Optus plan).
Another thing you might want to be aware of is as Amaysim also runs on the Optus network, the porting of your number between these two providers has to be done manually (i.e. by a human) which means it takes longer (up to 3 business days to complete).
That’s why I always recommend that when porting between providers, you should first aim to port to an operator running on a different physical network such as Lebara (which runs on Vodafone) or Boost and Aldi (who both run on Telstra). This ensures that the time you can’t initiate any calls or texts (or use any data) is kept to a minimum.
For someone who takes the current promotional offer from Amaysim and is porting their number from a provider running on a network other than Optus, the process is fully automated and should take under an hour (and sometimes as little as 10 minutes. speaking from experience 🙂 ).
Optus actually have some very good deals at the moment. The ones I just signed up for are now $60 but they were $50 when I signed up. They are month to month no lock in and Unlimited SMS and calls with 8GB of data each. The great thing too is the data is pooled if the phones are on the one account like ours and that means 16GB per month to share for the life of the contract at these rates. I think the $60 one is going to drop it’s data from 8 back to 6 soon so if your interested take a look. I was lucky to get in at $50. You can buy additional sims for tablets and the like at $5 once off and they too can share the data.
Regards,
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the heads up. The $50 p/m for life was indeed an excellent deal but as you said, this offer is now over and the price is back to $60 p/m.
This is still a decent deal but as you correctly pointed out, the 8GB of included data is also a promotional offering and will drop to 6GB.
The data sharing is a nice touch but the problem is that if one member of the household is a heavy user of data whereas others are not, the sharing feature will not work for you and you will actually end up worse off.
Let me demonstrate:
Say one of you is a heavy data user and the other is not. The heavy data user signs up for the $60 a month plan and gets 8GB monthly data allowance (which will eventually be reduced to 6GB).
The light data user signs up for the $30 p/m plan and therefore only contributes an extra 1GB of data to the pool (which will eventually be reduced to 500MB).
So, for an overall cost of $90 p/m, you get a total data allowance of 9GB.
If instead, the lighter data user chose to not take part in the pool and instead go with a Lebara prepaid plan for the same cost of $30 p/m, they will get 2GB to use for themselves and if they enable auto-recharge with Lebara, that data allowance will be increased to 4GB.
This means that for a total overall cost of $90 p/m, both of you were able to secure a total of 12GB of data.
Another important thing to consider about Optus is that due to the fact it is a post-paid plan (i.e they hold your payment details on file) you face the risk of excess usage charges if you exceed the amount of allocated data.
The way Optus calculates that is very sneaky and could come as a nasty surprise to those who are not aware of how these plans work: your usage of the included data allowance is calculated per KB but if you happen to exceed that, Optus charges per GB at a rate of $10 per GB
Michael,
Firstly I’d just like to point out that it is now back to $50 and 8GB a month. Secondly, are you sure that it reverts back to 6gb from 8gb when the promotion ends? It reads: “Extra Data Offer: Connect by 5 October 2015 to get extra data for the life of your plan.”. Doesn’t this mean you keep the extra data (8gb) for the whole time you stick on that plan?
Hi Jesse,
You are correct. The higher data allowance is provided for as long as you are on the plan and provided you sign up during the promotional period.
However, unlike Amaysim, this is post-paid plan so people need to keep in mind two things:
1. There will be a credit check involved which means that if you have defaults recorded on your credit file, Optus will probably not accept you as a customer on this plan.
2. Optus hold you payment details on file which means that you could be up for a ‘bill shock’ if you exceed your data allowance. Optus calculates any excess data usage in 1GB blocks at a rate of a whopping $10 per GB. That means that even if you exceeded your monthly allowance by a few Megabytes, Optus will round UP to the nearest GB and charge you an extra $10 that month.
Thanks for the info. Sounds good. I will give it a crack.
Hi, Thanks for the article. The only reservation is the $72 per gig when you go over the allotted data. At least with Boost they just cut you off till you buy more credit. I would definitely go to Amaysim if they had no excess usage policy at all. If they don’t update usage on the spot how will you know when you are about to go over? That is their angle I assume. Cheers. James.
Thanks for the comment James.
1. Keep in mind that this is a PREPAID plan and you do NOT have to keep your credit card details on file with Amaysim after the initial purchase of the SIM pack. This means that if you do indeed go over your data allowance, Amaysim will have no balance to take any excess charges from and they will simply suspend your data service instead.
2. If you do indeed need more data above and beyond your included allowance, you can buy an additional data pack. 1GB is $9.90, 2.5GB is $19.90 and 4GB and 10GB packs are also available for purchase. This should be enough to tide you over till your plan renews the next month (assuming you want to remain with Amaysim).
I have gone over once or twice myself in the past but have NEVER paid any excess usage charges simply because Amaysim don’t have my credit card details on file 🙂
This approach would obviously not be possible if you were on any postpaid plan where you get a bill at the end of each month and this is why we STRONGLY recommend against ever getting one.
Hi Michael.
What a dill I am. I meant Boost. I used to be with Kogan.
Cheers
Great reading as always, but I think I’ll stick to my Kogan plan, unlimited calls, 2.5 gig data and on the Telstra network, for just $40 a month.
Cheers, Paull
Thanks for the compliment Paul.
How exactly were you able to stay on a KOGAN plan? They’ve stopped operating their mobile service following a bitter dispute with Telstra which basically pulled the plug on them.
Either way, if you need more than 2GB of Data as well as unlimited calls and text and need that to be on the Telstra network, your absolute best bet is Boost provided you are happy with 3G speeds only.
For $40 you get 3GB plus 1GB bonus data every Sunday and, like Amaysim, they switched to calculating usage per Kb as well.
I humbly suggest that this is superior than what you have now…;)
yep, totally agree. I am in a black spot myself so never get great coverage but the last 2 weeks with amaysim have been terrible. I tether and have struggled to even make phone calls let alone get on line. If there is an issue then amaysim should be letting us know.
Hi my family all had the unlimited plan with amaysim and I ported the last one out yesterday. Everything used to be fine, then recently we had days without signal or with full signal and no data. When we had data, it was unbearably slow. I live in metro Sydney and work in the city and it didn’t matter where I was I had issues, same with the rest of the family (4 in total) and all on different phones.
No comments on Lyca $19 unlimited calls, 5gb internet on telstra network?
Thanks for the heads up Shariq.
I am aware of the recent price change at Lyca and me and the team are looking into it.
However, I am not yet comfortable to endorse them as this pricing is a promotional offer and not their normal pricing.
Here is what they say on their website:
Lycamobile reserves the right to withdraw or suspend the offer or to disconnect you if we suspect that offer is being used for commercial purposes, for conferencing, or if it is not being used in a handset (in a SIM box for example), or if it is being used for tethering.
The fact they restrict tethering and also put this as a “promotional offer” makes me a bit apprehensive to formally recommend them yet.
However, rest assured that we are monitoring the situation and might revise this post in the not too distant future. I just want to make sure Lyca are not pulling a ‘bait and switch’ tactic and will increase their prices as soon as they get an influx of new sign-ups.
Thanks again for the comment and rest assured we are aware of this offer and are closely monitoring it.
Lycamobile are the best from my own research, providing 6GB on Telstra’s 4G network, with unlimited texts and calls nationally and unlimited international calls to 10 countries (including the US which I use it for), all for $29.90/mo prepaid. If you purchase online using the “auto renewal” feature, you get an extra 4GB, so 10GB total.
Thanks for the article.
It is debatable whether or not this truly is the best value given the way data is calculated (per MB).
I moved from amaysim to Jeenee Mobile simply because of their per KB data calculation. I have 3GB per month, $650 worth of calls and unlimited text for $35/month. The only place they sting you is excessive data – no additional data can be purchased and it is expensive if you go over.
Jeenee donate cash to charities working with people with disabilities and provide handsets to them as well.
Worthy of consideration.
Oh and it’s on the 4G Optus network.
Hey Dan. Thanks for the comment.
While the charging by KB versus MB is a valid differentiation point, I personally don’t think it would matter for most people’s usage patterns but am happy to be proven wrong 🙂 .
Based on your personal experience, was the 5GB p/m you got with Amaysim insufficient for your needs due to them calculating usage by the MB instead of KB? Were you able to get more value from Jeenee because they calculate data usage by the KB? I am genuinely interested to hear your experience and I’m sure other readers will appreciate that too.
With regards to Jeenee Mobile, we have looked at them in the past and while their donations to charity are commendable, I can not in good conscious recommend a service which charges steeply for excess data as this might leave people with significant extra costs, especially given it is usually very hard (if not outright impossible) to monitor real-time data usage with these providers (from the view of their billing system, not your own tracking).
Finally, Amaysim have formally announced they will start offering 4G services on the Optus network by the end of March 2015 (with the new pricing to yet be determined)
http://www.amaysim.com.au/blog/general/amaysim-4g-update
Absolutely take your point with the calculation differentiation.
I had been with Amaysim since day dot and thought that the price rise from $39 gave me an opportunity to shop around. I found Jeenee and thought it was worth a go.
For me, I chose that more on principle than practicality. As an example, I suppose the major data “eater/stealer” would be when you only check emails or just go a smidge over a MB and then get rounded up.
I was with Amaysim when they were 4GB. I went over a few times but I just purchased data packs. I must admit that I much prefer having the option to add data.
My wife did have a bad experience where she went over by 250mb and got charged $50 for the privilege. This was caused by vigorous hot-spotting while we were away so technically not a typical single user month.
But, if you know you’ll be within the 3GB limit and not need any more than that then I think at $35 it is a good option. I’ve been with Jeenee for 6 months and have been happy.
It will all depend on Amaysim’s pricing for 4G.
Thanks for sharing your experience Dan. Much appreciated.
Since it runs on Optus no one gets any service, why would anyone want to be on it. Optus have dropped the ball since they tried to up date their towers to the 4G network.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for leaving a comment.
With regards to your statement:
“Since it runs on Optus no one gets any service”
I have to disagree.
I am with Amaysim myself and live on the Gold Coast. I get great coverage for both voice and data pretty much anywhere on the coast except maybe some parts of the hinterland or national parks.
I strongly recommend that anyone contemplating to take this offer first checks the coverage in their own area. If the coverage map shows it is poor or non existent for Optus then simply don’t buy.
If it shows that it’s ok then just try it out for a month and see how you go. If you’re not happy, you can always switch to another network as it’s prepaid and there is no contract or commitment of any kind
Cheers 🙂
Hey I need a prepaid plan with the most data possible (at least 3GB) for $30 a month I also need calls and texts is this possible and who with
Hey Olivia,
How much calls and texts do you need? Do you need unlimited/large allowance or do you care mainly about the data?
I suggest you check our detailed & FREE report here:
https://spendinghacker.com.au/best-mobile-plans-in-australia/
Thanks a lot for your quick reply and warm welcome ..
I will definitely go for virgin as per your recommendation .. about Belong, I have contacted them but they cannot provide me their service in Varsity Lakes, Gold Cost where I live. can you give me your opinion regarding other contract less broadband?
Very Kind Regards
Ali Khan
There is another option in the post I was referring to in my previous comment.
That option is Dodo.
With Dodo you can get a no-contract ADSL plan for the same cost as the cheapest plan from Belong but you will actually get unlimited data.
The catch is that you will need to pay additional charges to get the service setup.
This consists of $99 setup fee payable to Dodo (can be reduced to $74 using a referral as discussed in the post) and anything between $59 and $299 (and potentially even more if the place you live never had a landline before) payable to Telstra
Further options are discussed in our free report here:
https://spendinghacker.com.au/best-broadband-plans-in-australia/
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi,
I have recently moved to Australia and living in Varsity Lakes, Gold Cost. I don’t have a home broadband and don’t know much about all of the plans and offers available out in market.
Which data sim / dongle would be best for me to as alternative of wifi broadband? so it can give me lots of data, with good connection and speed, for my tablet and laptop.
waiting for your quick reply.
Welcome to Australia Ali. I’m a gold coaster myself 🙂
With regards to your question, the absolute BEST deal currently available in Australia for mobile broadband is from Virgin:
http://virginmobile.com.au/byo-mobile-broadband-modem/
All the plans above have no contract and offer 4G speeds on the Optus network but you need to have your own unlocked USB dongle or wifi mobile broadband modem.
If you don’t have it, Virgin can supply you one for no extra charge but you will have to be locked into a 12 month contract.
If you are living at your current place long term, I would suggest you consider the no contract plans from Belong. They are very good value as they all have no contract, offer FREE broadband and landline installation and you can also buy a Broadband modem from them for $10.
We covered that in detail in this post:
https://spendinghacker.com.au/cheap-no-contract-broadband/
Thanks for stopping by and have fun on the GC
Thank you sir,
Thanks for your support. I will try lebara for a month n will stick to it if i liked its internet and network else jump back to boost.
Thanks
Pleasure mate. Have a good week 🙂
Hi,
Its a great forum. Really liked your advice. I live in city area and vodafone got good reception. Currently I am with boost but thinking to cut the cost and shift to lebara unlimited plan. I couldn’t figure out if the provided data is 3g or gprs and is it good to go with it? Can you please help me out.
Thanks
Hey Gupta. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Lebara does indeed offer 3G data on the Vodafone network so the Internet should work just fine for you. The only thing they don’t have is access to Vodafone’s new 4G network so if you use their service, you will only get 3G speeds, even if your phone does have 4G Support.
Optus 2 dollar days,unlimited calls-unlimited texts and 500 meg for $2.00 a day.
This plan suites me best as there are quite a few days where I don’t use the phone,so no charge at all for that day.
Cool Geoff. As long as there are at least 7-8 days every month during which you don’t use your phone at all (i.e. not making any calls, sending any texts or using even a single KB of mobile data), this plan would be cheaper for you.
As far as the current promotion is concerned, you will need to have at least 20 days in a month in which you don’t use your mobile at all in order to beat this price.
As far as promotional price, this is as low as I have ever seen Amaysim go.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment 🙂
Hi – Doing some research on mobile phone contracts & visited your site a few times. Just had time to read some exceptional advise – As a business owner who relies heavily on his mobile for jobs & work coming in I need to look at some new deals as I am out of contract with Vodafone (don’t laugh – had only minor issues really, okay coverage issues)
I currently have the Samsung s3 but playing up so time for a new phone I guess
I would like unlimited calls, SMS, MMS, voice mail & maybe 4+GB of data – would like to either get a Note4 or S5.
My current spend on similar plan is $80/Month
I have 2 numbers & currently have them on a single bill – Like the look of the Amaysim for the second number for my daughter to use but it is easier to have them both on one bill
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Hi Wayne and thanks for stopping by.
I would HIGHLY encourage you to NOT get on another lock-in contract and instead buy a new phone outright.
Unless you absolutely must have the latest and greatest brand name gizmo (which is guaranteed to no longer be ‘latest and greatest’ any more in 6 months time, regardless of what you buy), you will find quite a few recommendations on this site.
For example:
https://spendinghacker.com.au/cheapest-4g-smartphone/
With regards to your phone plans, we always recommend prepaid (even for business users) as it offers better value in 99% of the time than post-paid contract plans. For our current recommendations check:
https://spendinghacker.com.au/best-mobile-plans-in-australia/
Just came across your site, and wanted to say thank you for the excellent information. It’s so good to see that you actively respond to peoples questions too, nice work 🙂
Thanks Matthew for the kind words.
The interaction with our readers is actually the best part of running this site. We love it! 🙂
Hi Michael,
I’m currently looking for a pre paid option to get the best value for data. I’d prefer to be able to use my “spare” smart phone as a wifi hotspot, however I am open to purchasing a portable wifi modem thingy (obviously not the correct technical term, I’m not very tech savvy) if it is going to work out better value in the long run. It doesn’t need to have any calls or message credit as it will only be used for perusing the internet and downloading games for my 3 year olds sons’ tablet. I currently am on Vodafone with my prepaid mobile phone and get $750 call credit, unlimited texts and 2.5Gb of data for $40 a month and I struggle to use the call credit however I do need more data. Service and reception is not an issue although I do live in a semi rural area, I always get reception. So I don’t care who the provider is or about having call or message credit, but I do want lots of data as it will be my only internet access option for all devices in the house. Hope that all made some sort of sense 🙂
Hey Corinne. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Everything made perfect sense and I think I’ve got just the right solution for you. It is not prepaid which means there will be a bill every month and you will need to undergo a credit check.
However, and this is the most important bit, provided you bring your own equipment. there is NO CONTRACT.
The provider I suggest is Virgin Mobile.
I recommend you take the $40 plan which will give you a whopping 12GB of included data every month. This is currently the LOWEST cost per GB of mobile broadband data in this country!
Virgin runs on Optus and also has access to their 4G network (i.e. faster download speeds) but I assume that given you are in a “semi-rural area”, those higher speeds will not be available to you unfortunately and you will only be able to access their 3G service.
This is a data-only plan which means you don’t get any amount of included credit for calls and texts and can’t receive any phone calls either on this service. Basically, the SIM you will get will be enabled for data services ONLY.
You can totally use your “spare smartphone” as a wifi hotspot (provided it is fully unlocked or will take a Virgin SIM) or can opt to receive a mobile broadband wifi modem from Virgin.
If you decide to get a modem from them, you will not pay anything extra but will have to commit to a 12 month plan.
If you’ve been following our work for any period of time, you would be well aware what our feelings are towards contracts but I will leave the final decision to you 🙂
Thanks again for stopping by.
That’s awesome thanks. I had come across that deal but was confused with whether the smart phone qualified for the “byo” modem and thanks for clarifying that will be acceptable 🙂 I have been on pre paid for about 18 years now after only having ever entered into one contract with my very first phone purchase and it turned me off contracts for life, so we are definitely on the same page there 🙂 Thanks again for your help and taking the time out to reply. All the best 🙂
Pleasure. Glad I could help
Living remote I need the Telstra network. I’m on ALDI right now – I switched to them as they used to offer great data. They’ve slashed their data allowances over the last few months so I’m looking to switch again. I’m glad I found this post, looks like Boost is the way forward.
Do you have any recommendations on a similar plan to Amaysim but not unlimited, cheaper, but has the data component still? So a cheaper plan, don’t mind about calls and text but must have large data?
What do you mean exactly by “large data” Angelica? Different people will have different interpretations to what is lots of data, depending on their needs. 🙂
Do you plan to use mobile broadband as an alternative to an ADSL connection and have it as your PRIMARY broadband connection?
If so, check out our report on the best internet plans which also includes the best options for mobile broadband as an alternative to ADSL or NBN.
https://spendinghacker.com.au/best-broadband-plans-in-australia/
If you already have internet at home that you are happy with and want a plan just for your mobile, let me know what is your definition for “large data” and I’ll see what I can dig up for you.
You could go for amaysim as you go + data plan. PAYG will cost you $10 every 3 months (minimum top up is $10, and credit lasts 90 days).
The bigger data plan costs a one off $99, lasts for 1 year, and includes 10GB.
For a data-ONLY plan no one in Australia can currently beat Virgin. $30 for 6GB of Data and $40 for 12GB.
They even offer 4G speeds in supported areas for no extra charge.
http://www.virginmobile.com.au/byo-mobile-broadband-modem
Virgin excess rate of 0.2c/kb is a little excessive to say the least – that’s $2000/Gb!
This is completely irrelevant as Virgin does NOT charge for excess data on a POSTPAID plan (with no contract). They simply give you an extra 250MB on reduced speed and then block you completely until the start of your next billing cycle
http://www.virginmobile.com.au/byo-mobile-broadband-modem
Amaysim is fine where Optus actually work but I think city slickers write these assessments. Amaysim on Optus network generally speaking is poor in rural areas. Outside a capital city customers are far better off on BOOST Mobile with unlimited calls, texts & MMS with 2gb of 3g data on the reliable Telstra 3g network. All that data is no good if it doesn’t work. Great video calling with BOOST Mobile that even ermine forgets about.
Many thanks for your comment and insight!
I agree 100% with what you said.
If you live in regional Australia in an area where Optus coverage is sketchy at best, Boost, which runs on the Telstra network, is the absolute best mobile plan for you.
Saying that, however, the vast majority of Australia’s population lives in the capital cities and major regional centres (whether that is a good thing or not is a discussion for another forum) and therefore we stand by our assertion that for the majority of Australians, Amaysim Unlimited is the BEST high usage mobile plan (and the independent research by Money Magazine suggests the same).
I will add my 2 cents on Amaysim. I’ve been with Amaysim for over one year, and I am quite happy with it. I am on prepaid Pay As You Go, and I bought the 10GB data pack (which lasts for one year, and costs $99). This way I can always be online either with my phone or on my laptop (via wifi hotspot).
Reception is good if you live in a major town. Rural areas are are not covered at all, or signal is weak, but hey, most people in rural areas only use Telstra for a reason…
Hi, could you please provide some advice for a prepaid plan for a high school student. I am not looking for unlimited as she rarely uses the phone to call. IGB data is certainly enough too at this stage. Thanks:)
Sure. I think the best thing for you will be to read our comprehensive report about prepaid mobile plans which covers the best value plans for both ‘heavy’ and occasional users. It’s totally free as well.
https://spendinghacker.com.au/best-mobile-plans-in-australia/
Hope that helps but if you have any more questions after reading it, don’t hesitate to contact us 🙂
Hi,
I have been researching amaysim after your recommendation and what I have found d is concerning. A large proportion of their customers are very unhappy with the poor reception and shocking customer service. I understand that you are only going on cost but if the organization is offering sub standard services then what is the point of a cheap plan and you advertising it.
VERY disappointing. What do you think of boost can I ask?
?
Regards
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
First of all, thanks so much for your comment! We always appreciate ANY relevant comments on our content.
With regards to to the comments themselves:
1. It is not true that here at Spending Hacker we go for the lowest price. Instead, we go for the BEST VALUE. This is sometimes the same as the lowest price but not always 🙂
2. We would NEVER recommend a service on Spending Hacker that we are not happy to use ourselves or are already actively using. I am myself on Amaysim and have had no issues with reception or poor customer support. As a matter of fact, I have nothing but praise for Amaysim’s customer support and the help they provided during a recent issue I’ve had with porting my number from another provider. Also, they are all 100% Australian-based which is pretty rare for telcos these days.
3. With regards to the quality of the calls or dropouts, you need to understand that Amaysim is what’s called a virtual operator which means they do not have their own network and instead buy access from one of Australia’s three physical mobile networks. In this case this is Optus. The reception you would get through Amaysim is the same you would get with either Optus themselves or any of their other virtual operators (e.g. Virgin Mobile).
4. Boost is a virtual operator running on the Telstra network which has better coverage in most cases. Their monthly unlimited plan costs $40 but you only get 2.5GB of 3G data which is half the allowance you get with Amaysim. Their customer support is based entirely in the Philippines. If you think that can work better for you than by all means, go for it. 🙂
5. Finally, keep in mind that we are talking about a prepaid plan here that has no contract. You can try it out risk-free for a month and if you are not happy, simply walk away.
Hope that helps and thanks again for your comments.