Originally pay-as-you-go tariffs were a simple affair: you topped up your account with credit whenever necessary, everything you did with your phone had a cost deducted from your balance, and when all the cash was gone, you started over again.
These days the competition among networks is stronger, so there are several deals by which you can get bonus features or freebies that may make PAYG attractive to people who'd otherwise have considered a contract deal. Here are some of those deals.
O2
There are several PAYG tariffs, and you'll need to choose the one you will be on. The O2 Unlimited tariff gets you unlimited texts to O2 phones if you top up at least £10, and throws in unlimited free calls to O2 phones if you top up at least £15.
The text and web package gives you 500MB of web use and 300 texts if you top up at least £10. Topping up £15 raises this to 500 texts, while £30 gets you unlimited texts. Meanwhile a simplicity package gets you unlimited texts for £7.50; confusingly drops down to 500 texts for £10.50 while throwing in 100 minutes of calls; and for £15.50 returns you to unlimited texts plus 300 minutes of calls.
Orange
The network offers a range of packages named after animals, each with free rewards for topping up £10, £20 or £30 in the same months. All the plans offer a varying number of free texts. The Monkey plan offers free access to music and internet services (albeit it with daily limits); the Dolphin plan offers free internet access; the Canary plan offers certain number of minutes of free calls at evenings or weekend plus either texts or photo messages; and the Camel plan offers additional free minutes for calling abroad. You'll need to let the network know which plan you want to be on.
T-Mobile
There are three special plans, each of which require you to top up at least £10 a month. You'll need to choose a plan, deciding whether you want your bonus to be 100 minutes of calls to mobile and landlines, unlimited texts, or 60 free minutes of international calls.
Three
Appropriately the network has three special deals covering all services, known as "All in One Add-ons". Note that these aren't bonus rewards, but rather outright purchases (good for 30 days), so the money you pay doesn't include your ordinary credit balance. £10 gets you 3,000 texts, 100 minutes of calls and 500MB of internet use. £15 also gives 3,000 texts but increases to 300 minutes and unlimited data. £25 gets the same deal but with 500 minutes.
The network also offers some extra deals for £5: you can get 3000 texts, 3000 minutes of calls to other Three phones, or 500 MB of data.
Virgin
Virgin offers a couple of deals under the "addict tariff" brand. If you top up at least £10 during a month, you'll get 300 free texts thrown in. If you top up £15 a month, you'll get unlimited texts and 1GB of data use. (All other PAYG customers can use up to 25MB on a single day for a 50p charge.)
Those who subscribe to Virgin's cable TV or broadband services get the same deals (but get the unlimited texts on the £10 deal) plus an extra 100 minutes talk time.
