Have you had a better mob deal via "piggybacking" than direct with network prov

[Janus 28]

 There are only 4  network providers. EE, Three, 02 and Vodafone. All the other companies (Giffgaff, Asda mob, Tesco mob, Lyca  plus many more piggyback on one of the 4 main networks.

Apparently better deals can be had by piggybacking.

The down side is you don't build up any loyalty discounts according to the article. So I suppose piggybacking is okay for the short term, where customers might be inclined to swap & change providers quite regularly.

[Janus 28]

Ref

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/piggybacking

[Cyclone 10]

There are no loyalty benefits anyway in my experience.

[geared 303]

Yea whats all this about loyalty benefit??

 

BT give you a small discount if you also have broadband with them.

[zach 234]

As above, can't say I've ever got a loyalty bonus of any kind. I don't get phones on contract though, and never really looked into the cost of the phone and data/minutes/texts over a couple of years.

 

I just cancelled my Three sim only contract as it was just wasted on my usage. I've gone back to their 3-2-1 PAYG tariff now.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Sky were offering a belting sim-only deal for £3 a month just before Christmas that I noticed (I've got another year of vodafone) and plusnet mobile deals at £6.50 looked ok too.

 

Vodafone didn't show any loyalty over the past few (12?!) years I've been with them but did offer a very very good deal on my latest phone compared with the rest and I was very thorough. Might buy the phone separate and go sim only next time.

[Waldo 96]

Ha! Loyalty bonus?! More like disloyalty bonus!

 

In my experience, you mostly get rewarded  for being disloyal (switching service providers).

Edited January 3, 2019 by Waldo

[Cyclone 10]

I think I was offered a loyalty bonus once, but it must have been back in 2004 or thereabouts, I was out of contract and had been for some time, but at that time there was no real incentive to change all the time.  They phoned up and gave me £2/month off as a reward for having been with them for 3 years or something.

[ez8004 10]

I think it all depends on what you need.  Some offers are there to be had but only if they apply for your particular circumstance. 

 

For example, Virgin offer an unlimited mobile plan, but only if you have a exisiting land based product.  This is great if you want EE based coverage as that is what their network is run off and I don't think anything from EE comes close in terms of equivalent cost.

 

Also, the BT offer of cheaper mobile if your an exisiting broadband customer also works if you prefer again EE coverage.   This is again cheaper than going to EE direct for most equivalent packages.

 

Then again, these offers are inferior if you have access to employee benefits like I do and get 20% off Vodafone or EE.

 

So the ultimate bottom line is, one glove doesn't fit all.  Work out what you need or want and compare costs acordingly.

[Cyclone 10]

I have virgin for broadband, tv, etc, I had a look at the mobile deals recently and they were more expensive than any of the main providers.  Did I miss something?

[Waldo 96]

Plusnet recently (maybe still on) had a sim only deal, fiver a month for unlimited mins and 1.5gb data. Not bad!

[Janus 28]

If I stay with a company for a long time I feel the loyalty should work both ways.

I must say that EE mobile is the only company and type of service where there has been any element of loyalty. (Forget about insurance companies etc).

A friend of mine has been on 3 network for years and apparently gets a very favourable  deal now. I have been with EE for many years too.

If you swap & change mobile providers there won't be any loyalty.  It is not like  car insurance  where you can change company and get it £150 cheaper for the sake of a phone call. Just my experience.