No real discount on billpay?

wanderrr

I've searched for "PAYG versus billpay" threads in this forum and found some, but none that really address what I'm wondering here. I've been hearing a lot about how it's cheaper to buy iPhones on 18- or 24-month contracts because the network discount the price of the phone to lure you in, but when I do the sums I don't see how that is. If I'm missing something obvious I'd be deligthed if someone could point it out!

At the moment you could buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple for €579 (for a 4S) or €679 (for a 5). The best pay as you go option (for me at least) would be with Three, where a €20 top-up every month gets unlimited data and plenty of calls and texts.

So, with an unlocked phone you would spend
- (i4S, over 18 months) 579 + 20*18 = 939
- (i5, over 18 months) 679 + 20*18 = 1039

- (i4S, over 24 months) 579 + 20*24 = 1059
- (i5, over 24 months) 679 + 20*24 = 1159

The equivalent contracts with Three (haven't looked at other networks) are
- (i4S, 18 months) 189 + 41*18 = 927
- (i5, 18 months) 319 + 41*18 = 1057

- (i4S, 24 months) 69 + 41*24 = 1053
- (i5, 24 months) 169 + 41*24 = 1153


The contracts look to be very, very slightly cheaper in three out of those four examples, but by around or less than a tenner over two years - and for that you're locked into a contract, whereas pay as you go might give more freedom.

Is there an advantage to billpay that I'm not seeing? Thanks.

Gumbo

This is why a lot of people buy sim free from Apple then get a 30 day sim only plan
Looks more expensive at the start but you have the freedom to cancel and sell the phone if your moving away, get into money trouble.

naasrd

I'm with three, jumped from bill pay, €40pm, when contract ran out. At present have an iPhone 5, the €20 a month all you can eat data makes PAYG the best deal around for me. I don't have any coverage problem at all. I never use the €20 credit on calls over the month, text wise, I use my 333 webtexts via JellySms on my contacts that aren't on iMessage. Also when I'm in Thre Like Home countries I can roam without extra cost, a huge bonus. When the month is up I might buy a 500mb bundle with the cash I've left and top up when the remaining credit is gone. For me there's no going back to bill pay.

PS, I continually upgrade my iPhone 4 via Adverts.ie buying new, unwanted upgrades, and selling on my 4, 4s etc. I got a new iPhone 5 by trading my 4s plus €160.

wanderrr

Thanks for the replies. There must be loads of billpayers on boards - can anyone give me a reaons to go billpay?

guil

I got an iPhone 4 32 gb for nothing off emobile. The phone was 699 at the time and the plan costs 75 per month. Made sense to go on billpay because I was using at least 20 a week on prepay. I get unlimited calls texts and data now with a FUP of 45,000 mins 10,000 texts and 15gb data a month. I spend an unnatural amount of time on the phone though

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

tigershould

i've been on billpay contract forever.

currently 45€ p.m. (rising to €75 depending on roaming)

i dont have to worry about topping up / more free minutes, texts, data than i can use / the cost of calls outside my package (EU roaming) are cheaper than if i was prepay.

but the big bonus is that i always get offered an upgrade at the end of my contract.

initially paid €300 bucks in the USA for the iphone 1g back in 2007
upgraded to iphone 3g in 2008 for free
upgraded to iphone 4 in 2010 for free
upgraded to iphone 5 in 2012 for free (actually i opted to pay €150 for the 32gb model)

so while i'm paying at least €540 per year (probably nearer €700) i'm pretty much guaranteed the latest model phone every 2 years.

wanderrr

Thanks, tigershould - that's one aspect I hadn't considered about it. Out of curiosity, what network are you with?

Am I missing any other advantages to billpay?

ResearchWill

wanderrr wrote: »

Thanks, tigershould - that's one aspect I hadn't considered about it. Out of curiosity, what network are you with?

Am I missing any other advantages to billpay?

There is a issue with your OP, you base the maths on paying €20 a month in topup on prepay and on €41 per month on post pay. While for a very low user this may be fair for a low user it does not take into account medium or heavy user, also a fairer comparison is the flexifix 25 which woul be

Cost of phone iPhone 5 €509 plus 18 X 25.41 total €966
The nearest prepay plan
- (i5, over 18 months) 679 + 20*18 = 1039

Still small saving but a saving. If a low to very low user prob best to go prepay but once getting into heavy use best to go post pay. With most networks doing unlimited plans from €35 a month and subsidised phones if you use the phone any amount well worth a contract.

wanderrr

ResearchWill wrote: »

There is a issue with your OP, you base the maths on paying €20 a month in topup on prepay and on €41 per month on post pay. While for a very low user this may be fair for a low user it does not take into account medium or heavy user, also a fairer comparison is the flexifix 25 which woul be

Cost of phone iPhone 5 €509 plus 18 X 25.41 total €966
The nearest prepay plan
- (i5, over 18 months) 679 + 20*18 = 1039

Still small saving but a saving. If a low to very low user prob best to go prepay but once getting into heavy use best to go post pay. With most networks doing unlimited plans from €35 a month and subsidised phones if you use the phone any amount well worth a contract.

The reason I went with the €41 (or €40.66) plan over the Flexifix 25 is because the 25 doesn't come with unlimited data, as the other one does. The 30-day prepay also has unlimited data.

tigershould

wanderrr wrote: »

Thanks, tigershould - that's one aspect I hadn't considered about it. Out of curiosity, what network are you with?

Am I missing any other advantages to billpay?

i'm with O2 currently.

ive had a closer look and i had undervalued my spend, last year it was nearly €1000 ! and the year before it was nearer €800 - pretty much all the calls outside my tariff were international roaming (i spend a few days every month in EU and make calls to the UK regularly) - fortunately my company pays for my phone bill so i dont have to worry too much

O2 have 3 upgrade packages i think - (gold, diamond, plantinum) - i think i'm at the top end of spend which is why they offer me the top upgrade to renew my contract.

having said that, i'm am seriously considering vodafone who allow you to use your free call minutes & data while roaming (although i'm locked into o2 until next year when i will eaither get a iphone 6 or look at windows/andorid devices.

Trojan

I put a bunch of scenarios together in a spreadsheet and in most of them the contract and non-contract options were almost identical (for my low usage values). In fact the o2 sales rep insisted bill pay was better value, until we did the calculations together in the shop.

The only other factor was the difference between making a small or large up-front payment, i.e. cash flow.

I went with the contract option in the end as it saved ~€400 in cash, 100% of which o2 will get back from me over the length of the contract.

ResearchWill

wanderrr wrote: »

The reason I went with the €41 (or €40.66) plan over the Flexifix 25 is because the 25 doesn't come with unlimited data, as the other one does. The 30-day prepay also has unlimited data.

I thought that flexifix came with unlimited data

http://www.three.ie/products_services/priceplans/billpay/smartphone-plans.html

According to above mini flexifix €25.41 includes unlimited data. Also has 3 to 3 calls.

wanderrr

ResearchWill wrote: »

I thought that flexifix came with unlimited data

http://www.three.ie/products_services/priceplans/billpay/smartphone-plans.html

According to above mini flexifix €25.41 includes unlimited data. Also has 3 to 3 calls.

Hmmm... when I went looking for it via the billpay section of the shop it looked like it counts data as part of the flexi units

OwaynOTT

wanderrr wrote: »

Hmmm... when I went looking for it via the billpay section of the shop it looked like it counts data as part of the flexi units

Only prepay and the flex-max plans come with all you can eat data apart from one or two of the business plans. As far as I know all other plans let you use you units for data but obviously that wouldn't be advisably.

Walkman

Mini Flex Max is a different plan to Flexifix 25

Twoandahalfmen

I have bill pay because its handy and ill never not be able to make a call if I'm in a pickle

ibFoxer

Up until recently i was on Vodafone Perfect Choice Access 300 @ €61 per month giving me:

300 minutes to all numbers incl landlines in ROI
300 Texts to all networks in ROI
1 gb of data.

I have had my phone unlocked through itunes via request to provider and am in the process of switching to eMobile on their 30 day sim only unlimited plan which gives the following:

Unlimited calls to all numbers incl landlines in ROI (Fair usage of 45,000 minutes)
Unlimited texts to any network in ROI (Fair usage of 10,000 texts)
15 gb of data (Fair usage of 15gb)

NB- The only catch i have is i have to buy out the last 3 months of my Vodafone contract, however i have dropped to the lowest tariff available to me @€;30 per month and will only have to play €90 plus whatever this months charges are.

As i was consistently going over my bundle charges on data i decided to switch to this. Seems to me to be as good a deal as any going for the peace of mind of having everything all inclusive without having to worry about topping up. I can see why 3 have so many customers on their unlimited top up plans however i cannot personally recommend them given past experience.

Bakharwaldog

One thing about being on prepay with a good free calls, text and internet bundle is that I find my 20 euro top up lasts me about a month and a half. I get unlimited texts to all networks, unlimited calls to three customers, unlimited 3g and at the weekend I get free calls to any network.

Also every time I top up by 20 euro I get an extra 10 euro free. The only reason I go through my credit is because I continue to use the internet after my free months 3g has expired.

This means that instead of spending 240 a year I'm only spending 160.

There are also no chances of getting a nasty surprise of a phone bill. If I wanted to make my credit last 2 months I probably could.

I got an iPhone 5 on adverts, brand new, unopened in box for 480.

Add in my cost of credit and the total cost over 18 months would be 720

Even if I got the phone from apple the total cost would be around 920.

To me this makes more sense but at the end of the day I dont think your saving too much (unless you buy a phone from adverts, done deal etc.) I just prefer not having a monthly bill

ironclaw

In my mind it comes down whether you want to do a lump sum at the start or spread it over 18 months.

Taking the iPhone 5 (€679) and the €25 per month Meteor '30 Day' plan the total 18 months will cost you €1129. Which is the equivalent of paying €62.70 per month for 18 months. By the time you add on the initial discounted cost of a handset on other bill pay plans (i.e. €129 or whatever) and average it, then add the cost of the plan per month, the saving is minimal.

Personally I advise people to go unlocked and 30 day as it gets away from any potential money problems in months to come as you can cancel at 30 days notice. You also have an unlocked iPhone right away which is great for travel.

kenyard

^ this.
it does work out at essentially the same. the main thing see if you dont have to pay up front.
so if you factor in inflation you do work out getting it cheaper but you are tied in for the 24 months also.

just FYI phones are no longer cheaper on billpay because they are so easy unlock nowadays. most are just a software fix. plug into pc, click a button in a program and voila. so networks dont subsidise.
originally they did as they knew you would stay with them for a year or two after. meaning a year to make back the subsidy and profit.

my parents are on billpay because they arent able to use topups.
generally other billpay customers are businesses from what i can see. means they get the bill rather than you having to keep track of topups etc.

nightster1

I always buy directly from apple.ie when a new phone is released. I then sell the older model on adverts.ie.



I'm on meteor payg anytime 30 at the mo. all landlines and mobiles unlimited for €30/monthly top up, they give me an extra €20 free p/m. I buy 1GB data out of the bundle every month and this does me. I use Eircom hub app for free internet. Most places i go have free wirless. I use Jelly SMS app for txts. My balance to meteor climbs every month so i take about 2 - 3 months off topping up every year to use up balance and then go back to €30/month top ups on line. So, I spend c. €300/yr with meteor & about €175/year keeping up to date with newest unlocked phone. I have v. heavy phone usage for that money