What's the easiest Pay As You Go deal?

Major Dad · 28-01-2026 06:46PM #1

Quick backdrop - daughter has moved to the US and will be there for at least a year. She had a contract here with 3 paying €45 a month, but she's now out of contract. I want to move her to a simple Pay As You Go contract, so if she comes home on holidays she simply tops up her balance and away she goes. Chatted with 3 agent yesterday but couldn't understand what he was saying - he offered me a choice of three different PrePay contracts (all three were advertised as being between €20-€25 each 28 days) but he told me I'd only pay the first €20, and would only need to then top up teh account every 6 months by €10 to keep the contract and number active.

Can anyone explain what he meant?

Or is there a better way of sorting the whole thing out?

Cheers

NotShero · 28-01-2026 07:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058431778/what-039-s-the-easiest-pay-as-you-go-deal

Yeah you can port the number to a PAYG SIM in Three, Eir or Vodafone and just top it up by €5/€10 about every 6 months to keep the number active. The credit can be used for out of plan data, calls and texts.

You can select a plan now and then only top up by that amount (€20 etc.) when you need the plan allowances (Unlimited Data, Calls, Texts etc.) for a month.

smuggler.ie · 28-01-2026 10:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058431778/what-039-s-the-easiest-pay-as-you-go-deal

If number not used for 6months it will be disabled, without option to recover number.
move to top up (01Feb2026) - initial top up €20, it will expire in 28d(no money left on account), but number active(can receive calls/text)
make outgoing call/text from it before 6months term since last use(before 31Jul2026 ) to keep number "alive".
for this you'd need to have some credits in the account (€5 minimum top-up available)

beachhead · 29-01-2026 06:22AM

Vodafone send you a text at 6 mths--your number goes "passive" before losing it.A top up of E5 resets the clock.Not sure if 3 sends a text but must do.

Ah-Watch · 29-01-2026 10:58AM

Just on the number going Passive on Vodafone. Topping up by E5 every 6 months will keep the number active, even if you forget to top it up and the number is disconnected, you do still have up to month 14 from the last top up date to get vodafone to reactivate it (not that I'm recommending you let it get that far). If she comes home for a holiday during that time, she can top up by E20 or E30 for unlimited calls and text or whatever and forget about it again for another 6 months. I have a 3 Hero plan that I top up very infrequently and I asked them last month how often I had to keep it topped up and they couldn't tell me. I asked if it got disconnected was there a period where the number could be reactivated and they couldn't answer that either unfortunately….From Vodafone website.

6 months after the last top up – you should receive a text advising that you'd need to top up within 7 days to keep your number active
6 months and 7 days after last top up - outgoing calls and texts will be deactivated, incoming services stay active
8 months after last top up – you will receive a text advising of impending disconnection if you do not top up in the next 7 days
8 months and 7 days after last top up - your number will be disconnected but can be reactivated at any time within the following 6 months.

What he offered you from a 3 perspective is relatively straight forward- he can move the number to Prepay. Although he says E20/E25 every 28 days that's just if you intend using the number normally. You could keep it topped up in a similar fashion to what we've mentioned above but it's not super clear how often 3 need to to top up in order to keep the number live. It's likely 6 months minimum but I can't find definite information from their website.

Ten Pin · 29-01-2026 11:53AM

It's not totally clear what 3's criteria is to a keep number active but T&Cs clause 7.3 includes the following as a reason they suspend a number:

"You choose not to purchase top up credit or make a chargeable use in respect of your Account for a period of 12 months;"

IMO that suggests that you only need to ask 3 to switch the number to PAYG, top up by €5 and send a text within 12 months.

If you want to be certain, maybe add another €5 within 6 months of the initial €5.

IMO there's no need to add €20 at the start, that sounds like a sales push, it may also be a standard script for new PAYG customers whereas the number is already on the 3 network, albeit as a bill pay number.

If you want absolute certainty then just port to Vodafone PAYG and €5 will keep number active for 8 months (6 months outgoing + 2 months incoming service) and then add another €5.

There is a slight advantage to staying with 3 PAYG and that's continuity of 2FA service which can become an issue when changing networks. There's also the ability with 3 to send webtext which is not available on the other networks any more.

pizzahead77 · 29-01-2026 01:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124189515#Comment_124189515

Three no longer has webtext either (at least on bill pay)

smuggler.ie · 29-01-2026 09:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124189805#Comment_124189805

You sure about that ?

https://messaging.three.ie

babelfish1990 · 29-01-2026 11:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058431778/what-039-s-the-easiest-pay-as-you-go-deal

Your daughter should port over to Eir (or their GoMo brand). They are the only Irish network to support WiFi calling when abroad. This means that your daughter could continue to use her Irish number when connected to WiFi, without any roaming charges. Voice calls and SMS texts continue to be hosted on the Eir network, no different to being at home in Ireland. While her US number would be her main number, this would allow her to make free calls to Irish numbers and continue to use SMS 2-Factor authentication on Irish accounts, and receive calls from Ireland without the callers having to make an International call. She could also access some Irish numbers such as Freephone that cannot be directly dialled from US. WiFi calling also ensures that at least one call can be made every 6 months, avoiding the number being quarantined. With the current brutal regime in the US, it would also make a lot of sense to have a second clean "burner phone" with an Irish SIM, to present to Police or ICE agents, if necessary.

What's the easiest Pay As You Go deal?

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