Match/beat CrazyJohn outgoing Flatchat

Lrusty_oz on 22/05/2013 - 10:34

Hi,
I'm an existing crazy john flatchat prepaid. I've been happy with the service & rate (especially data). I don't call/text much anyway. However, vodafone will terminate all CJ prepaid services after 31 Aug.
I'm struggling to find another prepaid that is as good value as CJ flatchat (or even better value)? The key thing that I like (very important for me) about flat chat plan:

  1. Its average cost works out to be under $10/month (I buy/recharge long term so that the average cost is under $10/month).
  2. The data charge is billed per 10KB (3c/MB) but in reality, there are a lot of sessions where the amount is too small (so, the charge is $0). In the end this is almost as good as per KB billing.
  3. Call rate is also among the cheapest.

Technically TPG, Liveconnected & vaya are not prepaid (TPG's start up cost and leaving cost are high). So, they are out straight away.
Aldi, Kogan, Amaysim, dodo, go talk they look ok but they charge data in 1MB increment which is a big no no. They are out as well.
One of virgin's prepaid seems ok ($19/90 days) but the data inclusion is only 100MB and the rate after that is 0.2c/KB (equivalent to $2/MB) which is a rip off. So, it's out as well

Now, is there any prepaid out there that can match or beat CJ flatchat? Does anyone know? I'm sure there are many people in the same boat.
If I have to pick less feature, I don't mind to drop cheap call rate as long as the average cost is under $10/month and data is not billed in MB increment.

Thanks.

Mobile

Comments

  • rusty_oz on 22/05/2013 - 10:50

    Hmm,
    Looks like Lebara standard plan is the closest. I found this from their rates:

    • Cost of 1MB of Data in Australia 5c/MB in KB increments

    So, the important one is 5c/MB in KB increments.

    Also "Free Lebara to Lebara calls in Australia with no flagfall" is important. If my wife also on Lebara we can call each other for free.

    Any comments/thoughts?

    • mskeggs on 22/05/2013 - 10:53

      OK if your usage is sub-200Mb.

      • rusty_oz on 22/05/2013 - 11:23

        Yes, my usage is under 200Mb/month.
        I only do substantial things when connected to wifi.

  • mskeggs on 22/05/2013 - 10:52

    Aldi is probably the closest if it must be prepaid, but works out at $15+ (for monthly data plan plus your call usage). The per MB charging isn't as bad as you might think as a 'session' stays open for a time so you might only do five or ten sessions a day. On the up side, Aldi gives substantially more data than CJ's.
    Woolworths are another option with $17ish monthly if you are a rewards member. Personally, I'd take Aldi for the Telstra coverage but this might not matter to you.
    If you can live with not prepaid, Liveconnected $12 plan should cover your usage if you were paying sub-$10 on CJ's, but there is always the risk that you will pay extra if you went over. If cost is most important then this looks best as long as you are diligent about usage.

  • TheAviator on 22/05/2013 - 13:48

    I left Crazy John's a while ago when they ended the $15 for 3mths system. Was hard to find a good alternative and the best I found was the Vaya Flexi Plan for $11, which I am very happy with but unfortunately for you they don't offer these plans.I think LiveConnected offer something similar but as you said, not exactly a prepaid service.

    The next best ones I could find when I was looking were the Woolworths Mobile and Aldi Mobile options. Perhaps worth having a look into them?

  • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2013 - 14:55

    Dodo might be an option if you can use Optus
    http://m.dodo.com/PrePaidMobileRates.aspx?marketingSourceId=…

    5c/Mb is exe, but $5/30day for a 1Gb is a good addon.

    Hello mobile also mentioned in whirlpool thread.
    10c/call between Hello customers,
    3c/Mb for data
    30c/call to Landlines
    90 day credit expiry
    http://www.hellomobile.com.au/plans-and-rates/pages/supa-pla…

  • rusty_oz on 23/05/2013 - 11:21

    Just received a text. Looks like voda is offering something for existing CJ prepaid user. Not as great as flatchat IMHO.

    http://www.crazyjohns.com.au/vodafone-prepaid-offer/

  • imcold on 13/06/2013 - 14:08

    Hmmm don't know i'm gonna to get off crazy johns. Had enough of their poor internet.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2013 - 14:26

    Hey Rusty, I had a closer look at the Virgin plan, I'm guessing you can add the data pack on $10/mth for
    300Mb http://www.virginmobile.com.au/mobile-data-plans/?plans=data…
    Strangely enough the 100Mb data is the same whether you do a $19, $29, $49, $79, $99 recharge.
    Why anyone who uses data would want to buy the more expensive recharges is beyond me.

    I know you don't like the /MB charging, in the Virgin fine print it says you can use the Optus APN (@ 12c/mb or part there of) compares to $2/Mb (or .2c/Kb) for virgin…..So for those who are going over the 100mb limit & happy with /MB charging switch your APN to Optus.

    After sampling a few yatango sim, I realised the optus network has improved dramatically in Melb.
    So it's coming down to Virgin vs Woolies
    Virgin has free calls/txt to other V'er & voicemail. 90day credit rolls over
    Woolies has more data (5gb) & you can get it for about $16.50/mth (Everyday rewards + 5%off wishcards)

  • Denizen on 09/07/2013 - 11:20

    I posted something similar in the whirlpool thread, but figure someone else might see it here. Check out the Pennytel / Penny sim Go Global Plan

    $8 / month for:

    $10 call credit per month
    46c Untimed~ Standard national voice calls to landlines and mobiles
    46c Untimed~ International voice calls to more than 90 destinations
    11.5c SMS worldwide
    1GB Data included per month (Additional data is only 3c/MB, Data billed per KB, minimum of $0.00003)

  • Helenn on 11/08/2013 - 22:08

    Just thought I'd bump this up as there's only two weeks to go.
    Am pretty decided on dodo prepaid. The rates are fairly cheap with the data pack & they will double your initial recharge (when you buy the $2 sim) so I am going to buy a $100 recharge and use the bonus for a data pack every month. the expiry is 365days.
    That said however, dodo customer service is pretty useless and they charge in 1mb increments but it is the best that I've found.
    Any experiences with Dodo?

    • retiredfeline on 11/08/2013 - 22:22

      Just to point out that the 1MB session roundup isn't such a big a deal as people make it out to be, unless you experience frequent dropouts, or your phone is in the habit of frequent reconnection. For instance, this afternoon I turned on mobile data on Optus (reseller) to check my email (three providers, two via apps, one via web), check OzBargain, and WhatsApp, and it only came up to 10c (2MB). And this is not untypical.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2013 - 14:05

    Over how long was that? If you look at your CJ usage page & show only GPRS data, you'll see how many sessions you had.

    Some of the mobile networks auto disconnect after a few minutes of inactivity.
    So if you browse a webpage, read it for a few minutes, then click on a link, your 10kb of data can count as 2Mb. Do this 10-20 times a day & it adds up. On CJ's I used 82mb last month, that involved 97 sessions (lots of 20-30kb sessions). At 1mb/session it worked out to 280mb/mth.

  • Helenn on 14/08/2013 - 20:37

    Yeah that's my issue with per MB charging - every time I get an email or fb notification its charged as a MB. I actually use very little data but when I was with savvytel just the updates chewed through my credit in a week or so, whereas with crazy johns I would get to expiry day and not have even gotten through my bonus data.

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