Been awhile since these have been on special, expiry of deal is listed as June 30 now expired, expiry of the sim kit itself varies (check the back of the packet in store).
$15 from this Kit deal could be used to effectively purchase up to $30.00 worth of Google Play.
Nano sim also avalible - http://www.dicksmith.com.au/prepaid-mobile-phones/telstra-pr…
Deal is available in store just picked up 2x at DSE Robina.
Still have enough $10 ones for DATA & phone to survive unit early 2015 ;-)
$10 a month!! really good saving.
It must be at least three months now? I wonder if they will go back to $10?
I agree. I think they realize that these sell like hotcakes at 50% off, so not much incentive to sell it for $10.
Max limit is 3. Free delivery.
Just bought 4 in store at Gunghalin, ACT. When filling out the ID check the bloke asked what state/territory Canberra was in!?
How long can they go being unactivated?
Always wanted to try NFC tasker..
What's some paid android apps that are worth spending on?
Expiry date printed on back on pack, so YMMV.
Usually around 12 months but also as above.
Not safe to assume 12 months expiry, spillmill. My local Aussie Post's $10 offer in Dec 2013 have packs expiring in 6 months.
I got two today in Civic Canberra and the back says 27 December 2015 on both.
Does OW have it for $30, if so is it pricematcheable?
Just wait for coles and woollies they always have it for $10 when on special.
Woolies was $20 this month.
Quite a while- lately has been $15 or $20.
I have friends coming from overseas to study in Australia and they're looking for a mobile plan. Will this be good and economical for them? Also, I don't understand why people buy multiple ones, can you explain?
Read this comment (the one by peter05 with +11 votes) https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/80588#comment-1039202. Ignore all other comments before and after it (because peter05 made an error earlier on, and others then became very confused).
Read this wiki on the full glorious detail, in particular the "Popular Options" section. http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/telstraprepaid
Here is my recap on the subject. Credits go to the above people.
Buy a bunch of $30 SIM Starter packs for cheap. Pick your favourite mobile number out of the bunch and label it MAIN SIM. Activate MAIN SIM on LongLife (to get 6 months credit expiry). After MAIN SIM becomes active, immediately switch plan to Simplicity (to get cheap rates). The two benefits combine and this loophole is what makes Telstra Longlife+Simplicity so popular.
If you only have 1 mobile, then remove MAIN SIM and keep it in a safe place. If you have another mobile, then keep MAIN SIM in it to receive calls & SMS.
Immediately activate another $30 Starter pack on CapEncore (to get free calls & SMS 6PM-6AM, funny money, and data). Make calls, SMS, browser Internet with this CapEncore SIM. CapEncore credit only lasts for 30 days.
Over 3 days, use Telstra CreditMe2U to transfer $10/$10/$9 from the CapEncore SIM to MAIN SIM.
After 30 days or when you have used up CapEncore's credit, discard CapEncore SIM. Repeat from Step 3.
Every 6 months, switch MAIN SIM to LongLife and recharge with $30 voucher (not a Starter pack) to extend credit expiry for another 6 months. After recharge, immediately switch MAIN SIM back to Simplicity for cheap rates.
Should you run out of cheap $30 Starter packs for those monthly CapEncore activations, start using your MAIN SIM and wait for a discount to come up.
Credit on MAIN SIM goes up by $29 every month, and another $30 every 6 months. Telstra Pre-Paid account balance have an upper limit of $4,999, but you won't hit that limit any time soon.
Excellent recap! A plus to you~
That's basically what I do, without the extra monthly expense of the SIM for Encore Cap.
The low calls budget approach:
Costs $20 for over 1 year using 2 $10 Starter Packs, with $60 credit (= 400 minutes calls). I use data for calls, so have little need for all that credit.
Uses Longlife then Simplicity plans.
But at step 6, I get a new SIM ($2 or free), port number, port back to New Telstra Starter Pack (within a few months) & start cycle again. Avoids unnecessary cost of Telstra recharge. (You still keep the number & receive calls on the SIM in between ports, but can't make calls.)
If there is credit left at end of 6 months, I port to my "iPad" data SIM.
I recently used Yatango to port out & back this month - Free 30 day trial, 600 min free calls, 600 txt, 1GB data.
Further details in Telstra Sims Starter Packs Guide to Cheap Data
i cant get my head around that… so in essence you end up paying $30 a month for pretty much unlimited phone credit/data?
No, it's much cheaper!
Only $10 a month for $30 cap (when Starter Packs are on $10 special),
plus another 2 packs a year to absorb the excess credit,
plus a $30 voucher twice a year to extend that SIM for another 6 months.
So 14 $10 Starter Packs plus 2 $30 vouchers per year = $200/yr ($16.67/month).
People have been doing this for ages. I'm happy with my $20/yr budget version.
$10 of that surplus Credit can also be transferred to buy data (almost 1GB at 1c/MB, less 25c for transfer) & extend the life of a $10 30day Starter Pack micro/nano SIM set up as a "iPad" SIM by up to 14 days.
Lots of possibilities ;-)
The Telstra support page says that you have to recharge after changing to get the benefits https://go.telstra.com.au/helpandsupport/-/how-do-you-check-or-change-your-current-pre-paid-offer-
Or is this ignored with the loophole since you're doing it immediately right after activating?
Or can the changing between plans, eg. LongLife to Simplicity, be done anytime before the expiry date and immediately receive the benefits, meaning that the Telstra page is wrong?
This is explained in the wiki. Please read that document for a full understanding. Search for the text "Buckets".
A short but confusing answer is that credit expiry date and calling charge rates are not "benefits". I realise now that I should have been more careful and avoided using this term in Step 1, sorry. Bonus credit (funny money), bonus free minutes, free calls & SMS 6-6, included data, etc, are the "benefits" mentioned in the Telstra help page, or "buckets" in the wiki.
Thanks alvian. Have consulted the Wiki before, but picked up a few gems in a minute of looking. It's regularly updated.
Being a budget user using Longlife-Simplicity, I wanted to avoid the expensive message service call costs. Now diverted free to a Telstra recording.
It's all there in the Wiki. Love Whirpool Forums.
Love Whirpool Forums.
Next to OzB, of course! :-)
@alvian but then you are switching between 2 sims with 2 different numbers right??
Yes, and it is up to you how you manage the two mobile numbers. I use MAIN SIM to receive calls, and that's the number I give to people (hence you pick your favourite number out of the Starter packs in Step 1). I turn off caller ID on the CapEncore SIM, and use that to make calls (so people won't know or care about the number changing every month). This works well if you are willing to carry 2 phones, or if you have a dual SIM phone.
If you only have 1 phone, then this 2 SIM trick will not be ideal for you. Please read the wiki and see what option suits you better. My comment above is only a recap. I did not come up with these tricks and I am no expert on the ins-and-outs of Telstra Prepaid offers.
with this method, say you port your existing number to your MAIN sim, does this mean you have to port it again from your MAIN sim to your ENCORE sim and then keep porting it over to successive ENCORE sims? wouldn't this be a PITA? this is assuming that you only have the one phone.
No. You cant really port T to T & you'd lose your credit which defeats the gains of this system.
Usually requires 2 phones or dual SIM phone.
MAIN SIM is your usual incoming call number.
The other SIM has a $220 cap of dearer calls etc, plus free calls & txt after 6pm - so use it for ALL outgoing calls etc after-hours & ALL calls etc while there is credit.
I only have low call use, so just use the MAIN SIM & only 1 phone as I outlined above. I can top up credit when I want to make a lot of calls in 30 days (on second phone), by using another SIM on Encore & transferring $29 of the $30.
vee_el, I think you are confusing the multiple mobile numbers trick (which was recapped by alvian) with the one mobile number trick (which was outlined by brucefromaustralia). Both tricks use Telstra's LongLife+Simplicity as a base. It comes down to how many mobile phones you want to carry, how many SIM cards you want to manage, and how many calls & SMS you will make in a month.
"alvian's recap":
Number porting is not required. Having said that, optionally in Step 1 you can port-in your favourite non-Telstra number when you activate MAIN SIM. MAIN SIM never changes number afterwards. CapEncore SIMs/numbers are disposable, and you really do not want other people to know, call, and send SMS to these numbers (because you won't use them again after 30 days).
"brucefromaustralia's outline":
Step A. Activate a cheap $30 Starter Pack on LongLife. If you have a favourite non-Telstra number (FavNum), port-in during activation. After the service is active, switch immediately to Simplicity. This is basically the same as Step 1 of "alvian's recap".
At the end of 6 months your unused credit will die, and you have to decide what to do next. You can either buy a $30 voucher for $30 and recharge (same as Step 6 of "alvian's recap", the easy but non-OzBargain way), or you somehow make use of a cheap $30 Starter pack.
Note that if you simply activate a $30 Starter pack without carrying out Steps B-F, you will lose your FavNum because you cannot port mobile numbers from Telstra to Telstra.
Step B. Before the 6 months' up and your LongLife+Simplicity credit expires, CreditMe2U all remaining credit to another Telstra SIM. Any Telstra Prepaid SIM can be a recipient and brucefromaustralia suggested using an iPad Data SIM for best value. See here for details on how to manage an iPad Data SIM.
Step C. Procure a non-Telstra SIM. Free SIMs are available from small providers, e.g. Lebara, and Yatango (bonus 30-day trial, limit 3 per household). Or purchase a $2 SIM with no credit.
Step D. Port-out your FavNum from Telstra when you activate the non-Telstra free/$2 SIM.
Step E. If using Yatango, enjoy free service for 30 days. If not, prepare to go back to Telstra as soon as your FavNum become active on the non-Telstra network.
Step F. When you are ready, repeat from Step A and remember to port-in your FavNum back to Telstra. Enjoy another 6 months of cheap service.
Optional a. CreditMe2U the saved credit back to LongLife+Simplicity. It will cost you another lot of transfer fee.
Optional b. During periods of heavy mobile usage, follow Steps 2-5 of "alvian's recap" and make use of a disposable SIM activated on CapEncore.
Note I: It is costly and inconvenient to substitute Step 6 of "alvian's recap" with Steps B-F of "brucefromaustralia's outline". The reason is that for every 6 months MAIN SIM will accumulated an additional $204 in credit, requiring 20 days of CreditMe2U at a cost of $5.25 in transfer fee. However, I think you can telephone Telstra and ask to transfer more than $10 at a time. YMMV for a transfer of $204.
Note II: Porting-in mobile number to Telstra is a manual process. You need to "LiveChat" or telephone a Telstra Consultant to do it. It is not possible to DIY on the activation web page.
Been waiting for the $10 sale price but $15 will have to do, just got a new android for family member and it needs apps.
question, can i use this purchase hardware? eg. the wireless charger?
This is a data plan. Credit goes towards using Telstra's mobile network (data only).
i meant, transfer telstra credit to google play store, then towards hardware on play store. any ideas if that's possible?
No because the limit you can spend using Telstra on the Google Play store credit is $20.
In addition to what kerfuffle said, you can't use Play credit or carrier billing to buy any devices at all, IIRC
Thanks all :)
Everyone is thinking of new ways to dupe the system. You could make your own app and then keep purchasing it over and over. Get your money that way. :P
There hasn't been any $10 ones for sale long time… $15 is good enough
On the qwibble homepage there is a dick smith logo but when I search on the site there is nothing?
Hi jdogg, we currently don't have DSE on Qwibble. We are going to revise the retailers on the home page as they are always coming and going :)
Just want to confirm I activate this and choose to get 3GB worth of data?
I think that is for the iPad sims only but not 100% sure
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/prepaid-mobiles/30-p…
thats a $100 recharge if you get the 3gb data
not if you select the $30 iPad prepaid sim - it gives you 3Gb for iPad use.
Consult Telstra Sims Starter Packs Guide to Cheap Data for further details. I think we covered most questions on these packs for DATA & phone. Add to the discussion there.
I am currently on a Telstra PrePaid Cap encore service.
If i buy this, can they transfer my number quickly?
Also, can i stock up on this for use in future months?
Thanks in advance!
I'd suggest, STOCK UP FIRST (on sale).
Then at end of current recharge, porting number out to a $2 SIM or free Yatango (outlined above for up to 30 days free calls & data), then set up as alvian outlined, and port your number back then to MAIN SIM in activation process.
You've got nothing to lose, if you don't like this more complex system, as you can simply go back to the cap on the new MAIN SIM, with your current number.
Porting T to T is difficult. T shops recommend temporarily porting to another carrier to achieve it. Has taken a few hours each port, but may take longer.
Don't forget to price match at OfficeWorks. 75c saving ;-)
Has anyone had problems buying using the mobile web version - after entering postcodes you can't select suburb and dse won't allow you to progress the order.
What is the call rate per min to normal mobiles in Australia for Telstra? is it really worth it?
The Simplicity Prepaid Plan suggested above is 15c/min. Buying a $30 SIM for $10 brings those calls down to effectively 5c/min. Transferring free credit each month makes them… very cheap.
So it's not just the call costs, but the know-how to use them cheaply.
See Wiki link above for listed call costs & tips.
And NO FLAGFALL on Simplicity.
Does anyone know when this expires?
@knick007
Does anyone know when this expires?
Looking at the new catalogue starting tomorrow (paper version) not in there…so maybe today Monday is last day ?
Can i use the $30 in these packs to simply recharge an existing number? I dont want to (profanity) around with porting, yada yada…
No you can't
I think the only way is to port. How much of an Ozbargainer are you?
How easy/time consuming is it to activate these and transfer credit using credit me2u?
First time activation: 10 minutes to type in your new mobile SIM number, enter personal ID, set up Telstra account, answer a few Qs. Up to 4 hours to get Telstra account active. Typically the mobile service is active within 30 minutes.
Subsequent activation: 2 mintues to log in to your Telstra account, type in your new mobile SIM number and agree to T&C. Typically the mobile service is active within 30 minutes.
CreditMe2U: 1 minute. Hardest part is to type in the correct number for the recipient mobile number. Note: no refunds for transfers to wrong numbers. Call #100# on your donor SIM to get started. Calling #100# is free and for each successful credit transfer the charge is 25 cents.
Offer ends 30-Jun-14
Thanks.
EDIT: Never mind - saw it on the linked page
@lolmao
Offer ends 30-Jun-14
Weird when you click the link says ends today 25th June
yep changed again
Would this deal be suitable if I just want a SIM for skype video calls? No SMS or voicecalls, just data for about 10 hours of skype video calls per month.
You can get 1.3GB out of one of these on telstra Cap Encore plan.. I'm guessing it wont last 10 hours of skype video.
Something went wrong with my phone when using WiFi from my $10 "iPad" Starter Pack SIM.
(The keyboard App ran through 1.45GB in a few hours while the phone was sitting unused!! Stopped it sending data.)
So time to arrange more data as there is now 500MB left & account has 12 days before expiry.
I usually just crack open a new $10 (non-iPad) Starter Pack & connect as iPad. That gives $30 credit = 3GB for 30 days.
This will be my first time trying the system outlined by alvian. Same SIM, different approach - set up as Encore Cap, transfer $10 to iPad data account. That will extend it by 14 days & 1GB, as has under 14 days before needs recharge. Once the expiry is under 14 days, transfer again & so on for a long data expiry. Transferring more smaller amounts every 14 days should extend expiry much longer for a loss of 25c or 25MB each time. SEE WIKI FOR DETAILS.
So I get the advantages of the $220 Encore Cap, free calls & txt 6pm-6am, longer data expiry date than using new Starter Pack, and only lose about 100MB ($1) for the multiple credit2u transfers AT NO EXTRA COST:-)
Sorry, ignore the above post. Edited one is below.
Something went wrong with my phone when using WiFi from my $10 "iPad" Starter Pack DATA SIM :-( (The Swype keyboard App ran through 1.45GB in a few hours while the phone was sitting unused!! Stopped it sending data.)
So time to arrange more DATA as there is now 500MB left & account has 12 days before expiry.
I usually just crack open a new $10 (non-iPad) Starter Pack & connect as iPad. That gives $30 credit = 3GB for 30 days.
This will be my first time trying the system outlined by alvian, but for DATA.
Same SIM, different approach - set up as Encore Cap & transfer the $30 to TOPUP & EXTEND my DATA - spaced apart by about 14 days.
Any excess can go to my MAIN SIM & be transferred from there to extend DATA SIM again - may be. OR transfer minimum amount to Encore to extend it by 14 days near expiry, to keep what is left of $30 credit and transfer on to DATA SIM.
By transferring say $10 to iPad data account, that will extend it by 14 days & 1GB, as has under 14 days before needs recharge - which is crucial for credit2u extension.
Once the expiry is under 14 days, transfer again & so on for a long data expiry. Transferring more smaller amounts every 14 days should extend expiry much longer for a loss of 25c or 25MB each time. As it is added before expiry, it is still loaded at original $30 iPad Starter Pack recharge rate of 1c/MB.
SEE WIKI FOR DETAILS - credit2 details near bottom
So I get the advantages of the $220 Encore Cap, free calls & txt 6pm-6am, longer data expiry date than using new Starter Pack, and only lose about 100MB ($1) for the multiple credit2u transfers AT NO EXTRA COST:-)
Will test & report back, as I have not done this before. I was trying to work this out as I posted. Only set up MAIN SIM on Longlife-Simplicity first time this month despite knowing about this system for 18 months!
Sorry about repost while editing on the phone. Ignore the first of the 2 posts.
Note: extending expiry using credit2u from another Telstra account will preserve actual credit (remainder of $30 credit), Not funny money credit ($220 cap expires after 30 days) but may preserve free calls & text after 6pm for the cost of a minimal transfer up to 13 days before expiry. Experiences anyone?
This is my first time with 2 Telstra SIMs (30 day DATA & 6 month PHONE) at once, so activating a third on Encore is living beyond my experience.
Others may like to point out the folly of my inexperience or a better way to use these SIMs for DATA ;-)
Looks like free calls & text after 6pm will expire at 30 days as it is part of Encore Cap "bucket".
Instead might be able to change plan at day 29 to preserve your real credit??
Details about CreditMe2U from Wiki
For example on a Cap Encore offer the call and data bonuses can be used and still leave all or most of the recharge credit.
This can be transferred $1 to $10 at a time to a second account, which will be extended by up to 14 days from the transfer date…
The same approach can be used to keep a pre-paid broadband account charged and active.
Change Offers to Use Excess Credit – For example change from Cap Encore to Simplicity for a few months.
I have a few for sale. Will let them go for $10 each.
I bought a few too many last time.
Exp April,June 2015
Lemt me know if u want
Sydney location
Select iPad only plan to get the 3 GB of data.u still can Use on android 4g tablet and get 3Gigs of data.
will wait for $10 again… still have 6 left bought from Officeworks for $9.95ea last Dec