Looking for a replacement for the Amaysim AYG service that can be topped up for $10/yr (using recharge vouchers from the supermarket) that is not on the Optus network. Any suggestions?
Mum and Dad have grandfathered Amaysim $119/yr prepaid plans for their main phones.
But for Dad's secondary mobile, we're thinking of moving it off the optus network as a contingency in case they need to call 000 and their main phones can't get through.
Only what I've picked up on from ABC News' youtube videos. All their examples have been Optus network ones.
Aldi have a PAYG plan & they're on the Telstra network.
Cheers mate!
Was just looking at Aldi and saw the PAYG plan with a minimum $15 recharge with 365 day expiry.
Do you know if one can purchase PAYG credit through the Aldi mobile app? And if auto-renew for PAYG is an option?
Yes to the first question
Lebara SIMS purchased for $1 from most places + $10 gives you credit for a year. Lebara is using the Vodafone network.
Unlike Vodafone that allows calling 1800 calls for free, Lebara charges at standard rates per minute.
Vodafone itself offers yearly PAYG plans for $45
Both can receive SMS messages for free when overseas & can do international roaming.
Automatic renewal on an annual basis is an option, although I prefer to recharge manually using a credit card (I have both).
Is it also a case where the manual recharge will rollover any unused credit whilst auto recharge doesn’t?
No - a recharge is a recharge - left over credit will roll over if recharge is done at any point before expiry date. If you run out of credit then just recharge. You can do so until the next expiry date without loosing your service, something that will eventually occur after expiry if no recharge.
Can you receive sms without the $10 top up?
After the expiry date you loose any leftover credit and eventually your service is disconnected & cannot be resumed - you have to get a new SIM and number. You should be able to receive incoming calls & SMS but I have never been in that situation. Just go online and check the providers terms and conditions - they are not exactly kept a secret -:)
T&Cs are not clear. Receiving SMS is free. But I can't tell if you can receive SMS on a brand new sim without first adding credit. I can only deduce that once credit has run out you can still get SMS.
@tenpercent: Adding credit 1st time activates the service. I have 2 extra Lebara SIMS that I bought at the onset of COVID and never activated. I may or may not be able to still do so but unlikely that I will ever need to as I already have 2 Lebara & 1 Vodafone service (3 numbers) -:)
OK, Google advises that Lebara and Aldi both can't rollover unused credit when you recharge manually or auto recharge.
But then it also says Amaysim can't rollover unused credit either which is BS as my second mobile number is with Amaysim and I've just done a recharge before expiry and my unused credit rolled over.
Anyway, from my short time looking at this, here's my summary of the PAYG options (some information may not be accurate)…
Amaysim
+ as low as $10/yr (but using recharge vouchers bought from supermarkets, via app it's $15)
+ best international roaming packs
- on Optus network
- unsure if one can auto recharge PAYG and have unused credit rollover (from memory from past discussions on WP, someone said the unused credit won't rollover if you auto recharge on PAYG)
Aldi
+ On Telstra network, arguably the most reliable network
+ able to auto recharge PAYG (though unsure if unused credit will rollover)
- $15/yr is the most expensive option of the three here (but hardly a deal breaker)
- no international roaming packs, just PAYG international roaming which is a rip off
Lebara
+ as low as $10/yr
+ on Vodafone network
+ able to auto recharge PAYG (though unsure if unused credit will rollover)
+ roaming packs come in 2-day and 10 day options… better than PAYG roaming but not as good as Amaysim
- 1800 numbers aren't free
All 3 have apps that you can use to recharge the PAYG service and manage your service/account.
Does the Aldi as a Telstra MVNO come with the limited free roaming through VOWIFI feature enabled on its PAYG service? Handy if it does, even if just for receiving 2FA sms codes while traveling.
Seems they do
https://www.aldimobile.com.au/blogs/news/five-reasons-to-lov…
Might be a front runner with this. Worth the extra $5.
Google relies on dump AI putting together bread-crumps from searches that it tries to join together and make itself look knowledgable
AI is not always correct -:)
Both the Vodafone & Lebara (same network) credit rolls up when you recharge before the expiry date. Vodafone has a rollover limit (I think about $250) that theoretically can be reached after 6 years if credit is not used at all (unlikely).
With Leabara you have another 365 days after expiry date to recharge before you completely loose the service.
Yeah i am always conscious that AI generated results need checking (someone at deloittes learnt that the hard way recently i bet).
I am guessing that auto recharge on Lebara will be counted as on or after expiry rather than before so credit won't rollover (similar to Amaysim). But good to know that before expiry recharges will rollover unused credit.
With Lebara you can set the auto-recharge and forget about it - it will happen before expiry so no credit will be lost. Same with Vodafone.
Auto Recharge
With Auto Recharge, when your current plan expires, your prepaid service will be automatically recharged with the same plan as your most recent recharge. Auto Recharge is available on our 30 Day, Long Expiry and Data Only Plans.
You can activate Auto Recharge through MyLebara. You can also deactivate Auto Recharge at any time through MyLebara.
Also of interest to you (for your parents situation)
You can make 000 calls on a Lebara service even with no credit, as these calls are free and will connect to emergency services regardless of your account balance. In Australia, Lebara provides free access to emergency services, and if you are outside of a Lebara coverage area, your call to 000 will automatically connect to another Australian mobile network that has coverage.
Thanks for advising that Lebara will rollover credit on a PAYG service when left on auto recharge.
I've just emailed Aldi mobile to ask the same thing.
If Aldi doesn't, Lebara has an advantage there with banking up credit over the years (unless Dad forgets to turn mobile data off after a holiday again and drains his PAYG credit). That credit can be used for the odd roaming pack when abroad.
VoWifi has limited benefits for Dad. We use Whatsapp and WeChat to communicate when he and mum are abroad. His main mobile has a travel esim and his secondary has a Chinese mobile sim with ample data to facilitate WeChat calls. He doesn't need to receive SMSes when he's overseas… all his mobile banking apps either use authenticators, passkeys/biometrics, or won't need an SMS OTP once his other accounts are added to the payee address book (or has funds in that bank's savings account so he can transfer something to the debit card to use without trying to send funds between banks). VoWifi with Aldi would only be there as a back up in case Whatsapp and WeChat are down.
It would best to use the available online chat to confirm terms & conditions as these can get blurred
the number of days after expiry before LEBARA service is disconnected is 120
I assume that an auto-recharge is done in a way that you do not loose existing credit (but I may be wrong as I do not use auto-recharge).
So just check with LEBARA
I did check using LEBARA chat and using auto-recharge on the 360 day pay as you go standard plan does not result in loosing your existing credit (at least that is what I was told)
This is what I expected anyway as otherwise hardly anyone would be using auto-recharge -:)
OK, after calling/chatting with both Aldi mobile and Lebara, and reconfirming that they're talking about the PAYG service and not their plans, both have said to me that their PAYG services do not support auto recharge, nor credit rollover.
Part of me is tempted to start up an esim PAYG service just to see for myself how they work.
It depends who you talked to (as always) & I can assure you the info you got from (someone) Lebara is incorrect as auto-recharge is supported & talking to them earlier and having them look at my plan confirmed that the existing balance will not be lost. I have been using Lebara since before 2010 and I know that my credit always rollovers every time I recharge and auto-recharge was always an offered option that I choose not to use for personal reasons - not because I will loose any credit -:)
Thanks for your reply again. Yeah, it's a bit perplexing with the responses I received from the providers' support staff vs the response from experienced customers like yourself (I've got a similar thread going over at WP).
Really, the best thing I can do is to start up an esim service with both Aldi and Lebara… it'll cost me $25 all up but I can play around with both apps under the PAYG services and at least then I know what options are available to Dad and I can setup his service accordingly when he makes the change.
Unfortunately, I can't do the testing on Dad's phone as the secondary phone has no esim (he specifically needed dual physical sim support for the Chinese sim card). Otherwise, I'd just set up 3 esim services there and Dad can just rotate through each network as he sees fit for the next year.
I was roaming in Singapore and Malaysia with Lebara PAYG; no issues. Receives SMS.
With Lebara, it's a little tricky to register the SIM; they call it the 'Standard Plan'.
And it's not easy to find it on their web page either. They are not marketing it, found in the Support page. https://www.lebara.com.au/support/standard-plan/
Agree with @Ave Maria. I'm with Lebara PAYG as well.
With Lebara PAYG plan, it's about "service validity" (or service stays "active").
Even time a recharge is done, the mobile service validity (and any "balance" amount) gets reset to 1 year.
[ Interestingly, this "service validity" concept (i.e. phone number remains "active") originated back in the old GSM days. ]
Sometimes it's just the "wording" used and subsequent misunderstanding. Technically, the word "rollover" has no meaning in Lebara PAYG plan (thus, "do not apply").
You have read up on the whole 000 issues /etc.
Cause was NOT Optus customer network - but Optus backend/business network (hence why non Optus ppl also had issues).
Just saying.
+++ Why there is current talk about completely redesigning how backend 000 operates between networks.