Vodafone Freedom Packs: FREEDOM!! I won't let you down!! FREEDOM!! I will not give you up!! (Vodafone Tariffs)

Member Name: jthecrab

Product:	Vodafone Tariffs
Date:	29/07/09 (237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value for light to moderate users on "pay as you go"

Disadvantages: Minimum of 1 minute taken from your pack per call

Recently Vodafone have introduced a new "pay as you go" option called Vodafone Freedom Packs. Basically it's twist on the pre-pay bundles that they were already doing. To qualify you need to be on any of these Vodafone price plans:

- Simply
- Anytime
- Anynet
- Smartstep
- Smartplus

Vodafone Freedom Packs are sold in bundles at £10, £15 or £20. They are advertised as being worth 5 times the value of being on the standard PAYG tariff. Here's what you get for your money:

£10 - 100 anytime minutes AND 300 anytime texts
£15 - 200 anytime minutes AND 600 anytime texts
£20 - 300 anytime minutes AND unlimited anytime texts (fair usage limit of 3000 applies)

All unlimited minutes are for standard UK landline numbers (beginning 01, 02, 03) and UK mobiles. Similarly, texts are for all standard UK mobiles.

You can either pay by using the credit already on your phone (if you have enough) or by credit or debit card.

Freedom Packs last for 30 days and once this period is up all outstanding minutes and texts will be lost. If you use up all of your texts or minutes before the 30 days is up you will revert to being charged at your standard rate.

You cannot take advantage of Vodafone Free Weekends or Text Unlimited while you have a Freedom Pack. Also, once you have bought a Freedom Pack you are stuck with it for those 30 days, you can't buy another Freedom Pack or voice or texts pack during the 30 day period your pack is valid for. This also nullifies Stop The Clock until such time as the pack minutes are exhausted. It is also worth noting that if you wish to go back to Free Weekends or Text Unlimited after your pack has expired then you need to re-activate by calling 2345 from your Vodafone handset.

OPINION AND OBSERVATIONS

I decided to take the plunge and get a £10 Freedom pack a couple of months back. I must say I've been really impressed. As a moderately light user of my mobile phone I have definitely saved money. The 100 minutes and 300 texts last me the whole 30 days, whereas I was putting £20 and over on my phone beforehand.

I don't fret now about running out of credit and find it much easier to keep a track of exactly what I have left to use. Having a set number of minutes and texts is definitely a lot better than knowing how much monetary credit you have left.

These packs make budgeting with your phone credit a lot easier all round. It is effectively like having the advantages of a contract but without being tied to the one company for 12 or 18 months. What I usually do is put the credit on my phone but don't activate a new pack until such time as I need to make a call or send a text, common sense really I suppose :)

I also discovered by accident that if I browse the net on my phone it comes out of my minutes allowance. I rarely do this so it makes no odds to me, in fact if I have minutes left on the last day of the pack I tend to mess around on the net to use them up. I can see how net browsing coming out of your minutes could be annoying to some though.

Downsides? From 01/07/09 when you make a call a minimum of 1 minute comes out of your pack for every call, even if you are only on for literally a few seconds. This is annoying but you at least have the comfort of knowing that after the first minute you are on a call the time is then taken in seconds.

Overall I would recommend getting a Vodafone Freedom Pack, especially if you are a light user like myself or if you really don't want a contract as this is the next best thing. On a cautionary note it is essential you give some serious thought as to how many texts and minutes you are likely to use over a 30 day period because once you buy a pack you are stuck with it.

Summary: Like having the benefits of a contract without being tied to the one company for 12 or 18 months