Paul from Poole

Whats the best way to go with mobile phones we are arriving Dec 2nd and need 4 mobile Phone accounts in Brisbane Area we will be living in Noosa. I trust the audience with the answers Thankyou

shabee

I need to get 2 phones over the next couple of days so i will be watching this thread with interest.
I cant decide if to go contract or just buy phones and just top them up.
shabee
x

Donna&Neil

Hi we use vodafone pay as you go. Currently using a $29 jumbo cap which gives me $150 credit ( to be used within a calender month) Texts messages costs 25c to any mobile. I also used this to makes my phone calls home.
It works for us. There is also a $49 jumbo cap but not sure what the value of that is.

Hope this helps.

Donna

Cookster

Morning,
I have a contract phone with Optus. $49 dollars gets me $300 worth of calls and texts. More than enough. Im so impressed with it im setting one up for my daughter today.
Angela

datamile

Other choice is to bring your unlocked UK phones and go with someone like virgin mobile on pay as you go while you're not making many calls. No contracts, and virgin to virgin is cheap. You can even get a cheap $70 phone with them.

Mikeyc

Was with Vodafone Pre-Pay ($29 credit got me $150), but it’s not worth it now as they have changed their pricing (just to connect a call costs 75c and call per min is more).

Changed to Optus Pre-Pay for $30 top up you get $170 credit.

Mikey

quoll

All depends on where you live really - check the coverage maps (although Noosa should be fine for pretty much everyone). Some providers have more limited coverage (3 for example). Also, what will you intend to do with your phone? - if you want to send MMS back to UK for example, Optus dont do it so ask them first. Will you be making international calls on it - are they included in the cap? Some providers include them, others do not.

Personally I am with Optus on a plan but find I need a degree in billology to understand their bills - if you are going on a plan, ask to see a bill just to see if you can make head or tail of it (I dont have a degree in billology and that is just one of the things which may make me move away from Optus!!!). Also check if there might be a surcharge for paying a regular bill by credit card (Optus have just sneaked that one in!).

Telstra boasts the best coverage but they always seem (to me) to charge more for their phones, especially the newer models.

What I would be doing now (I think) would be to get your UK phones unlocked and buy a PAYG sim when you get here and try out the various providers and see which one you like best, then sign up for a contract - remember that most contracts here are 24 months not the 12 months that many providers offer in UK.

Donna&Neil

Oh this is news to me. As you say not as good value. Will need to check this out, thanks.

Donna

stevemich

Virgin to Virgin is free, so may be worth checking out if you call amongst eachother regularly.
check out www.virginmobile.com.au for their prepay and pay as you go rates. Do some good value phones too.
They use the Optus network, so coverage is good.

ray2gill

We bought our unlocked mobiles with us and got two Vodaphone pay as you go sims. They were the cheapest at the time $19.99 with $20 credit. We talked the sales assistant into making the use by date in 12 months time, so we don't have any 30 day use by limit.

shabee

took a new contract out with 3 before i left the UK, bad bad move. My bill for 2 weeks was £156 and that was with free mins and free text which are not being used. Not happy with them.

Paul from Poole

All very good advice thanks my sons will be happy they will be able to use their iphones I dont care what phone I've got so long as it rings and I can hear the person at the other end, and my wife well, oh have I got a phone, do I need to switch it on, is that my phone ringing. Need I say more. It sounds like virgin payg is the way to go mto begin with.