Which mobile network offers the best perks?

There are few things we Brits love more than freebies, discounts and special offers.

It’s always a good idea to shop around for your mobile plan, even if you’re happy with your current provider. Not only is it important to consider the type of plan that best suits your needs, but also what benefits come with each provider.

Most popular mobile phone perks

Our research highlighted the perks that UK customers most want to see from their providers:

• Discounted food/drink – e.g. free coffee (30%)

• Discounted groceries (27%)

• Free / discounted TV or film streaming (20%)

• Discounted takeaway (18%)

• Free / discounted electronics (17%)

But which networks offer the best extras? And which ones will suit you best? Read on to find out.

O2 perks

Here's a list of perks and rewards on offer from O2.

O2 Priority offers and discounts

With discounted food and drink at the top of the list, O2 offers some outstanding perks for breakfast lovers. O2 Priority members can enjoy one free coffee per week from Greggs, as well as a free breakfast roll, sausage roll, or vegan sausage roll on Friday or Saturday mornings.

The O2 Priority app is one of the best rewards apps around, offering great promotions and discounts for a range of high-street stores, restaurants and events. There are also regular competitions for O2 customers, with big-ticket items, such as cash prizes, holidays and brand-new cars often up for grabs.

O2 Priority presale tickets

For true music lovers and culture vultures, there are few things more nerve-wracking than having to buy tickets to see your must-see show as soon as they go on sale - particularly if you know it’s likely to sell out fast.

Depending on how popular the tickets are, the website might crash, you might be a minute too late, or you might be entered into a never-ending queue to re-enter the site. And even if you do get through to buy tickets, you’ll be faced with a whole minefield of login questions, seating plans and quizzes to prove you’re not a robot. All within what feels like an unreasonably short time limit.

Luckily, you can make this ordeal easier as an O2 customer by downloading the O2 Priority Tickets app, which gives you early access to tickets for events at any O2 venue, 48 hours before the tickets go on general sale.

Although this doesn’t guarantee O2 customers success, it does mean that you have a significantly better chance of getting a ticket than non-O2 customers.

Perks at O2 venues and Twickenham Stadium

Once you’re at the venue, there are a whole host of little extras that O2 customers can take advantage of, from priority queueing and access to select lounge rooms, to free cloakrooms and money off food and drinks.

Simply download the app and show it to an O2 Angel or member of the venue staff to take advantage of these perks.

Six months of free Disney Plus

Customers who sign up for an eligible O2 deal will get a free six-month subscription to Disney Plus, Disney's incredibly popular streaming service.

A Disney Plus subscription is priced at £7.99 a month, so this offer will save you nearly £42 over the course of six months.

Our verdict on O2 perks: perfect for music lovers

If you love going to music gigs and comedy shows, you'll definitely enjoy all the advantages reserved for O2 customers.

The O2 Priority app is our favourite rewards app currently available, giving you everything from a free snack or drink with your lunch to the chance to win a car or a holiday.

Check out all of our O2 deals.

Vodafone perks

Vodafone has a range of perks and rewards that you could take advantage of as a customer.

Vodafone VeryMe rewards app

Vodafone's rewards app, VeryMe, has lots to recommend on it. On it, you can enjoy discounts and freebies from the likes of Costa Coffee, Hotel Chocolat and Millie's Cookies, as well as regular prize draws and competitions.

But the real winner is an ongoing offer that gets you two Vue cinema tickets a week for just £7. The offer is valid any day, any time.

Free entertainment subscription for Red customers

Vodafone customers on a Red bundle can get great entertainment from YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium or Amazon Prime included in their mobile plan. There's also the option to use Charge to Bill to add Netflix, discovery+ and more to your bill.

The deal means that Red users can either stream some of the most popular movies and shows, access premium YouTube content, or use Spotify Premium for free, for the duration of their 24-month contract. And, now that Amazon Prime has got the rights to 20 Premier League matches, it's great news for football fans, too.

Pay monthly customers with a Red Value bundle can get one of these passes for up to 24 months, while select SIM-only customers can choose one for up to 12 months.

Free content transfer

In recent years, transferring content from your old phone onto your new handset has become much simpler, thanks to improved smartphone features, cloud storage and a host of helpful apps that transfer content wirelessly.

Even so, it can still be a bit of a hassle to transfer all your data onto your new phone. To take some of the strain out of it, Vodafone customers can pop into their local store and get all their contacts moved over. Customers on a Red or Red Value bundle can also get their photos, music and videos transferred too.

Free courtesy phone

If, like the majority of the adult UK population, you suffer from nomophobia (fear of being without your smartphone), the thought of your beloved phone breaking is, quite frankly, terrifying.

If the worst should happen to your device and you have to send it away for repair, Vodafone will actually lend you a courtesy phone while yours is being fixed. So, you can stay connected until your phone is working again.

Our verdict: hassle-free service

If you're on a Red Value bundle, you will get some really great perks. If not, there's not much in the way of freebies. However, should your phone ever break, a free courtesy phone will make a huge difference to you while yours is being repaired.

Check out all of our Vodafone deals.

Three perks

Here are some of the latest perks you can get with Three.

Three+ rewards app

Three customers who download the Three+ rewards app can enjoy amazing offers from brands like Cineworld and Caffè Nero, with one any-size Barista blended drink available for free, per week.

In most instances, customers can also enjoy 1 x 2D standard cinema ticket per week, Fri-Sun at Cineworld and Picturehouse. Three could be a perfect option for date night, with 18% off five orders from florists Bloom & Wild also available.

Our verdict on Three's perks: decent rewards app

Three+ promises to deliver regular discounts and competitions with a number of big-name brands.

Check out all of our Three deals.

EE perks

Take a look at the perks and rewards on offer from EE.

Free Apple Music for 6 months

Customers who are new to EE or upgrading their EE contract are also eligible for a free, six-month subscription to Apple Music. With regular subscriptions costing £9.99 a month, this offers music fans some significant savings.

The music-streaming service is Apple’s answer to Spotify, giving subscribers access to over 30 million songs. It’s worth noting, however, that this offer isn’t currently available for existing customers.

Free data boosts for pay-as-you-go customers

Pay-as-you-go customers on EE can get a free boost of minutes, texts or data every three months, with boosts getting bigger the longer you stay with EE.

The best boost is undoubtedly the data, which gives you an extra 500MB after three months, then 1GB after another three months, then 1.5GB and so on.

Smart number technology

EE's new smart number technology allows customers to make and receive calls on their tablet, watch or laptop using one phone number, even when they don’t have their smartphone with them.

So if your battery dies while you're out, or you leave your phone at home, you can still make and receive calls on your regular number using any of your other connected devices.

Best of all, this service is available at no extra cost to new and existing EE customers.

Our verdict on EE perks: decent discounts and freebies

EE offers a good range of incentives, particularly for new customers.

Existing customers unfortunately miss out on some of the freebies but with discounts on days out and the fastest 4G and 5G speeds in the country, there’s enough on offer to reward loyalty.

Lebara perks

A SIM only plan will almost certainly work out cheaper than a new, pay-monthly mobile phone contract. And by factoring in some of the perks available on SIMO offers, customers can even save significantly more than they pay each month. 

Lebara’s 1GB rolling one-month plan is just £3.95 per month with no contract, and it unlocks a huge selection of perks worth more than 20x the monthly cost of the plan itself:

• 60% off your first Gousto box, plus £25 off all boxes for two months

• 30% off your first Ocado order when you spend over £70

• £5 off your first Iceland order when you spend over £45

• £50 for each referral

• £10 off your first order at Jimmy’s Iced Coffee

• Up to 25% off Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more

VOXI perks

See below for a list of VOXI mobile's perks.

Unlimited social media

VOXI’s biggest draw is this social media savvy offer. Anyone who takes out one of its bargain SIM-only plans will get access to the biggest and best social media apps, including TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram without having to use their data allowance.

Best all, getting onto such apps is completely unlimited, meaning you can spend as many hours as you like checking photos, posting updates and complaining about train delays, without the worry of facing fair usage fees.

Amazon vouchers

Recommend a friend to VOXI and you get up to £20 and £40 in Amazon vouchers. You’ll need to wait two months, with both you and your friend using the network throughout that time period, in order to qualify.

Winningly, you can recommend as many people as you like, racking up vouchers to spend on whatever you fancy on the world’s largest online emporium.

No credit check, no contract

VOXI makes a big deal of the fact its 30-day SIM-only plans are not actually contracts. That means there’s no credit check and that you can switch to a different network easily, as long as you abide by the 30-day term. That sets it well apart from its rivals and makes it easy to take advantage of its deals if you’re young or have a bad credit rating.

Endless Video

If you love watching movies and shows, VOXI’s Endless Video is just the thing. You can stream as much as you like from all your favourite services and apps, like plans which let people stream as much as they like from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, My5, TVPlayer and UKTV Play. The best bit? You won't use any of your data allowance.

Our verdict: ideal for social media lovers on a budget

Keeping a close eye on your cash? Then VOXI’s deals are great. They’re excellent value and the perks mean you can access the best the internet has to offer without paying extra. And you can use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as much as you like without eating up any of your data.

Check out all our VOXI SIM only deals.

SMARTY perks

SMARTY has a number of unique perks you can enjoy when you sign up.

Money off for the data you don’t use

SMARTY’s best perk is the money you get back for the data you don’t use each month.

Millions of people pay for data that winds up going unused or gets rolled over to the following month. SMARTY takes a different approach, giving you £1.25 back for each GB that you don’t use. So, if you’re on its £6.25 a month plan and don’t use any data, your next bill will only be £5.

No contract, no credit checks

Like VOXI, SMARTY’s plans are not technically contracts. They last 30 days and don’t require a credit check, making it easy to take them out. Just let them know when you want to leave and you’re good to go to another network. Monthly payments are made in advance, rather than arrears, so the deals always have consumers’ best interests in mind.

Our verdict: Freebies make SMARTY even sweeter

SMARTY’s cheap plans and excellent coverage already make it an excellent option for budget-conscious smartphone owners. Its perks are excellent, too, especially the free two-month offer.

Check out all our best SMARTY SIM only deals.

BT Mobile perks

BT Mobile perks and rewards are listed below.

BT Sport for free

If you take out a 6GB or 15GB SIM-only plan on BT Mobile, you get access to the BT Sport app for free. That means you can watch the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League and Aviva Premiership rugby, plus IPL cricket.

Cheap family SIMs

Need more than one person on a contract? No problem. If you take out a 12-month SIM-only plan you can get a second, 30-day SIM for your partner or kids. Deals for second, third or fourth SIMs are cheaper than the main SIM, making it a winner for those looking for group savings.

Our verdict: The more the merrier

If you want a lot of people on one plan, BT Mobile is the place to be. Its coverage, backed by EE, is second to none, while its Family SIMs plans is also first class.

Check out all our BT Mobile deals.

Sky Mobile perks

Here's a selection of the perks on offer from Sky Mobile.

Free data rollover

Sky Mobile’s main selling point is its free data rollover scheme called Sky Piggybank.

While some of the major networks, such as O2 and Virgin Media, let you roll over your unused data at the end of the month, you can only rollover data from the previous month. So, you can’t stockpile a huge trove of unused data.

With Sky Mobile, however, you can roll over unused data at the end of each month and store it in an online ‘piggybank’. That data will be there whenever you want to use it for up to three years at no extra cost, so you never lose what you’ve paid for.

Families on a Sky Mobile plan can pool all their unused data together and share it out whenever a family member needs a bit of a top-up.

Free unlimited texts and calls for Sky TV customers

Sky Mobile is offering data-only SIM cards for customers who use the internet more than minutes and messages.

However, existing Sky TV customers can also get free unlimited texts and calls when they sign up for one of Sky Mobile’s SIM-only deals.

Sky Go Extra app free for up to four devices

Sky+ customers will get the Sky Go Extra app for free on up to four devices. The service normally costs £5 a month, and allows you to stream videos or watch recordings while you're out and about.

Our verdict on Sky Mobile perks: excellent for saving data

If you're an existing Sky TV customer, or if you're only interested in a data allowance, Sky Mobile will almost certainly help you to save money and data. If you're not a Sky TV customer and you still use traditional calls and texts, Sky Mobile is probably not the network for you.

Tesco Mobile perks

Tesco Mobile has a number of perks related to its grocery business, including bonus Clubcard points.

Clubcard points

Tesco Mobile customers can collect Clubcard points for every £1 they spend on their monthly contract or credit top-up.

For anyone unfamiliar with Tesco Clubcard points, you can either spend them on groceries and household goods at Tesco stores or with Tesco’s Clubcard Partners, including big names such as Pizza Express, Longleat Zoo and RED driving school.

Perks for families

If you’re a Tesco Mobile pay monthly customer with more than one contract on your account, you can add a free monthly perk for each contract.

Each contract-holder on the account can choose between extra data, additional minutes, Clubcard points and money off their bill.

Triple credit for pay-as-you-go customers

Tesco Mobile customers on pay-as-you-go can actually get three times the amount they top up once a month. So, if you top up £10, Tesco Mobile will give you an extra £20 of credit for free, giving you £30 in total.

The free credit will last for a month and can be used on calls, texts and data.

Our verdict on Tesco Mobile perks: great incentives for families

With lots of incentives, including Clubcard points that you can spend in-store or on fun days out, and additional freebies when you add more contracts to your account, Tesco Mobile is a great network for families.