Tesco Mobile Family Pack: Unlimited SIM deals for all the family
Dan Howdle • April 17th, 2024
Tesco Mobile has been around for a very long time now, and continues to offer cracking, flexible deals on both SIM-only and pay-monthly handset tariffs. What you may not know however, is that Tesco Mobile also has one of the best family SIM offerings of any providers – perhaps the very best, in fact. Today we're going to take a look at the Tesco Mobile Family SIM offer (called the Family Pack), and why it stands out from the pack.
Tesco Mobile Family Pack overview
Many providers offer family SIMs, but what are they exactly? Well, there is a lot of nuance in how they work from one provider to the next – we'll cover that further down – but in essence, it's a collection of two SIMs or more tied to the same account, usually with some sort of discount or additional free data offered for taking out more than one.
They're called 'family SIMs' because that's who it's aimed at. One person in the household – one of the adults who pays the bills – takes out a SIM for each family member, and reaps the benefits and savings attached, versus taking one two or more accounts separately.
How does it work?
Unlike other providers who offer a family SIM plan, Tesco Mobile's Family Pack allows you to save more the more SIMs you take out. The initial Family Pack SIM costs £30 per month which, let's be honest, is hardly cheap. However, all additional SIMs added to the pack cost just £10 each. Here's how that looks:
| Number of members | Total monthly cost | Monthly cost per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 family member | £30 | £30 per person |
| 2 family members | £40 | £20 per person |
| 3 family members | £50 | £16.67 per person |
| 4 family members | £60 | £15 per person |
| 5 family members | £70 | £14 per person |
Tesco Mobile Family Pack quirks and features
All family SIM deals from the various providers which offer them work slightly differently. And while Tesco Mobile's Family Pack is the only one that allows you to save up to 53% on the price of your SIMs (if you take out the maximum of five), there is more to say about the offers. Way more. So in this section we're going to look at all of the Family Pack's various quirks and features – the things Tesco Mobile may not go out of its way to tell you about but that vary from interesting to essential info.
No contract required
This one is important. You can come and go as you please since you're not going to be tied into a contract with the Tesco Mobile Family Pack. The best part is this applies to all SIMs in the pack. If you have four SIMs and need to drop one or two? No problem. And it works both ways – you can vary the SIMs included in the deal from one month to the next as you please. Some other providers do require a contract, so this is definitely a feather in Tesco Mobile's cap.
Unlimited data on all Family Pack SIMs
Normally we'd have to go into a lof of detail when explaining how much data you get, whether it's likely to be enough, and whether and how it rolls over (or not) from one month to the next. Tesco Mobile's Family Pack is like 'forget all that', and has made all SIMs included in the Family Pack unlimited.
Now, most people do not need unlimited data. In fact, the average amount of data used monthly by your typical mobile phone user in the UK is just 8GB. That's mainly because most of us spend most of our time near a wifi connection. But – and it's a bit 'but' – when you're dealing with multiple SIMs with potentially multiple data limits it's just a lot less work to have all your SIMs unlimited. Tesco Mobile should be praised for understanding this and keeping things uncomplicated and consumer friendly.
Same bill every month
Since it's impossible to exceed your data limit on account there isn't one, failing someone calling Cambodia for six hours, you're never going to get any surprises in your bill. It'll be the same amount every single month.
You'll earn Tesco Clubcard points
If you have a Tesco Clubcard, you can attach it to your Tesco Mobile account. Then, automatically, you'll get a point added each month for every £1 spent on the account. It's not a lot, but it adds up across the year, and pennies make pounds.
How does Tesco Family Pack compare to other providers?
As mentioned further up, not all family SIM offerings work the same way, and it's not simply a case of one size fits all. While the Tesco Mobile Family Pack is almost certainly the best choice for a family that needs three or more SIMs and doesn't want to have to worry about data limits, other family SIM deals may be a better fit if, say, you're looking to pay the minimum amount of money for two or three SIMs.
That in mind, we're going to finish up here with an at-a-glance overview of the family SIM deals offered by other providers:
| Provider | Tariff | Discount (per additional SIM) | Extras | Maximum SIMs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT Mobile | Family SIM | 20% off all additional SIMs | None | Not stated |
| EE | Multi-line discount | Up to 30% | 10% off EE Broadband, data gifting | Not stated |
| O2 | O2 Family | 20% | Can include tablet SIMs | 20 |
| SMARTY | Group plan | 10% | None | 8 |
| Tesco Mobile | Family Pack | Up to 53% | None | 5 |
| Three | On SMARTY brand | – | – | – |
| Virgin Mobile | Family Plan | £2 off all SIMs per extra SIM | None | 4 |
| Vodafone | Vodafone Additional Plan | 15% | None | 9 |
Conclusion
The Tesco Mobile Family Pack is, in our opinion, the best of the bunch for most families. Tesco operates on the O2 network, so coverage for both 4G and 5G is excellent, and it's the only family SIM bundle on the market where no one has to ever worry about data. The initial family SIM is steep at £30 per month, but as soon as you add two or more additional SIMs, things start to look very cheap indeed, while the flexibility offered by the lack of contracts make the Family Pack unmissable.
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