Best Orange Deals

Orange Pay Monthly Tariffs

Orange offer monthly contracts of either 18 or 24 months, either with or without a handset (SIM Only). Orange Pay Monthly contracts are separated into categories characterised by animals that represent different types of users.

Phone Included

Contracts including a phone from Orange are separated into four categories: Dolphin, Panther, Canary and Racoon.

‘Dolphin’ contracts are focused on texting and internet access. Most Dolphin contracts include unlimited texts and an internet data allowance.

‘Panther’ contracts are ‘all-rounder’ contracts, with each deal offering unlimited texts, a minutes allowance, internet, push email and Wi-Fi access through BT’s OpenZone. Panther plans also include either 1 or 2 Orange ‘Swapables’ to add extra media services. Read more about Swapables here.

‘Canary’ contracts focus on a balance between free minutes and texts and do not include internet or MMS features as standard.

Finally, ‘Racoon’ contracts offer free minutes and unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines. Like Canary contracts, Racoon contracts do not feature any internet or MMS features as standard.

18 month contracts are also available in all 4 categories and typically cost around £5 per month more than an equivalent 24 month contract. All Orange Pay Monthly contracts can also be customised with a wide range of Extras, from international calls to picture messages.

Orange SIM Only Tariffs

SIM only contracts from Orange are separated into 5 main categories based on the types of benefits they offer, Canary, Camel, Panther, iPhone and Dolphin. Most SIM only deals from Orange are offered as either 1 month rolling contracts or 12 month contracts, with 12 month contracts generally around £5 cheaper than 1 month equivalents.

All Canary contracts include unlimited texts along with a monthly allowance of free minutes. Dolphin contracts also include unlimited texts along with a mobile data allowance and an allowance of minutes. Panther and iPhone plans both offer unlimited texts, free minutes and a data allowance. Finally, Camel contracts offer free international minutes to selected countries.

All Orange SIM only plans can be further customised by adding Extras.

Orange Pay As You Go (PAYG) Tariffs

Orange’s Pay As You Go tariffs are built around their ‘animal packages’ theme, with different packages designed to suit different types of users. There are five different animal packages to choose from, some of which confer additional benefits when a minimum top up is made and some of which have automatic benefits.

The five available Orange PAYG animal packages are Monkey, Dolphin, Canary, Racoon and Camel. The Monkey tariff is designed for music lovers and provides free music downloads to customers with some top ups. The Dolphin tariff provides a mobile data allowance and free text messages with top ups, while the Canary tariff offers free minutes and texts as well as free evening and weekend calls to customers who top up over a given amount. Instead of giving bonuses along with top ups, the Racoon tariff simply offers the lowest standard call rates from Orange, and the Camel tariff has special international rates and free international minutes.

Pay As You Go customers can purchase ‘Extras’ to add a mobile data allowance to their tariff.

If you’re currently using a different mobile network and wish to move to an Orange contract, it is possible to keep your current number. In order to transfer your number to Orange, you will need to obtain a PAC from your current network. ‘PAC’ stands for ‘Port Authorisation Code’ and is a unique code that tells networks that you’ve given authorisation to move your number.

To get a PAC from your current network, you only need to contact them and request one. Guidelines issued by Ofcom, the UK communication industries’ regulatory body, state that when requested networks should provide you with a PAC either immediately over the phone or within two hours by text message.

You can obtain a PAC either before or after you begin a contract with Orange, but bear in mind that each PAC is only valid for 30 days after it’s issued. If you obtain a PAC beforehand, you can provide it while setting up your new contract and Orange will automatically begin the transfer process. If you set up a contract before obtaining a PAC code, you can obtain one later and contact Orange to transfer your number. In either case, you’ll receive a temporary new number from Orange, which will be replaced by your old number once the transfer process is complete.

See network contact details.

Orange offer a range of extra services to expand and customise their monthly contracts and PAYG contracts. These include additional call, text and data bundles as well as unique features like games from the Orange Games Zone or access to Sky News and Sky Sports through 3G.

Extra services are usually provided on a monthly basis. Customers with standard Pay Monthly contracts add a charge to their usual bill for the selected services, while PAYG customers pay for the service from their credit.

Dolphin Pay Monthly plans from Orange include a small allowance of mobile data, while Panther and iPhone Pay Monthly plans offer a larger allowance and additional Wi-Fi data through BT’s OpenZone network. Mobile data can be added to Pay Monthly tariffs that do not already include an allowance by adding a Mobile Internet Extra.

PAYG customers on the ‘Dolphin’ plan receive an allowance of mobile data to use in a month when they top up over a given amount, and users on the ‘Monkey’ plan receive a small daily allowance when they top up. As well as these options, all PAYG customers can purchase internet Extras to provide access.

Use the handy chart below to get an idea of how much data you might need:

Table represents approximate values.