Do unused Vodafone PAYG SIMs expire?

I'm in the US. Two years ago we travelled to UK and used Vodafone PAYG
packages. I have one extra, unused starter pack that I would like to give
to a family member who is travelling to London this month.

The starter kit comes with a swipe card which expired in late 2006.
The SIM card itself (never detached, still in carrier) bears no expiration
date. Is it still good?

In article <fbjhbg$pcl$1@reader1.panix.com>, Mike S.
<retsuhcs@xinap.moc> writes

>I'm in the US. Two years ago we travelled to UK and used Vodafone PAYG
>packages. I have one extra, unused starter pack that I would like to give
>to a family member who is travelling to London this month.

>The starter kit comes with a swipe card which expired in late 2006.
>The SIM card itself (never detached, still in carrier) bears no expiration
>date. Is it still good?

Almost certainly not :-(

If you do something like make a call or top up with a payment, the card
remains usable for a period of (I think) six months. At that point the
number is barred and lost - together with any unused credit. The period
may be one year but either way it's certainly less than two years.

See: http://tinyurl.com/ynokdt under "Suspension and Disconnection":

We can suspend (i.e. bar) or terminate the provision of the Services (in
whole or in part) without telling you (although we will, where possible,
inform you that action may be taken):

the third item says:

* if you choose not to use the Service for a period of 180 days (‘Use
of this service’ means (i) making any chargeable outbound calls
(excluding calls to 191, see your price plan for charges). (ii) any
topping up of your account);

Which seems to nail it - sorry.
--
Peter

The Drone <wsne@zzmail.org.uk> wrote:
> In article <fbjhbg$pcl$1@reader1.panix.com>, Mike S.
> <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> writes
>
> >The SIM card itself (never detached, still in carrier) bears no expiration
> >date. Is it still good?
>
> Almost certainly not :-(
>
> If you do something like make a call or top up with a payment, the card
> remains usable for a period of (I think) six months. At that point the
> number is barred and lost - together with any unused credit. The period
> may be one year but either way it's certainly less than two years.

But if it's still in the carrier the OP has never used their SIM. So it
might be OK... I resurrected some two year old Virgin SIMs this way and they
were fine. Don't know with Vodafone, but I wouldn't be surprised if small
shops kept stock for that long. AFAIK the Vodafone package doesn't have a
number on it, it's only allocated when you register the SIM, so there's no
need to worry about them recycling your number.

Theo

In article <0mv*QS1Tr@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, Theo Markettos
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes
>The Drone <wsne@zzmail.org.uk> wrote:
>> In article <fbjhbg$pcl$1@reader1.panix.com>, Mike S.
>> <retsuhcs@xinap.moc> writes
>>
>> >The SIM card itself (never detached, still in carrier) bears no expiration
>> >date. Is it still good?
>>
>> Almost certainly not :-(
>>
>> If you do something like make a call or top up with a payment, the card
>> remains usable for a period of (I think) six months. At that point the
>> number is barred and lost - together with any unused credit. The period
>> may be one year but either way it's certainly less than two years.
>
>But if it's still in the carrier the OP has never used their SIM. So it
>might be OK... I resurrected some two year old Virgin SIMs this way and they
>were fine. Don't know with Vodafone, but I wouldn't be surprised if small
>shops kept stock for that long. AFAIK the Vodafone package doesn't have a
>number on it, it's only allocated when you register the SIM, so there's no
>need to worry about them recycling your number.

I did wonder ... so the thing to do is to give them the SIM, with the
instructions on how to register it, and try. If it works, great, if not,
you'll have to buy another SIM but you've lost nothing.

--
Peter

Thanks for all the responses - even one who did not read the part where I
said the SIM card was unused and still attached to the carrier.

With nothing to lose, really, I decided to give it a try here in the US. I
powered up a phone with the SIM card and it registered on an AT&T tower.
When I went through the SIM menu to check my balance and phone number,
both functioned as expected ... I retrieved a valid number (which rang
when I dialed it from another phone) and confirmed the 1 pound balance.