Tesco Mobile's family plans explained: Packs vs Perks

There are two parts to what Tesco Mobile offer for families

While Tesco Mobile are mostly set up for individuals to join on their own phone contract or SIM only deal, you can actually set up multiple plans on one account. And they offer a few incentives to do this:

Firstly, there’s their Family Pack scheme. This is where you take out a 1-month unlimited data plan and get discounts on each unlimited data SIM you add on top of that, saving you money vs buying individually.

Secondly, they offer a separate scheme called Family Perks. These are handy benefits like money off the cost of plans, extra data or additional Clubcard points, which you get for adding multiple users onto one account.

In this guide, we talk you through all the benefits and disadvantages of picking either scheme, so you can figure out for yourself which one suits you best.

Useful link: Our guide to the best family plan schemes

Family Packs give you cheap and flexible unlimited data

In Tesco’s range of SIM only contracts, you’ll notice a special 1-month SIM marked as “Family Pack”. To get going, you buy one of these at full price and then you can start adding extra SIMs onto your account.

You can either do this when you first buy your SIM, or at any point in the future if you’re not currently ready. Every SIM you add will only cost £10 per month. That’s very cheap for an unlimited data plan.

And there’s loads of flexibility built in. You can add or remove plans as you wish without losing the discount. And if the main account holder leaves, someone else can take it on and keep the Family Pack going.

The fact that every plan is unlimited also means your kids can’t rack up a huge bill on extra data. Adult content is automatically blocked over data and you can set extra controls on what your kids can access.

Overall, the scheme is great for getting your kids on a decently priced plan without having to worry about their data usage or what they’re accessing over data.

Useful link: Tesco’s guide to their Family Pack scheme

But there are some disadvantages to Family Packs

The main drawback to the scheme is that the first Family Pack costs £30 a month. That’s not particularly good value compared to other networks’ unlimited data SIMs. And it drives up the overall cost of your deal.

It’s worth asking yourself whether you’ll actually make the best use out of unlimited data, or if you’d be better off joining on a smaller, cheaper plan and save yourself money that way.

The whole scheme would be much better if you could just join on any SIM only contract and add discounted Family Pack SIMs on top of that. For now, you’re forced onto an unlimited data plan you might not even need.

We prefer family plans that give you a straight-up discount on extra deals (like SMARTY’s 10% off extra SIMs), as it’s easier to know how much you’re saving overall and each user gets to choose their own plan.

Useful link: Our guide to the best family plan networks

Tesco’s separate Family Perks scheme comes in handy too

If you’d rather have the flexibility to have the users on your account on different SIM only plans, then you can still get extra benefits for doing so with Tesco Mobile’s other scheme, Family Perks.

Family Perks are small benefits each user on your account can choose. The options include money off the cost of your plan, extra data, extra Clubcard points and more. And you can switch Perks month to month.

A big advantage of this scheme is you can all be on different data plans. And you get more generous Perks when you choose larger plans: more-expensive plans get you bigger monthly discounts.

Or if you’d rather get more Clubcard points, taking these as your Perk ties in well with their overall Clubcard scheme. This is handy for getting money off your mobile bill or Tesco shopping and rewards your loyalty.

Useful link: Tesco Mobile’s guide to their Family Perks

But there are downsides to Family Perks as well

While we rate Tesco’s Family Perks highly for giving you extra benefits without sacrificing flexibility, there are some things that hold it back from being as good as other networks’ similar schemes.

First of all, Tesco’s actual discounts are quite small. Compared to SMARTY’s 10% off their already low-cost deals, or O2’s huge 20% off additional plans, Tesco’s Family Perks look pretty tame.

Small bits of money off here and there is much harder to understand than a simple percentage discount. And it gets even more complicated trying to work out how much Clubcard points or free data is worth.

Also you don’t get any Family Perks if you’re on a Family Pack. If the two benefits worked together it could be a way to get some serious value out of your plans. But there’s no way to combine the two.

Useful link: The best family plan schemes ranked

We rate Tesco Mobile as a good network for families ★★★☆☆ (3/5, good)

We’re glad Tesco Mobile are thinking about families with their two schemes. Both their Family Pack and Family Perks options can get you much better value for signing up all of your plans onto the same account.

It’s annoying you can’t benefit from both Family Packs and Perks at the same time. We can’t really see why they have two separate schemes, as it just makes things unnecessarily complicated.

Most other networks offer no incentives for families, so even if Tesco’s attempt isn’t the most ideal in the world, it’s a step in the right direction. And if one of the choices works for you, where’s the harm?

So overall, if you’re set on joining Tesco Mobile on multiple plans we say go for it. But if you’re looking for sheer value you might be better off looking at other networks with deeper discounts.

Useful link: Our full Tesco Mobile network review