giffgaff referral code: get up to £15 when you join

Affiliate disclosure: this post contains a giffgaff referral link. If you use it, you get £5 in account credit when you activate a SIM with a goodybag. I also receive credit. It doesn't change the price you pay.

If you're about to join giffgaff, the referral link is the obvious starting point: it costs you nothing and adds £5 in account credit when you activate, with an extra £10 unlocked if you join on an 18-month contract. Maximum reward: £15.

This post is the narrow how-to. For the "is giffgaff actually any good?" question, see my 15-year giffgaff review. For the live referral link and current terms, see the giffgaff referral page.

How the £5 lands (Tier 1)

The basic claim flow is four steps:

1. Click a referral link to order your free SIM. The link does the attribution: there's no code to enter manually, no field to fill in at checkout. As long as you order through it, you're counted as a referred customer.
2. Wait for the SIM. It's free, posted first-class, and usually arrives within 1–3 working days.
3. Activate the SIM with a goodybag of at least £8. This is the qualifying purchase. The 2GB/£6 tier does not qualify; everything from 5GB/£8 upward does.
4. The £5 appears in your account. In my experience and across the giffgaff community forum, this is usually instant on activation, certainly within 24 hours.

You don't need to keep the SIM in a phone, top up again, or hit any minimum usage. Once you've activated with a qualifying goodybag, the reward is yours and the credit applies against your next goodybag renewal.

Order a giffgaff SIM through my referral link.

How to unlock the extra £10 (Tier 2)

The full £15 needs an 18-month SIM contract instead of a rolling goodybag. When you activate the SIM, you pick "18-month contract" rather than a rolling goodybag at the activation step.

The 18-month contracts are cheaper per GB at the higher tiers: Unlimited drops from £35/month rolling to £25/month on contract, and the £10–£15 tiers come with bigger data allowances than the equivalent rolling goodybag. So if you were going to commit for a year and a half anyway, the contract route makes the referral bonus pay £15 instead of £5, and you get a lower monthly price.

If you'd rather keep the 30-day rolling flexibility, take the £5 and skip the extra £10. There's no penalty for going Tier 1 only.

Bringing your number across (PAC)

Most people switching to giffgaff want to keep their existing phone number. The flow is the same as switching between any UK networks:

1. Text PAC to 65075 from your current phone (free). This is the legally-mandated text-to-switch shortcode.
2. You'll receive a PAC code by text within a couple of minutes, along with a summary of any exit fees from your current contract.
3. Enter the PAC code when you activate your giffgaff SIM (there's a dedicated step in the activation flow).
4. Your number transfers within one working day, usually overnight.

Two things worth knowing:

• Your old contract ends automatically when the number transfers. You don't need to call your old network to cancel separately. There's a short window where the old SIM stops working and the giffgaff SIM picks up the number, usually under an hour.
• PAC codes are valid for 30 days. If you don't activate within that window, you'll need to request a new one.

If you don't want to keep your number, you can activate with a brand-new number generated by giffgaff and ignore the PAC step entirely.

What to do if the credit doesn't appear

The £5 credit lands on activation, so if it's not showing after 24 hours, one of three things has happened:

1. You ordered the SIM without clicking the referral link. giffgaff attributes the referral at the order step, not the activation step. If you ordered a SIM through giffgaff.com directly and then tried to add a referral afterwards, there's no retroactive fix. The order is treated as unreferred. The credit isn't recoverable in that case.
2. You activated with the £6/2GB goodybag. The £6 tier sits below the £8 minimum qualifying spend. Switching to any goodybag from £8 upward at your next renewal will activate the credit retroactively.
3. The credit landed but you missed it. Check the "Account credit" balance in the giffgaff app: it's separate from your Payback balance. If the £5 is there, the next goodybag renewal will draw against it before charging your card.

If none of those apply, raise it in the giffgaff community forum and one of the agents (badged with the giffgaff logo) will investigate. In 15 years of using the network I've found the agents fast and competent at this kind of attribution query.

Eligibility and the small print

A few things worth checking before you order:

• You must be a new giffgaff customer. Existing customers (including dormant accounts) don't qualify for the referral bonus on a new SIM.
• The £5 is in account credit, not cash. It draws against future goodybag charges. You can't withdraw it.
• The Tier 2 £10 boost requires the 18-month contract, not just a long rolling history. Activating on rolling first and switching to contract later doesn't unlock the extra £10.
• giffgaff sometimes runs an "extra data" promotion on top of the standard goodybags (e.g. the £15 tier currently shows 50GB base + 100GB extra = 150GB advertised). This is separate from the referral bonus and you get it automatically when you activate during the promo window.
• You can only use one referral link per order. If a friend has already given you a code and you'd rather use theirs, use it. The bonus is the same on any valid link.

Is giffgaff the right network for you?

In short: yes for most people. It runs on the O2 network with 99%+ UK population coverage, holds the uSwitch Network of the Year award three years running, and sits at 3.9/5 on Trustpilot from hundreds of thousands of reviews. The 30-day rolling goodybags mean there's no real risk in trying it.

The one case where giffgaff isn't the obvious answer is if you're a heavy social-media data user. VOXI bundles unlimited Instagram, TikTok and YouTube on all its plans, which can work out cheaper despite a higher headline price.

For the deeper read on whether giffgaff is right for you, see the 15-year review.

giffgaff referral FAQs

How much can I get from a giffgaff referral?

£5 in account credit when you activate a SIM with a goodybag of at least £8. If you join on an 18-month contract instead of a rolling goodybag, you and the referrer each get an extra £10, bringing the total to £15.

When does the £5 credit arrive?

Usually instantly on activation, and within 24 hours at the outside. The credit applies against your next goodybag renewal. It's stored as "Account credit" in the giffgaff app, separate from any Payback balance.

What if I forgot to use a referral link when I ordered?

The referral is attributed at the order step, not the activation step. If you ordered the SIM through giffgaff.com directly without clicking a referral link first, the order is counted as unreferred and there's no retroactive way to add a code. You'd have to cancel the order and start again with a referral link.

Does the £6/2GB goodybag count for the referral bonus?

No. The minimum qualifying goodybag is £8 (5GB rolling). Activating with the £6/2GB plan won't unlock the £5 credit, but switching to any goodybag from £8 upward at your next renewal will trigger it.

Can I use a friend's giffgaff code instead of yours?

Yes. Every valid giffgaff referral link pays the same £5 (or £15 on contract) reward to the new customer, so use whichever link a friend has shared with you. If you don't have one, mine is here.

Is the £15 contract bonus worth committing for 18 months?

If you were going to stay with giffgaff anyway, yes: the 18-month contract is cheaper per GB at every tier than the equivalent rolling goodybag, and the extra £10 in credit comes on top. If you're not sure giffgaff is the right network for you, take the £5 on a rolling plan first and switch to contract later if you decide to stay.

Will my number transfer if I use a referral link?

Yes. The referral link and the PAC code (number porting) flow are independent. You can use a referral link to order a SIM and still bring your existing number across by entering your PAC code during activation. The transfer typically completes within one working day.

You might also like

• Is giffgaff worth it? An honest review after 15 years
• VOXI vs giffgaff: which mobile referral is better?
• What does Which? say about giffgaff?

Get your giffgaff referral bonus here.