PAYG- 

Many years ago (2002 ), I was with vodaphone payg but it was phased out, but they now do payg again now.

Although I am not with virgin mobile, my mobiles are via 02 on payg so I hope that continues, recently switching from an EE network provider.

As a light user I find payg cheaper than contract , typically less than £50/year where contract would be typically £120/year or more, and if 2 mobiles that doubles. Also if the mobile is not used much paying a fixed monthly fee can be expensive.

I am surprised virgin are removing payg, a backward step which will loose customers.

The thing to be careful of with payg is that the credit rolls over each month and the phone does not de-activate if not used for usually 90 days.

The cheapest providers are the virtual networks which piggy back on the EE, vodaphone , O2 networks , but the customer service can be poor in some cases, but the cost per minute  can be cheaper.

Hope payg continues, that is all I have ever used but getting more difficult to find.

As I also pay for a landline that is an extra cost but nice to have, and most  calls now come via mobile due to the sms text  feature.

alf28