Everyone loves a free gift, it’s an almost universal fact. One of the few things that’s even better is being able to secure a great deal at the same time.
Fortunately, the world of broadband packages offers just this, as ISPs battle fiercely for your custom.
If you’re already enticed by this prospect – as you well should be – then you’re in luck. Our latest guide has rounded up the best ways you can snag a freebie when you shop for broadband bundles.
It’s important to note that while free gifts might look enticing, they should always be second in importance compared with a package that suits your needs.
For example, a free £50 gift card might bring down the average monthly price, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best deal.
That’s why we urge caution — make sure that the deal you’re opting for has everything you need first, before getting blinded by shiny gifts. Unless it’s a Ferrari, of course.
Sadly, you’re unlikely to see any free vehicles included as part of a broadband bundle. That’s not to say you can’t get anything decent, however. While the types of free gifts you can expect will of course vary, you will generally be offered one of two things:
One of the most common free gifts is the aforementioned gift card, with the amount dependent on what bundle you go for. Exactly where the vouchers are valid for will also vary, with popular options including John Lewis and Amazon.
Pre-paid cards are also common, which involves having a fixed amount of credit loaded onto a physical card and sent to you. Similarly, these can only be spent at specific high-street stores, although most will have a few options.
Some offers will give you either credit onto your account or cashback. These are the simplest types of rewards, and require a grand total of zero effort on your part. However, they won’t always be made available immediately. You may need to wait for a certain amount of time before you are eligible.
If you’re really lucky, or you purchase an expensive, premium package, you might even get a free gadget.
While some deals will simply enter you into a competition to win an iPad, others will guarantee a free gift when you sign up. This could include speakers, headphones, laptops or pretty much anything you can think of.
Slightly less exciting, but still very valuable, is being offered an upgraded router. While routers are almost always included in your broadband bundle, you may be able to get your hands on a superior version for free, potentially offering better coverage at home and useful extra features.
Now, this will change almost day to day. Broadband providers are constantly switching up their offerings depending on what type of tariffs they want to push. So, just because BT are offering a £50 Amazon voucher one day, doesn’t mean you can count on it being their tomorrow.
Generally speaking, larger ISPs will be more willing to offer generous gifts as they have more resources. However, you might also want to look to new entrants to the market, as there might be more budget to try and snag some customers from the get go.
To try and give you the best fighting chance however, we’ve gone and handpicked some of the best packages that include freebies that are available right now.
| ISP | What’s included | Contract length | Cost | Free gift |
| TalkTalk | 67Mbps | 18 months | £23.50 | £75 gift card |
| Community Fibre | 147Mbps | 18 months | £32 | £75 gift card |
| BT | 50Mbps | 24 months | £27.99 | £70 gift card |
| BT Sport + Fibre 2 | 67Mbps Sport channels | 24 months | £47.99 | £100 gift card |
| Shell Energy | 71Mbps | 18 months | £23.99 | £50 bill credit |
| Plusnet | 36Mbps | 18 months | £22.99 | £65 reward card |
| Truespeed 500 | 600Mbps | 18 months | £32 | £75 gift card |
Sometimes your gift will be sent automatically after your cooling off period has finished (generally one month). Other times you will need to ask them for it.
Different providers have different ways of doing things, so make sure to check the fine print when you sign up.
If you get to a point where you’ve been enjoying your internet for a month and there’s still no word of your gift card, you’ll want to get in touch to find out what the situation is. Gift offers can expire after a few months, so make sure you’re enquiring sooner rather than later to avoid missing out.