"Parking" my mobile number while I leave the country

[kropotkin]

Am I right in thinking that this will work:

I am about to finish a 12-month phone contract next month.
A few weeks after this finishes I leave the country for three months. I obviously don't want to get a new contract and pay for it while not using it.
I think I have found a way of keeping my number and not really paying anything- can you guys tell me if this will work?

I am going to request a PAC code from my current provider (O2). Then I'm going to get a super-cheap Pay As You Go SIM card, call the provider and transfer the number to the new card. I assume that if I put some credit on the account and then leave it for 3 months it will all still be active when I get back- thus saving my number from being reallocated and me from being shafted for upwards of £75?

 

[subversplat]

Transfer it to o2 PAYG, I guarantee that your credit (and hence, phone number) will last for three months. Also you probably won't need to fuck with PACs and they'll send you a free sim.

 

[zenie]

Yeh that'll work, however I was told you can't make a PAYG chip into a contract chip. But the bloke might've been bullshitting me.

 

[subversplat]

Yeh that'll work, however I was told you can't make a PAYG chip into a contract chip. But the bloke might've been bullshitting me.

Orange are always trying to get me to go from PAYG to contract, so I think they're bullshitting