Safaricom’s All In One Monthly Bundles Versus Ordinary Monthly Bundles Versus Platinum: Which Plan to Go For

At the moment, there is no shortage of data plans from Kenya’s mobile operators. All of them have their strong suits and setbacks, which makes the selection process of the best plan, especially for groups with multiple SIMs a challenge. Want reliability? Safaricom wins at that, but their offers are priced higher than others’. Need a bang for your buck? Well, Faiba 4G is the undisputed king, but its service has been deteriorating and is still limited to select towns in the country. Want a balanced bundle that allows you to make calls to other networks, send SMS and still enjoy a substantial amount of data nuggets for your online activities? Airtel Kenya does just that, but its coverage, while improving, is still subject to inconsistencies, unless you live near large towns. Telkom, contrastingly, offers the best of all mobile products, but it is still growing, meaning some areas are yet to be served (which could change with the imminent launch of Project Loon).

Anyway, this piece will, however, address the differences between Platinum bundles, normal 30-days bundles and the recently launched All In One Monthly bundle because the products are, for the most part, very similar, yet vastly different owing to the customers they aim to serve. In particular, Platinum, as much as it is marketed as a bundle for any person, is more of a reserve for a premium customer who flies out of the country from time to time (thus, the inclusion of international minutes that are missing in the former). Also, Platinum has additional extras, such as discounts at Shell as you juice your car, EatOut and Ticketsasa, as well as access to business class lounges in select airports. Cool stuff for premium customers. On the other hand, All In One Bundles are there for the common man/woman who needs flexibility. For instance, and depending on your usage, you may need more minutes or data on your device. All In One allows you to do just that and stretches the flexibility over a KES 1000 to KES 10,000 range, which is also the same range available on Platinum.

It is also worth noting that you can skip all the data plan variations and go for normal monthly bundles that are not supplemented by any pluses.

That aside, let’s see the differences between the three.

Several inferences can be made from the table above:

1. The ordinary monthly bundles are less rewarding than their counterparts, making them hard to purchase for many. Luckily, their base price is low (KES 250 for 350 MBs and KES 500 for 2 GB – both with free WhatsApp during the bundle’s validity period).
2. Platinum is a reserve for the few, and while its extras are appealing, the lion’s share of Safaricom customers are not in a position to enjoy them.
3. The All In One Monthly option is a better buy, although it lacks in one aspect: SMS. Those SMS are available for Platinum users, so there is that.
4. The minutes available for All in One Monthly Bundle and Platinum can be used on any network, which is a plus for many.

Platinum is also available with a Plus option and is further explained in mySafaricom app or you can refer to this piece.

So what, which plan offers the best value? Engage us in the comments section below.