Vodaphone Connect & Charge - easy or massive queues?

[prestonmanc]

Stumbled across the Vodaphone Connect and Charge service via the official festival packing list recommendations (link below).  Essentially, £20 to pick up a newly charged power pack for your phone each day.

 

This sounds a good alternative to my current plan of buying a Nokia 110 for the festival, but my one reservation is the likelihood of having to queue for ages each day.

 

Anyone got any experience of this from previous years to report back on the process?  (I'd love to just be off grid for 5 days but having young kids with grandparents means needing to be contactable!).

 

Link - https://vodafone.seetickets.com/event/glastonbury-battery-pack-hire/vodafone-connect-charge/2973469

[al_coholic]

Just buy a INIU 20,000 mAh power bank for £20. 3-4 charges for the average phone

[Crazyfool01]

Yeah as above post 💯 saves the walk to get them and then the queue . I’d personally get one with a slightly higher capacity than that . 

[Joey Peeps]

Power bank as said above. A 26,000 will do you the whole festival, I got one for £25.

[StuwieG]

There is no queue normally though. Just walk straight up and swap it. 

[prestonmanc]

  On 6/5/2024 at 8:12 PM, StuwieG said:

There is no queue normally though. Just walk straight up and swap it. 

Expand  

Thanks!

[4AssedMonkey]

  On 6/5/2024 at 8:12 PM, StuwieG said:

There is no queue normally though. Just walk straight up and swap it. 

Expand  

I’d say this is time dependent. Between opening in the morning and the main stages kicking off Fri/Sat/Sun it can be a fair queue. Moves fast though. Like others say, I take a 20,000 mah power bank. Sees me through 5 days.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

And save battery by putting your phone in airplane mode when you're not using it

[Johnnyseven]

  On 6/5/2024 at 9:10 PM, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

And save battery by putting your phone in airplane mode when you're not using it

Expand  

 

And switching it off when you're asleep.

[kalifire]

People queuing up for ages to charge their phone during peak Glasto time is one of the enduring mysteries of the festival for me. Just bonkers behaviour.

[nikkic]

I can’t stress enough that buying a power bank should be the option here. 

Please don’t waste precious Glastonbury time. 

[CharlotteB]

Does the Vodafone thing really cost £20 or is it a £20 deposit?

[Ayrshire Chris]

  On 6/5/2024 at 7:23 PM, prestonmanc said:

Stumbled across the Vodaphone Connect and Charge service via the official festival packing list recommendations (link below).  Essentially, £20 to pick up a newly charged power pack for your phone each day.

 

This sounds a good alternative to my current plan of buying a Nokia 110 for the festival, but my one reservation is the likelihood of having to queue for ages each day.

 

Anyone got any experience of this from previous years to report back on the process?  (I'd love to just be off grid for 5 days but having young kids with grandparents means needing to be contactable!).

 

Link - https://vodafone.seetickets.com/event/glastonbury-battery-pack-hire/vodafone-connect-charge/2973469

Expand  

Depends on the time of day but we invested in two power banks, so much more convenient. Recharging on the move rather than getting frustrated queuing. As regular campers we make use of them other times as well as festivals.

Edited June 6, 2024 by Ayrshire Chris

[Franky]

It’s irrelevant unless you’re on the Vodaphone network or one of it piggy back networks. 
 

You won’t get signal otherwise. 

[A Particular Grey Chihuahu]

  On 6/6/2024 at 6:46 AM, Franky said:

It’s irrelevant unless you’re on the Vodaphone network or one of it piggy back networks. 
 

You won’t get signal otherwise. 

Expand  

 

Really? I've heard differing opinions about this.

[ramblingmad]

Can anyone recommend a solar battery pack? My partner seems quite keen on one but from what I can tell they are more hassle than it's worth.

 

I also decided to buy a chunky phone that needs a lot of charging so tempted by the vodaphone option to be honest. Do the vodaphone chargers have enough juice to charge two phones without having to get a new one?

Edited June 6, 2024 by ramblingmad

[Crazyfool01]

  On 6/6/2024 at 7:04 AM, ramblingmad said:

Can anyone recommend a solar battery pack? My partner seems quite keen on one but from what I can tell they are more hassle than it's worth.

 

I also decided to buy a chunky phone that needs a lot of charging so tempted by the vodaphone option to be honest. Do the vodaphone chargers have enough juice to charge two phones without having to get a new one?

Expand  

Solar really doesn’t work that well In my opinion … the Voda batteries only have enough Juice to charge a phone for 1 day . So charging 2 phones that would get split . Think they are 5000mah  

[thewomble]

Echo what others have said and think you're best off taking your own, I personally wouldn't want to risk queues! I recently got this one: 

 

SOARAISE 26800mAh Power Bank 22.5W Quick Charge With Built in 2 Cables & 3 Outputs Portable Charger PD USB C External Battery Pack for Smartphone Tablets : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Have tried it out and got a fair few charges out of it. Would likely last the festival depending on how much you expect to use your phone. I'll be taking some smaller ones to put in my bag during the day and have another 20000mAh as a backup, it's just a little old now so doesn't charge as well as it used to. 

 

Lidl have a festival special on at the min and this looks like a pretty good deal, especially with £5 off if you have the Lidl app. Might go pick one up myself: 

Tronic 20,000mAh Power Bank - | Lidl UK

 

[Gnomicide]

As much as I'd recommend getting your own powerbank, the Vodafone ones are convenient. They're small, light, and apart from maybe on the first day, there aren't queues, you just walk up to the counter, swap the used one with a new one and away you go. 

 

The queues you see are for tge people using the chargers inside the place.

[timbrass]

To be safe best to carry one of these around with you!

[mjfromthelane]

  On 6/6/2024 at 7:50 AM, Gnomicide said:

As much as I'd recommend getting your own powerbank, the Vodafone ones are convenient. They're small, light, and apart from maybe on the first day, there aren't queues, you just walk up to the counter, swap the used one with a new one and away you go. 

 

The queues you see are for tge people using the chargers inside the place.

Expand  

 

You're still paying for something and having to alter your plans each day for something you could have in your tent for exactly the same cost?

 

How many counters are there on site?

[Avalon_Fields]

I’ve never, and never will, stand waiting for ages in their queues. Over the years I’ve gradually built up my power bank resource and now have extra capacity to loan out to friends. 

[Gnomicide]

  On 6/6/2024 at 8:36 AM, mjfromthelane said:

 

You're still paying for something and having to alter your plans each day for something you could have in your tent for exactly the same cost?

 

How many counters are there on site?

Expand  

 

Which is why I'd still recommend getting your own, but if your phone hasn't charged over night, a big ol' powerbank is just more weight to carry around.

 

I think there's just the one Vodafone place now, on the corner of Glade and Leftfield. A spot I'd walk past at least once a day. Plus you do get to keep it. 

[dotdash79]

  On 6/6/2024 at 8:51 AM, Gnomicide said:

 

I think there's just the one Vodafone place now, on the corner of Glade and Leftfield. A spot I'd walk past at least once a day. Plus you do get to keep it. 

Expand  

They said they had a couple more drop off / pick up points this year.  

[Gnomicide]

  On 6/6/2024 at 9:12 AM, dotdash79 said:

They said they had a couple more drop off / pick up points this year.  

Expand  

 

Ah, right. I'd not seen that. There used to be one out by Woodsies, presumably back there.