Thinking of buying an S7 via Giff Gaff just for the phone, then cancelling the goodybag.
On their site it says that I can buy it for £25 upfront, then £23 pm over 24 months.. I have to buy the cheapest goodybag at £10, but as I've said I'll cancel that asap.

I will then use my own Three sim in it which I have unlimited everything for £20 pm.

This leaves me paying £43 per month for an S7 with unlimited everything which on the face of it is a decent deal. The cheapest equivalent from Three is £54 pm. (£260 difference over the two years).

Yes I could wait until my 12 month sim only contract is up in Feb, but my Note 3 is on it's last legs and I could really do with a replacement now.

Can anyone see any problems with the above scenario, or do you know a better way?

Thanks for taking the time

You're paying a £100 too much. You can buy this phone unlocked for £450. Why would you pay over the odds?

I have too much to pay out atm, so don't have the cash spare. Monthly payments will have to do I'm afraid.

Nothing to commit you to giff gaff after that first goodybag. You might even get away with a £5 or £7.50 one. No need to cancel the goodybag, just make sure you don't sign up for any auto renew or auto top up options.

Why not give the Giffgaff network a go ? Where I live Giffgaff gets a far superior signal to 3

I need the unlimited data package, plus their feel at home services as we have trips to the USA planned as well as Spain.
I would do as Faust suggested and pay outright, but the above trips combined with some major changes to the house means that I'd rather just do it on the monthly. I'm still saving £260 compared to taking out the same plan with Three.

Other than that I'm just looking to see if there's any pitfalls with my original idea?

If you need a loan should you really be getting the phone?

Did you actually read any of the thread?

Edit; Just to clarify.. I have to spend a lot of actual cash money on changing things in my house. Approximately a couple of thousand quid. This is something I can't put off, nor do I want to do it via finance as I have budgeted for it.
I'm also in the process of paying for a holiday to the states (also in cash) and I have to pay for some flights to Spain three weeks after that.
All of the above leave my cash outgoings a tad stretched, so I'd rather not push things too far with Christmas coming up I thought I'd just get the phone on a payout equivalent to or better than a tariff from a phone provider.

So please no lectures on my monetary affairs thank you.

Rather than pay loan APR rates of 15-25% from giffgaff why not stick it on a credit card, most of which have much lower rates, even 0% offers, then you can:

a) buy from where is cheapest or where you're going to be able to take it back if issues
b) not have to pay the more expensive APR rates from giffgaff
c) not going to have to deal with cancelling goodybags or network locks etc

My online loan which is approved within minutes from my bank for when I changed my car is 3.3%.

Yeah you're probably right, Gif Gaff apr is 19% Apr.
Thanks, will have a look into it.

Not going to comment on anything as i think everything has been said, but you wont go far wrong with an S7, brilliant phones all round!

Another thumbs up for me to that.

Definitely. There are tonnes of 0% purchase credit cards on offer at the moment. Since giffgaff/Ratesetter are quite strict with their lending criteria, anyone who can get a phone loan off them should be able to get a good deal on a credit card.

I've been approved with them but haven't done anything yet. Still looking around though.

Looking at the OP's post, he or she simply cannot afford a new phone. If the old one is working stick with it.

I'm on Gran Canaria now and will be in Minnesota before the New Year but...I can afford it

I'm just not sure who in their right mind would pay £200 in interest for a £500 phone handset loan that's all.

That seems an unecessarily snippy post. Especially from someone who seems so keen to broadcast their good fortune.

I'm usually one of the first to call out unaffordable spending, having fallen victim to it myself and paid the price a very long time ago.

However, to be fair to the OP - at a glance it looks more like a cashflow issue rather than an affordability issue. There are times when it is prudent and sensible to use intelligent borrowing to overcome a short term cashflow problem. If the current phone is about to keel over, good on the OP for taking the time to investigate the best way to replace it at a time when other upfront spending must take priority.

For what it's worth, my advice would be a 0% card as suggested by others, and then pay it off in full before the 0% rate lapses. Set up a direct debit to make sure you don't fall into the trap of still carrying a balance when the rate is hiked up.