How to purchase Maxis Hotlink 365 validity when you’re stuck in Singapore
If you are one of the few that still the old Maxis Hotlink Bagus plan, you are still able to continue to purchase a 365 validity to Hotlink prepaid plan. And you will need to go through the Maxis *100# menu on your phone to do that. However, the *100# menu will not have the option for your hotlink line to add the 365 validity in Singapore when its roaming on Singtel or StarHub network.
Usually, I would purchase this add-on when I head back to Malaysia for the Chinese New Year break. But due to COVID-19, there’s no easy way to go across the borders. Therefore, you will need to head to the part of Singapore that is nearest to Malaysia to get this going.
Purchasing the Hotlink 365 validity from Singapore
Firstly, as I mentioned, you need to be on the old Bagus rate plan. If you’re not already on it, you will need to call up the service agent and see if they would switch you to it. I had this plan all the while since Maxis introduced it along with the 365 validity. This plan and validity add-on unfortunately is no longer offered today. That is shame for, especially for us Malaysians that live abroad while needing to still maintain a Malaysian mobile for services that only allows Malaysia mobile numbers to perform transactions.
Anyways, back to topic. As I mentioned, the main thing you need is to get your phone on the Maxis network. The *100# Easy Menu only shows the option to add-on the 365 validity when you are on the Maxis network. Otherwise, you will only find options to add-on data roaming packages in Singapore.
Get yourself to Woodlands!
Specifically, the Woodlands Waterfront park.
I believe you might also be able to get access to the Maxis network if you’re high enough in a HDB or condominium block when you are around most of Woodlands area. But since I was driving to the area, I figured I might as well go right to the edge of the island where you can literally see Johor Bahru across the Causeway.
Using the *100# Easy Menu to purchase 365 validity
Once you are on the Maxis network, the rest of the steps are just a few menu option selections using the *100# Easy Menu. Just make sure you have at least RM33 of balance in your Hotlink account. That’s what it cost to purchase the validity.
- Dial *100# on the phone
- Reply 01 for the Next Page
If you are on the iPhone, the reply button is on the top right of the display. Took me a while to see it. 🤦♂️
- Select MyAccount and Others
- You will see the option to Buy Validity now. Reply to select the option
- Obviously we want the 365 validity option. Notice that this will start from the day you purchase it. All existing validity would be “lost”. If you ask me, this is daylight robbery, but what can we do.
- Maxis has also removed the option for the 365 validity to be automatically renewed. Only a One-off subscription is available now.
- After this, you would get a response that this is completed and you can check the validity of your Hotlink line in the next 15 minutes. But if you check on the Hotlink app right after this is done, you can see that the validity has been extended for a year.
And that’s it! If you have an easier way to do this. Do let me know in the comments as well.
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I believe you can get to the normal *100# menu from anywhere in the world. I can do so from any country. First enter *100# and then select Option 6 to get the ‘normal’ version of it that you’d get in MY.
I’ve tried all the options available when you’re in Singapore and I cannot get to the normal options. Otherwise, I’ve not bothered to head over to Woodlands 😄