Australian carrier lets customers win prizes with unused data
Virgin's promo highlights how your data normally goes down the drain.
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/VreeSzJu1fPivqOXOTWMqA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQ3OA--/https://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/65c33f9495a30d64f3bb737ee9556df9/203692994/virgin-australia-bidding-2016-04-15-02-ed.jpg)
Unless you roll it over, the unused mobile data you paid so dearly for is lost in time, like tears in ... rain. For a limited time, however, Virgin Mobile customers in Australia can transform those dead digits into phones, drones and other swag. To be sure, the "data auction" is a publicity stunt that mostly benefits Virgin, since there's but a single prize each day over the month-long promo. In addition, you have to bid all your remaining data, so you can only win once.
However, some of the items are pretty decent, including a Samsung Galaxy S7, DJI Phantom 3 drone and the grand prize, a $40,000 all-expenses paid trip to a private island in Fiji. If nothing else, the auction draws attention to the fact that while some subscribers do abuse unlimited data, most use a fraction of their paid allotment -- to your carrier's benefit, of course.