Hey there

My parents have just had their aging iPad 2 replaced today after having it stolen. They've bought an Air 2 4G model as they would like to be able to use it wherever they are, but cellular usage is likely to be relatively low and infrequent (no, they don't have a smart phone with data so can't use a phone as a hotspot!).

I'm therefore looking at the best options for them for data; can anyone in the know on this please offer some advice?

The various cheapest main plans from the telcos for data only are:

Skinny: 2GB / $30 / 60 days
2 Degrees: 1GB / $20 / carry-over up to a year
Spark: 500MB / $15 / month?
Vodafone: seems to be 500MB / $20 / month  ("add on")

All of the above are really far more than they require, given usage will be low (at least initially) and irregular, so I wonder if any of the following would be more suitable?

2 Degrees NZ Data Packs:
Prepay: 100MB / $6 / month (auto-renews)
Pay Monthly: 100 MB / $5 / month (auto-renews)

They're currently with 2 Degrees for both their mobiles (again used infrequently) - how do these data packs work? Do they need to purchase a standard 2 degrees nano SIM and then have the $6 prepay pack loaded against this number? And can they do this with no other services against that number? Or do they have to specifically purchase a data SIM?  

Skinny's casual data rates is now 20c a MB - which for their casual purposes may be adequate. Would this rate be available if they purchased a standard Skinny nano SIM and stuck that in the iPad? If so, do they have to initially stick it in a mobile phone, as I recall sometimes an initial call needs to be made to register it on the network.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can provide.