Forum Discussion
Paying for isage in turkey.
Lyndsey_2218234 When you roam in Turkey, the charge is 10p per megabyte - so that is £102.40 p per Gigabyte . In other words, eye-wateringly expensive! This detail is given in the Smarty Price Guide on page 20.
Is there no wi-fi where you are?
A cheaper alternative - if you have a modern phone - is to buy a data Esim from one of the many online companies that offer them.
As an example, I have used Roamless in some countries; in Turkey they charge $2.45 for a Gigabyte, which is a fraction of the £102.40! You put credit on the Esim account and, if you do not use it all it stays there for another time and any of the other currently 203 countries where they operate.
Another company I have used is Airalo. They offer a variety of packages for Turkey and all are hugely much cheaper than Smarty roaming there.
How much data do your boys use? May as well ask how long is a piece of string? You could check their data usage in their phone settings and that may give you an idea (but only if they regularly zero the figures), but while sitting around on holiday they may use a lot more. You could also tell them that when they use up what you are offering, then that's that!!
Thankyou i will look into am esim. They probably only use max 2gb a week but might be more on holiday. Myself aswell i like to browse. There is wifi in the hotel and i dont think we will be out of it much so hopefully will all work out.
If you can't do the eSim option,most phones still aren't compatible. I'd recommend Lebara, order a free PAYG SIM of their website or you can buy one for about £1 in b&m or similar at the checkout if you don't have time. Once it comes put it in a phone and it'll register by itself without topping up, call it from another phone so it's been used in the UK before you go. Then go to the roaming section of the website type in Turkey and you'll have the option to buy a 8 day package 2gb package for £5 or 15 day 5gb for £10. Buy one of these just before you go and your set. After the trip you can just throw it away and go back to your normal SIM.
You also have the option to buy a local sim card when there, but I found this very expensive last year with cheapest options being about £25 if you're a tourist.
Thankyou will look into this if esim isn’t compatible. Only issue with this is not having the same phone number for myself.
Lyndsey_2218234 If you go down the Esim route, then you normally get data rather than calls or texts. In that case, you can call people (and a number of businesses) using an app like WhatsApp. That way, you are still identified to people you call.
