Going to Turkey is definitely exciting, I mean have you seen those hot air balloons pics in Cappadocia before? They're stunning and magnificent!
TL:DR
We tried Vodafone at RM 98 for the 10-day trip, had a good experience.
Which Turkey SIM card to use when travelling there?
So let me give you a little background. In Turkey, there are 3 main mobile operators, namely Turkcell, Vodafone and Turk Telekom. Turkcell has the biggest subscriber base, with Vodafone as the second largest, followed by Turk Telecom. If you would like to know more, you can check this link to see the latest figures.
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| Check it out here |
Should you purchase the Turkey SIM Card at the airport?
There is no right or wrong with purchasing the SIM card first or after arriving in Turkey. However, since we are traveling in a big group, we'd figured that if we get it in advance, it will save a lot of time when we are there.In order to skip the hassle of stopping or queuing at the airport, we decided to purchase the SIM card in advance. Our friend helped to check some of the options available in local e-commerce site Lazada and we ended up choosing this - https://bit.ly/34tImus
Review of the Turkey Turkey SIM card - Vodafone:
Price
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RM 98 for 10 GB of data
(we enjoyed discount as we bought in bulk) |
Validity
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10 days
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Waiting time
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We received it the day after payment was made, FAST!
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Link
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Connection
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Fast, strong and stable
Throughout the whole journey traveling in Turkey 【Locations that we travelled to - Canakkale, Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara, Bolu】the data coverage were consistently excellent.
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Instructions
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You need to contact the person to activate the SIM card one day before departure. Just drop a text, easy as ABC ;)
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Friendly reminder: The SIM doesn't come with the PIN, please bring along yourself
What about other Turkey SIM Card?
As I mentioned, we went with Vodafone so I didn't get to try other networks. However someone in our group did purchase Turk Telekom and did not have a good experience as there were disconnections on and off.
Additional information:
Do you need to purchase mobile data in Turkey?
If you have read the above, I guess you're thinking about getting a SIM card for internet usage in Turkey. So the next question that you have might be: "Is it needed for everyone to get their SIM card?"Well the answer actually depends greatly on the user. If you want to share every moment, like posting Instagram Stories or going live in Facebook, then it's definitely a yes. You can also ensure that you are able to stay connected with the group of people whom you are traveling with via Whatsapp, WeChat or any messaging platforms.
Other than that, almost all the hotels that we stayed provided WiFi. If you don't need it for those #InstaMoments, then you don't really have to get it.
Guys I made a video below compiling some of the Instagram Stories that I have posted during Turkey trip, check it out :)
Hope you enjoy your trip in Turkey as well!
-Love, Mel
