Do NOT buy a Turkish sim card at the airport in Antalya - Updated!

I travel a lot (16 countries in 2022!) and normally, I don’t have any qualms about buying a sim card at an airport. It’s the easiest option, and typically, you don’t end up paying much more than you would in the city or town you’re heading to (in my experience at least).

Goodness me, was Antalya different. And I get it, sometimes a sim card is a must-get as soon as you land. You usually need to navigate your way to your accommodation, and of course, it’s a lot easier with a sim card and data.

Antalya Airport (courtesy of the Antalya Airport website)

This time though, I wish I waited. To paint the picture, you come out of the arrival hall, and on your right, are two phone shops. One is Vodafone, and I forget the other one, but, there was no-one manning the stall anyway.

I’d also like to point out, that my mind was not at its sharpest when buying said sim card. I was incredibly sleep deprived (I left France at 4pm the day before, flew to London, London to Istanbul, Istanbul to Antalya). In fact, I had no sleep (I always struggle to sleep on planes), so I didn’t check things I should have done, namely converting Turkish Lira to British Pounds.

I should also have clicked, when I was offered a TurkCell package, rather than Vodafone, that this was not an official outlet, but you know, I was tired.

In the end, I was upsold to a 50gb package, and I ended up paying 1,699 lira (£73.91) for the privilege. It’s all a bit misleading, as you see the big Vodafone sign, and automatically presume it’s a Vodafone premises. This was not the case though, as they were their own company, so, they can charge higher prices.

I’ve been in Antalya since then, and have seen so many better deals than the one I purchased. And there are official shops in a lot of places in and around the old town, and in malls etc. It's also worth pointing out, that these simcards only last for a month as well before you have to get a new one, or top the old one up. If you're on a short holiday, great! But, if like me you travel for longer, then this is something to keep in mind.

Of course, this is all on me, as I ultimately paid for it. But, I wanted to make other travellers aware that there are a lot of better options, if you can wait until you reach the city. Talk about a tourist tax.

Update:

So, as you can see in the comments, if you do want to get a simcard at the airport, please do! I have since made a return journey to Turkey, and did not go the regular simcard route, instead I went very 2023, and purchased an e-sim, BEFORE I flew to the country.

I used the Airalo app, downloaded it before I flew, and I purchased the Turkey eSIM before I'd even flown, as I was arriving in the country late, so wanted to make sure I was covered. It's incredibly easy to buy the eSIM, and I was impressed with the competitive rate. I purchased a 5GB package for only 12$, and I knew this would cover me until I reached my destination at least (actually lasted a lot longer). Airalo sometimes have sales on as well, and at the time of writing, the aforementioned 5gb card costs just $6.

Most newer phone models are equipped with eSIM's, and Airalo provide detailed instructions on how to add the Turkish sim card to your phone. ESIM's will absolutely be the method I go down now, at least until I have the opportunity to shop around in the place I am visiting, and potentially get a new one.

The app is detailed and lets you know how much data you have left. This was my first time using an eSIM, and as mentioned, count me converted. This is way easier/cheaper than buying a sim-card at the airport, and this is what I recommend you do ahead of your flight to Turkey, or anywhere else. I think this is the most stressfree way to go about things, and it's a great feeling knowing you'll have data when you land.

If you want to try it out, then why not use my code, and get $3 off your first eSIM purchase with Airalo! A 1GB eSIM with this code would only cost you $1.50, or a 2GB eSIM would cost just $3.50, and you'll be covered as soon as you land, and this will definitely help you on your way to your next stop.

Sign up here (referral code should populate automatically), or use the code DAVID8186 at checkout, and you'll get the $3 off your first eSIM purchase!

If you have any questions on the eSIM, just leave a comment!