Turkcell "Packets" - Worth knowing

[DavidNicholson]

Hi,

All you clever folk probably already know this, but I only found out last September, so thought it would be good to share with those that do not know.

I went to buy Turkcell Kontors to top up the Turkish mobile, and the guy asked me if I was going to be phoning UK. I said yes, and he said I would be better off with "packets".  He then said that for 10 Lira I could speak to the UK for 1 hour, but I could only buy "packets" once in any month.  I said that I was only out for a couple of weeks and bought 3 packets for 30 Lira, for 3 hours talk-time.

Thinking I might have been scammed, I was quick to check and delighted to find that I had bought 3 hours talk-time to UK.  He gave me a different balance checking code for the packets, and that tells you how many minutes you have left for that month.  The best bit is that it even worked when calling UK mobiles.

When we came back this year in May, I went back to the same guy, asked for "packets", and for 20 Lira bought 2 hours talk-time to UK. 

The phone still used the Kontors for calls to Turkish numbers and for texts, but all calls to both UK landlines and UK mobiles, were included within the packets.

I shall be doing the same again at the end of next week, when we are out for another couple of weeks.

I hope that this is of interest, and of use to some who may not already know about it.

Cheers.

[nichola]

Which particular Turkcell shop did you go to. There are several and most don't have staff that speak English.

Good share btw   

[desmartinson]

You don't have to go into a turkcell shop Dave, if you have a turkcell phone  account, just text 2222,  message  AVRUPA 1 SAAT, and make sure you have enough credit on your phone and you are up and running, its only 9 lira by the way for 60 mins to any English mobile or landline.   

[DavidNicholson]

Well that's a good tip about being able to do it yourself - thanks.

Would I be right in thinking that if you replace the "1" with a "2" or a "3", you would get 2 hours, or 3 hours?  The other thing is that our Turkish mobile is a Pay as You Go, so does that qualify as having an account?

Where I bought my "packets" was actually at the Turkcell Kiosk inside Azda in Hisaronu.  Same guy in September 13 and May 14.

[desmartinson]

Yes Dave, that's correct, mine is pay as you go, by account I just meant it has been registered with turkcell, so I go into turkcell shop to put credit on, normally keep about 30 lira on it as I use my Turkish phone a lot, hardly ever use an English phone now.   

[nichola]

Can this be used if you have a contract phone as opposed to pay as you go? And what is the code for checking how much credit is left. And lastly Des is there a space between the words in the text message?

I've got a friend in hospital at the moment and it costs a fortune to ring UK mobiles on Skype or the hospitals robyoublind patient phones.

[karaokemark]

Nichola I pay 23 euros a year on skype which allows me to ring any UK landline free all day everyday, also only about 20p min. for mobiles and 6p for texts

[desmartinson]

Can this be used if you have a contract phone as opposed to pay as you go? And what is the code for checking how much credit is left. And lastly Des is there a space between the words in the text message?

I've got a friend in hospital at the moment and it costs a fortune to ring UK mobiles on Skype or the hospitals robyoublind patient phones.

I would assume it can be used on contract phone Nichola, nothing stopping you giving it a try, just text 2222 then message in capitals AVRUPA 1 SAAT,  yes that is a space between message. if it has worked you will get a text back instantly.    the code for checking how much left is  *123*42#   press enter.   ps This is to any UK mobile and Landline.

[nichola]

Nichola I pay 23 euros a year on skype which allows me to ring any UK landline free all day everyday, also only about 20p min. for mobiles and 6p for texts

Thanks Mark, I do have a London number courtesy of Skype and a package which although I can't make free calls unless it is Skype to Skype does mean I can ring landlines in the UK and many other countries very cheaply, about 1pm a minute and of course people can ring me also very cheaply.

Phoning mobiles at 20p per minute is £12 per hour which is a bit more than my Skype costs to mobiles last time I looked and is what I call pretty expensive coupled with the fact no phone call to my friends lasts less than an hour and more likely two hours.Not all my fiends can afford landlines or internet connections and rely on dongles and the download from Skype is pretty high and costly for them.

So this Turkcell deal seems pretty good by comparison, just over £8 for 3 hours talk time to mobiles at the current exchange rate.

Des, is the deal month to month or is it from the date you start to the same date the following month. Thanks all for your help.

[janmack]

That really is worth knowing...thanks a million