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.

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.

Of course, this is 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.