One of the first things I did when I got here was to get a pay-as-you-go SIM card, since it still costs a lot to use international mobiles across Europe (although it's much cheaper than it once was). Anyway, it's the kind of thing you're going to want to do if you're staying here for longer than a few weeks, and because I was looking for an apartment and needed to speak to agents, I knew it would be cheaper.
Of course, there's no reason you can't get a contract mobile if you're going to be here for a while, but I'm a guy and so phone conversations usually consist of "Hi", "yeah good thanks, how about you?", "okay, 8 o'clock - at Szimpla?", "yep, okay, see you then" - and that takes all of 45 seconds, so a contract phone with "free" minutes, and all the other nonsense that some people find useful, wasn't worth it for me. So I just looked up some of the big mobile companies websites to find out what they were offering. After a chat with my Hungarian friend, I settled on T-Mobile and their Domino scheme.
There are quite a few mobile phone shops across the city, but I to the T-Mobile shop on Petőfi Sándor utca 12, in the 5th District, just because it was nearby. They have an electronic ticket system for queuing, and thankfully you could choose English, so I was able to get a ticket for Mobile Sales, rather than some other department. When it was eventually my turn (it took at least 15 minutes, which is a long time to sit in a phone showroom with nothing but smart phones to look at, btw I'm not in the slightest bit interested in smart phones - my phone makes calls and sends SMSs, so it's smart enough). The girl I spoke to fortunately spoke good English, but I noticed that some of the others didn't - there was a late 50s German guy who was clearly having some trouble explaining something. All I needed was my passport, an address, and some cash to pay for it - and the girl installed the card straight away - the domino contract I got seems quite cheap and the card cost about 5000 forint (about 17 euros) and included some credit, so I really can't complain.
The only thing I've found slightly annoying is that I've no idea how to check my balance, and see how much credit I have left - if I work that one out I'll post it here.
Update (28/03/14):
To check balance on T-Mobile Domino dial *102# and press call.
You see a message displayed.
"Egyenleg" Means balance.
(Thanks John!)
Update (28/03/14):
To check balance on T-Mobile Domino dial *102# and press call.
You see a message displayed.
"Egyenleg" Means balance.
(Thanks John!)
Hey! Did you remember how to check the balance of the Domino card? I just moved to Hungary and purchased one. The operator only speaks Hungarian, so I am lost!
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Ashley
Hi Ashley - I have to admit that I never worked that one out. I'd receive a text message when my balance got to about 500 forint. You can try and call the number on the t-mobile page here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.t-mobile.hu/english/customer_centre/contact
They claim that you can get help in English, although tbh I'm a little sceptical.
If you get an OTP bank account you can topup your mobile via the netbank function, which is what I ended up doing.
Hope that helps! :-)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Budapest (and Vienna and Prague) for holidays and I was looking to have internet on my mobile phone.
The internet data plans are not problem, I undestand them, but I don't know if you have to have a call plan as well before or you can, directly, have a sim card with internet and then pay the calls on the side.
Do you know how much cost a SIM card with T mobile, just with internet?
Thank you!!
Hi Arilena,
ReplyDeleteI had a separate Internet connection, but from what I remember you can buy a sim card just for the Internet or get a joint Internet + Phone sim. I didn't pay that much for my phone sim, about €20 euros including some credit - I think the Internet sim cards cost about the same, but tbh there are lots of cafés offering free wifi, so you may be better off with those (my favourite was Café Puskin on Semmelweis utca :-)
Otherwise, just contact t-mobile and they can give you a definitive answer ...
http://www.t-mobile.hu/english?WT.ac=fejlec_english
:-)
Thanks for posting! Leaving for Hungary on the 24th and am concerned about getting a sim card. Do you know if you can get one at the airport? Fortunately, I'm going with my dad who is Hungarian and can translate!
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can get one at the airport, but you if you go into a T-Mobile or other shop it's a simple process - it should only take 10-20 minutes.
ReplyDeleteYou can find the addresses of the shops on the websites.
I found this on the T-Mobile site. Hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteMonthly plan customers 1430
press 2 for English,
Prepaid customers 1777
press 9 for English,
To check balance on T-Mobile Domino dial *102# and press call.
ReplyDeleteYou see a message displayed.
"Egyenleg" Means balance.
tnx john McNeil.. fonud that helpful
ReplyDeleteDo these SIM cards work with an iPhone??
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you can ask for a micro-SIM card (or whatever one it is for your iPhone). But it also depends whether your iPhone is locked to a particular network - I'd check the details on your contract first.
Delete