PAYG Classic in Turkey

[Exazet]

I'm off to Turkey for a short holiday soon. Not usually being much of a traveller I don't think I've ever used my phone from abroad before, certainly not since Brexit (though Turkey's not in the EU anyway, and I think it's outside O2's Europe zone). I'm on Classic PAYG because I rarely use anything but WiFi so I don't really expect to make/receive calls or texts while I'm away, but I had a quick look to see how it would work if I did. The rates seem very steep (£2/minute, 50p/text, £7.20/MB) and I gather I would even be charged £2/min for any incoming calls.

I'm trying to work out what options are available to me but I'm finding it all a bit confusing - I don't know my roamings from my bolt-ons, which options apply to PAYG "Classic" (or if that's different from any other PAYG) and so on. Can some kind soul more familiar with such things shed some light on it for me? I guess ideally I'd like to be able to make/receive calls & texts if necessary without it costing an arm and a leg, though I'd rather not have to buy an expensive option that I most likely won't use.

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@Exazet 

It will be expensive whichever way you go.

Best route would be to use WhatsApp for calls and texts over a wifi network.

Guide: Roaming MegaGuide 

[Exazet]

Fair enough, and thanks for the remarkably quick response.

I'm not a WhatsApp user but IIUC using that or similar would basically be messaging and VOIP within the app's ecosystem and separate from the mobile network, i.e. incoming mobile calls wouldn't be routed to WhatsApp and outgoing WhatsApp calls wouldn't be routed from it out to the mobile network?

Probably best for me is to just avoid using the phone except in emergencies, and to reject any incoming calls unless they're from family and likely to be important. Presumably calls that go to voicemail (and not picked up while abroad) aren't subject to the charge for received calls? I guess I can't prevent text messages arriving though. Would I get charged for receiving those - if so, is there any way I can disable them for the duration?

[MI5]

@Exazet 

Any VOIP service should be used on a wifi network, otherwise it would use mobile data and be charged.

Voicemail should be switched off before you leave the UK as calls to voicemail are still charged Guide: All you need to know about O2 Voicemail 901 

Text (SMS) messages are always free to receive.

[Exazet]

Understood about VOIP, and good to know that SMS are always free to receive. Surprised that calls going to voicemail and not picked up are charged, that could have been very unwelcome - thanks for the tip about disabling it!

[MI5]

You're welcome @Exazet 

[Exazet]

Actually, my wife just drew my attention to this on O2's Voicemail 901 Help & Support page:

If you’re abroad, it costs the same to listen to a voicemail as it does to make a call to the UK. There’s no charge for receiving a message if you don’t listen to it.

... which seems to indicate that calls going to voicemail don't incur a charge like received calls would. In that case, presumably I wouldn't have to disable voicemail (as long as I don't pick them up until returing to the UK, of course). Am I reading that right?

[MI5]

@Exazet 

We know that not to be true.

The problem is that the call is routed to the foreign network and then back to the UK when voicemail answers the call, so you get charged for the length of call back to your voicemail.

The only time this doesn't apply is if you are roaming in the EU where calls to UK are included for free.

[Exazet]

Ooh, nasty! And very bad of O2 to make such a misleading statement on their web site - strikes me as a false claim.

[MI5]

Many have found that out the hard way in the past @Exazet 

Hence we will always advise members who come here to ask first 👍