Seems really difficulty to get a sim on the hop.

As we are just be taken from the airport and than directly to nowhere :-) will be hard to find a cellphone store there.

Ok. We will have wifi, so that must be enough.
I have also a 250MB Europe Package on my Vodafone Germany Contract, so for Whatsapp/Email thats also enough...

Will cancel the first time in the last years to buy a local prepaid and use the home sim....
Wolf.

Well,

I just returned from a week in the Peloponnese.
Used a Wind mobile broadband prepaid card which cost me ~15Eur.
The guy in the store said it'd be valid for 7 days, in reality it was open for 8 days.
Reception was so-so, even in major cities.
When it did work, speed was OK.

Both Cosmote and Wind are offering 500MB for 5€ up to 30/4/2013:
COSMOTE Internet Monthly Pass 200
WIND Mobile Internet 100

With both you can buy several in the same month. With Cosmote you can delay the expiry date of unused data by buying subsequent 3€ bundles...

Cosmote has the widest 3G/HSPA coverage (almost everywhere) plus LTE coverage in Athens&Thessaloniki, Wind the worst (good in big cities but little coverage in the countryside ). no LTE from Wind yet, is planned at the end of 2013. Cosmote 3G/HSPA network is overloaded thus Wind's actual browsing/downloading speed (where 3G/HSPA is availiable) is better and faster than Cosmote's.

but Wind prepaid F2G cards offer 1GB for 5euro (500mb+500mb gift) valid for 1month http://www.wind.com.gr/en/f2g/bundles/ . activation only via internet at Free to Go
also Wind offers cheap bundles for calling back to Germany/UK/France/US/Canada etc.

i don't recommend Vodafone, expensive calling rates & internet bundles. medium 3G/HSPA coverage (worst than Cosmote better than Wind's). they just launched LTE in Athens

Hello guys!
I need somebody to post the setting for Vodafone Internet. I have a Vodafone International sim card, I activated 500MB option with 5 eur, but it refuse to connect. I asume is from the setting, somthing is wrong with the APN.
So can you help me please!

I'm not aware of a EUR5/500MB data option on Vodafone Greece SIM cards.

You can find the necessary settings on the "Vodafone" link of my signature.

There is such an option for the last two years or so. They just sell it as an "offer" to their 200MB (now 100MB) data option but their 500MB is extended every few months, just like the 500MB "offers" of Cosmote and Wind.

Since the guides on my signature are rather old, I'll prepare in a few days a new overview about the available prepaid data plans in Greece.

I'm using Cosmote internet pass 60 (Cosmokarte) because I can subscribe by SMS from this Nexus Android tablet. It would be cheaper to use internet pass 200 - which currently offers 500MB - but for that I would have to ring 1330 (I tried an SMS with '200' and '500' - doesn't work) which means moving the SIM into a phone and back so I haven't tried it.

Can anyone tell me what happens when you ring 1330? Is it a multiple-choice selection? Is it only in Greek? Any other way of subscribing?

That’s strange. I checked on a Greek forum and they claim that they can use the Internet Monthly Pass 200 by sending an SMS with '500' to 1330.

Alternatively, check my (old) overview on Cosmote here. Back then, there was again the same 500MB offer which was activated by sending '500' to 1333 not to 1330. So you can try the first number instead.

Another option is to activate it by ringing 1330 and see if they have an English language voice prompt. I’m not in Greece at the moment so I can’t check that out. Or you could call the customer service by ringing 13838 where they certainly have English speaking operators and they can certainly activate that internet option for you.

One last and more permanent option is to download the Cosmote What’s Up App from Google Play and activate/deactivate all the available data/voice/sms add-ons or check your remaining MBs/mins/SMS directly from there. If you don’t want to download the App, you can have almost the same functionality by visiting the site m.whatsup.gr from your Android browser.

I’m not sure if the above are available in English but it is relatively easy to activate the 500MB add-on. Just click the top link on the first page and then scroll down to the '500MB for 5€' option. But since both the App and the m.whatsup.gr work only with the What’s Up product, if you have the Cosmokarta instead of the What’s Up prepaid product, you can switch for free to What’s Up by sending an SMS (more info here).

This is another update of my older posts about the currently available prepaid data plans, add-ons and offers in Greece. This will be a shorter overview because all four mobile operators offer more or less the same data plans while they all have now comprehensive English sites. For more detailed information and useful tips check my older posts (links on my signature) and/or visit the English pages of the operators.


1. Pre-activated data plans
The following data plans are the default plans when you purchase a new SIM prepaid card or when you haven’t already activated some other data plan. They don’t charge anymore on volume basis but on daily basis. They offer 10-20MB per day for 1€ and after that they may (or may not) limit the connection speed (Cosmote and Vodafone) or they charge additionally (Wind and Q-Mobile).

• Cosmote Internet Day Pass: 20MB, 1€, no charge after consumption of the included MBs but possible speed limits
  COSMOTE: Internet Monthly Pass Prepaid
  
  
• Vodafone Internet All – Day: 10MB, 1€, no charge after consumption of the included MBs but possible speed limits
  Vodafone Internet All - Day - Vodafone.gr
  
  
• Wind Mobile Internet Daily: 20MB, 1€, charge after consumption of the included MBs €1/ 20ΜΒ (per ΚΒ)
  Mobile Internet Daily | WIND
  
  
• Q-Mobile Mobile Internet: 20MB, 1€, charge after consumption of the included MBs €1/ 20ΜΒ (per ΚΒ)
  Pricelist

2. Small volume data plans
The following data plans include 60MB (or 120MB on offer) per month for 3€. Most expire automatically after 30 days and there is usually no limit to the number of bundles a user can purchase within the 30 days. If you purchase a new plan within those 30 days the new 60MBs are added to any remaining MBs and the bundle is extended for additional 30 days. Tip: those plans are generally not recommended because the “Middle volume data plans” on the next section are most cost effective.

• Cosmote Internet Monthly Pass 60: 60MB, 3€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  COSMOTE: Internet Monthly Pass Prepaid
  
  
• Vodafone Surf & Email 60: 60MB (120MB until 30/09/2013), 3€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal (tip: choose the bundle without automatic renewal)
  Surf & Email 60 - Vodafone.gr
  
  
• Wind Mobile Internet 60: 60MB, 3€, you can buy only one bundle each month, with automatic renewal (see the Wind page for deactivation info)
  Mobile Internet 60 | WIND
  
  
• Q-Mobile Surf 120: 120MB, 3€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  Surf 120

3. Medium volume data plans
The following data plans generally include 120MB per month for 5€ but currently they offer 500 to 1024MB per month which makes them much more cost-effective than the previous “small volume data plans”. All expire automatically after 30 days and there is no limit to the number of bundles a user can purchase within the 30 days. If you purchase a new plan within those 30 days the new 500MBs are added to any remaining MBs and the bundle is extended for additional 30 days.

• Cosmote Internet Monthly Pass 200: 200MB (500MB until 30/07/2013), 5€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  COSMOTE: COSMOKARTA Exclusive Services
  
  
• Vodafone Surf & Email 100: 100MB (500MB until 30/09/2013), 5€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  Surf & Email 100 - Vodafone.gr
  
  
• Wind Mobile Internet 100: 100MB (500MB or 1024MB if you activate it online until 30/09/2013), 5€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  Mobile Internet 100 | WIND
  
  
• Q-Mobile Surf 500: 500MB, 5€, you can buy as many additional bundles as you like, no automatic renewal
  Surf 500

4. Large volume data plans
The following data plans are recommended for computers and tablets but of course you can use them on the phones as long as you are not interested on voice/SMS. The SIM card is a special card that does not offer voice, it offers only data and sometimes SMS (with a special application). The activation and the validity, balance/duration checks are performed only through a web interface.

• Cosmote Internet On The Go Prepaid: SIM-Only Starter Pack with 20€ credit: 20€, SIM & Modem Starter Pack with 40€ credit: 35€, Top-up: 2GB/15€/10days or 5GB/40€/30days
  COSMOTE: COSMOTE Internet On The Go Prepaid
  
  
• Vodafone KartoInternet: SIM-Only Starter Pack with included data access for 15 days: 20€, SIM & Modem Starter Pack with included data access for 30 days: 50€, Top-up: 2GB/20€/15days or 5GB/40€/30days
  Vodafone KartoInternet - Vodafone.gr
  
  
• Wind Mobile Broadband without contract: SIM-Only Starter Pack with included data access for 30 days: 14.90€, SIM & Modem Starter Pack with included data access for 30 days: 29.90€, SIM & WiFi Modem Starter Pack with included data access for 30 days: 49.90€, Top-up: 2GB/10€/7days or 3GB/30€/30days
  Mobile Broadband without contract | WIND

That's the most important information about the current prepaid mobile data offers in Greece. If you need additional information or if something is not covered please let me know and I will update this post.

I went to Greece in late April when Cosmote's website said you could use a '200' or '500' SMS so I expected it to work - I tried several times. But their website doesn't mention the SMS method now - except for 60MB.

I prefer SMS over online activation because I don't have to have an internet connection to start with. Presumably the Cosmote app works over the internet. I can send SMSes from my Nexus 7 with a modded messenger app.

I'm no longer in Greece, so I can't try the other methods until next year.

An update to my recent post about the currently available prepaid data plans and offers.

Two summer offers from Cosmote and Vodafone that give huge data volume for free:

• Cosmote: 1.5GB Mobile Internet for 15 days
  The offer is available from 29/07/2013 to 31/08/2013 and you can activate it by sending an SMS with the text 'surf' to 1256. More info here.
  
  
• Vodafone: 3GB Mobile Internet for 10 days
  The offer is available from 08/08/2013 to 18/08/2013 and it is automatically activated on your SIM card. More info (Google translated) here.

I topped up a Wind GR F2G SIM in April and the credit expires in April 2015. That's normal.
I topped up another one in June and it expires in December - 6 months. That's new. It's bad if, like me, you visit Greece once a year. The SIM always used to expire 12 months after the last topup.

Comokarte still seems to expire aftee 12 months.

Also Cosmokarta credit expires after 6 months. This bad 'trend' started by Vodafone on November 2012, followed by Wind and Cosmote last month.

It's important to know though that only the credit expires after 6 months. The validity of the SIM card is still 12 months. And this applies to all three operators.


More info, e.g. for Vodafone, here:

http://www.vodafone.gr/portal/client...=en&lang=en_EN

Wind Mobile Broadband 2014
 

Wind currently has an offer good until 31/8/2014 for a mobile broadband SIM at €14.90. It includes 30 days and 6GB data usage. (Their site says both 3 and 6 GB, but based on the SMS balance reply, it is 6 GB for me.)
http://www.wind.gr/en/for-individual...hout-contract/

Since I was used to the CosmOTE prepaid landing page, I was puzzled on how to activate it. I put it into my mobile broadband device and it started working. I wasn't sure what to do until I found the device received an SMS welcoming me. An SMS to 1228 with the command balance verified my 30 days had started.

Colleague reports that Cosmokarte credit still expiring after 12 months:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread...34#post4947534

The credit on my Frog Mobile from CosmOTE account did indeed expire in less than 12 months. I last updated in September 2014 and noted that the balance expiry was 6 months after the last top up. I had a voucher but I forgot to use it before arriving in Athens in May. The balance was zero, but no problem using the voucher to add credit. The number was still good.

I recently got a SMS 12 months after the last topup which said "...your connection will be deactivated tomorrow. In order to reactivate it you have to top it up within 30 days"

I was unable to top it up by SMS from the UK - I got 'service unavailable'.

I subsequently had an email from Cosmote 'customer care' recently which said:
"... we would like to inform you that the amount balance has 6 months duration and not 12 months as it used to be." It didn't mention SIM expiry.

So I assume that the SIM still expires 12 months from the last topup, plus 30 days grace.

That's incorrect, perhaps he was looking at the expiration date of the SIM, not the one of the credit. It's confirmed from numerous sources that the credit was expiring after 6 months. I say "was" because the situation recently is worsened.

Yes that's correct. The SIM validity is still 12 months in all three Greek mobile operators.

However, since last month (Cosmote) and as of today (Vodafone) the credit is reduced further to 90 days. Wind still keeps it at 180 days but I don't think they'll keep it for long.

More info for Cosmote (in english) here:
http://www.cosmote.gr/cosmoportal/pa...ARTA/loc/en_US

And for Vodafone (Google translate) here:
http://translate.google.com/translat...l%3D&sandbox=1

Frog Mobile from CosmOTE (http://www.frogmobile.gr/en/default.aspx) still lists expiry as 6 months (180 days). I'll update if the recharge message indicates a shorter duration.

And as predicted, Wind announced last week that as of 28 September 2015 the credit will expire in 90 days with the sim card validity still at 12 months.

More info at the end of the announcement here (Google translate):
https://translate.google.com/transla...F%3Fprid%3D381

The Frog recharge number had a notice that as of June 26, expiry is now 90 days. Some time this week the web site was finally updated to 90 day expiry. I also notice that Cosmote Internet me karta also expires balances in 90 days.

Previously I would add extra credit to my Greek prepaid account just in case I needed them. I knew I could use the credit on the next trip. Now I will only put minimum amounts on the accounts and refill as little as possible as needed. More inconvenient, but not a problem for me.

Now that I don't have balances on my prepaid Greek phone account, I needed a way to get a refill card before arriving at the Athens airport.

https://www.telesuite.gr/eshop/ sold me a 10€ topup card for 10.88€ including commission. I also needed to get approved by their security before I could buy. After nothing happened I used an on-line chat from their website to get approved.

It is cheaper to buy codes from a kiosk, but I lost the slip I bought in Sept. My phone is now topped up and ready.