Ay Yildiz plans: prepaid, contract and Turkey flat rate

An Ay Yildiz plan is worth it above all for people who regularly call family and friends in Turkey or travel there often themselves: the brand combines an all-network flat rate for Germany with free minutes or a flat rate to Turkey. Whether prepaid or a contract suits you better depends on how much data you need, how long you want to commit and how often you use mobile internet in Turkey. This guide explains how the plans are structured, which network is behind them, what to watch out for regarding contract terms and cancellation, and how switching with your existing phone number works.

What is Ay Yildiz and who is an Ay Yildiz plan for?

Ay Yildiz is a German mobile brand aimed specifically at people with ties to Turkey. The name means "moon and star" – a deliberate reference to the Turkish flag. The brand was founded in 2005 as one of the first providers specifically for the German-Turkish community.

The core of the offer is simple: a normal mobile plan for Germany, supplemented by services that cost extra with other plans. These include calls to Turkish landlines, minutes to Turkish mobile networks and options for mobile internet during a stay in Turkey. If you only call and browse within Germany, you do not need these extras and may find a better-suited plan from another brand.

Typical customers are families whose grandparents live in Turkey, students who spend several weeks in Izmir or Antalya every summer, or self-employed people with business contacts in Istanbul. An example: a family of four in Moers calls the grandmother in Kayseri, who only has a landline, twice a week. Without a suitable plan, such calls can easily cost several euros a month depending on the provider; with a landline flat rate to Turkey, they are already included in the base price.

Ay Yildiz is one of the brands we offer in our shops. However, we always compare the plan with alternatives, because not everyone who speaks Turkish also calls Turkey a lot. You can find an overview of all mobile contracts, internet and energy offers on our home page for private customers.

Which network does Ay Yildiz use?

Ay Yildiz uses the O2 Telefónica mobile network. So you make calls and browse via the same cell towers as O2's own customers, even though the plan, bill and customer service run under the Ay Yildiz name.

In practice, this means that how good your reception is depends on how well the O2 network covers your home, your workplace and your usual routes. In cities like Moers and Duisburg, coverage is generally good; in rural areas of the Lower Rhine region there may be gaps. So before signing up, check the network coverage for the addresses where you spend most of your time. Many Ay Yildiz plans support LTE and, depending on the plan, 5G as well. Modern features such as calling over LTE (VoLTE) or over Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Calling) are also available, provided your smartphone supports them.

A tip from our advisory work: if you have poor reception in your flat, the network is not always to blame. Thick walls, basement flats or windows with thermal glazing weaken the signal. If in doubt, test with a prepaid SIM for a few days whether reception at home is good enough before committing for two years.

Prepaid or an Ay Yildiz contract – which suits you better?

Prepaid suits you if you want to control your costs yourself at any time and avoid commitment; an Ay Yildiz contract (Ay Yildiz Vertrag) suits you if you need a lot of data, want to pay conveniently by direct debit and expect a fixed service over time. Both options include services to Turkey, but they differ in payment, term and scope.

With prepaid, you top up credit in advance, for example with top-up cards from the supermarket, online or via the app. A plan bundle is then deducted from your credit every four weeks or every 30 days. If the credit is not enough, the bundle does not renew – so a cost trap from high bills is ruled out. With a contract, on the other hand, you receive a monthly bill, the term is fixed and the data allowance is usually higher.

Feature	Prepaid	Contract
Payment	Top up credit in advance	Monthly bill, usually by direct debit
Term	No fixed term, bundle can be changed at any time	Minimum term, often 24 months; providers must also offer a version with a maximum of 12 months
Cost control	Very high, no risk of high bills	Fixed monthly costs, extra charges possible
Data allowance	Rather small to medium	Rather medium to large
Services to Turkey	Free minutes or flat rate, depending on bundle	Landline flat rate and free minutes, depending on plan
Credit check	Usually none	Usually yes
Suitable for	Light users, children, second phone, trial period	Frequent callers, families, high data use

An important point with a contract is the credit check. The provider usually asks a credit agency such as Schufa whether you pay your bills reliably. People who have just moved to Germany and do not yet have a payment history therefore often find it easier to start with prepaid and switch to a contract later.

As for specific prices: Ay Yildiz adjusts its plans and promotions regularly, often with time-limited discounts on the base price or extra data. That is why we deliberately do not quote monthly prices here. You can find the current terms on the official website of Ay Yildiz – or we can lay them out side by side for you in the shop.

How does the Turkey flat rate work at Ay Yildiz?

At Ay Yildiz, a Turkey flat rate usually means that calls from Germany to Turkish landlines are included in the base price; for calls to Turkish mobile numbers, there is a fixed allowance of free minutes depending on the plan. This distinction between landline and mobile is the most important point to clarify before signing up.

Many families today no longer call the landline but the mobile number of their parents or siblings. If you mainly call Turkish mobile numbers, you should not look at the word "flat" but at the number of free minutes to Turkish mobile networks. If these are not enough, additional minutes are charged individually. Do a rough calculation: two calls a week of 30 minutes each come to around 260 minutes a month.

Also look out for these points in the small print:

• Direction of the call: The flat rate applies to calls from Germany to Turkey. If you are in Turkey yourself and make calls there, different rules apply.
• Special numbers: Service and premium-rate numbers are usually excluded.
• Fair use: A flat rate is also intended for personal use. Persistently unusual patterns, such as reselling minutes, are not allowed.
• Combined with EU minutes: Some plans bundle free minutes for Turkey and for EU countries into a shared allowance.

Alternatively, many people call via messenger apps. That does not use up minutes, but it does use data – and it only works if the person in Turkey also has a stable internet connection. Especially for older relatives with a landline, the classic phone call therefore often remains the more reliable solution. We cover the topic in more detail in the article comparing a Turkey flat rate properly.

How much does mobile internet cost on holiday in Turkey?

Mobile internet in Turkey is not automatically included in your plan because Turkey is not a member of the EU; without a suitable add-on, even small amounts of data can become expensive. So plan a travel pack before your trip instead of relying on your data flat rate from Germany.

Within the EU and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, the EU Roaming Regulation lets you browse and call on the same terms as at home. The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) explains that these rules have applied in a revised version since July 2022. Turkey is not covered. Mobile providers may set their own prices there, which are often charged per megabyte.

That is why Ay Yildiz offers its own add-ons for stays in Turkey, giving you a certain data allowance for a fixed period. Before your trip, check how long the add-on is valid, how much data it includes and whether it renews automatically. In its guide Mit dem Handy verreisen (Travelling with your mobile), Stiftung Warentest gives further advice on how to avoid cost traps abroad.

These precautions help even if you have booked a travel add-on:

• Only allow automatic app updates and photo backups to the cloud over Wi-Fi.
• Download videos and music at home before your trip.
• Check your usage regularly in your smartphone's settings or in the provider's app.
• Watch the network near borders or on cruise ships: satellite networks on board can be particularly expensive.

How long does an Ay Yildiz contract run and how do you cancel it?

An Ay Yildiz contract usually runs for a minimum term of up to 24 months; after that, you can cancel it at any time with one month's notice. This is required by the Telecommunications Act, regardless of what the terms and conditions say.

Under Section 56 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG), the initial term of a mobile contract for consumers may not exceed 24 months. Before you sign, providers must also offer you a contract with a term of no more than twelve months. If the contract renews automatically after the minimum term, you may then end it at any time with one month's notice. The provider must inform you of this before the renewal.

Prepaid plans do not have long terms. You can usually change or end the plan bundle at the end of the current billing period. After cancelling, you can have any remaining credit paid out; the provider has a separate procedure for this.

It is best to cancel in writing or via the cancellation button on the provider's website, which companies have had to provide for contracts concluded online since 2022. Keep the confirmation. If you switch to another provider, the new provider will handle the cancellation and the transfer of your number on request – in that case, do not cancel separately yourself, so there is no confusion about the date.

How do you switch to Ay Yildiz with your phone number?

You switch to Ay Yildiz with your existing phone number by requesting number porting with your new contract; the new provider handles the rest with your old provider. Under the Telecommunications Act (Section 59 TKG), you can take a mobile number with you at any time, even while your old contract is still running.

1. Choose a plan: Decide whether prepaid or a contract suits you based on your calls to Turkey, your data use and your travel.
2. Have your old contract details ready: You need the name of your previous provider, your customer number and your phone number. The details must match the data held by your old provider exactly.
3. Request number porting: When signing up, state that you want to keep your number. The new provider sends the request to the old one.
4. Wait for the switch date: The number is transferred on the agreed day, at the latest on the following working day. You may be unreachable for a short time.
5. Insert the new SIM card: Once the switch is complete, activate the new SIM card or eSIM and check that calls, text messages and mobile internet work.
6. Secure remaining credit and data: For prepaid, have your old credit paid out, and back up your contacts if they were stored on the old SIM card.

The most common stumbling block is mismatched details: a misspelt name, a missing middle name or an old address is enough for the old provider to reject the transfer. Especially with names containing Turkish characters such as ş, ğ or ı, it pays to check the spelling in your old documents carefully.

What should you check before signing up for an Ay Yildiz plan?

Before signing up, you should know your own usage: how much you call Turkey, how much data you use each month and how often you are in Turkey. Only with these three figures can plans be compared meaningfully.

The following questions will help you decide:

• Landline or mobile? Do you mainly call landline or mobile numbers in Turkey?
• Data allowance: How much have you actually used in the last three months? You will find the figure in your smartphone's settings.
• Promotional price: Does a low base price apply permanently or only for a few months? What will you pay afterwards?
• Connection fee: Is there a one-off fee with the contract?
• Term: Do you want to commit for 24 months, or is the shorter option worth the possible surcharge?
• Smartphone: Do you need a new device with your contract, or is a SIM card enough?

Many of our customers come in with an advert on which only the price for the first few months is printed in large type. So always calculate the total cost over the entire term: the base price during the promotional months, the base price afterwards, the connection fee and any instalments for a smartphone. Only this total can be compared with other offers. If your family is spread across several contracts, it is also worth looking at all of them together – we can review home internet and electricity together with you as well. You will find more guides on mobile, internet and energy on the Connected Mobile blog.

What questions do customers ask most often?

How does Connected Mobile help you choose an Ay Yildiz plan?

We compare Ay Yildiz with other plans, calculate the costs for the way you use your phone and take care of the paperwork – from number porting to cancelling your old contract. Connected Mobile advises in person in Moers and Duisburg in German, Turkish, Kurdish or Arabic. You talk to a person who understands your questions, even when it comes to the small print.

For the first step, all you need is your latest phone bill or a screenshot of your data usage. Bring it to our shop in Moers or Duisburg or send us the documents via WhatsApp; you will find all contact options on our page for mobile contracts and our switching service. Bring your latest phone bill, and we will show you whether an Ay Yildiz plan is right for you.