Tuenti is excellent
 

I always buy a Carrefour SIM when visiting Spain, but when I arrived this time I found out that they changed the service around and you can only refill your data allowance once per month. I asked around at several other phone shops and I was told that the situations there were the same for prepaid except with Happy Movil. I bought that SIM but it was pathetically slow. Then I heard that Tuenti allowed unlimited refills so I bought that SIM at a Movistar shop and it has been awesome in every way. Also the help I received at Movistar was extremely knowledgeable which was a breath of fresh air.

Well, they have made a relaunch now with new colors (actually b&w) and the first 4G/LTE on a MVNO on prepaid in Spain. The only other so far is Vodafone.

.Tuenti as they want to be called now is not the only operator who lets you upsize your data package. Digi mobil, Vodafone, Yoigo have data add-ons for more data on prepaid too. Hits mobile even lets you buy a new base pack ahead of time. So you simply asked at the wrong shops that were not selling these brands.

Still, the sales policy of .Tuenti is a disgrace. Here is my description which led to a totally different point of view:
Quote from my description on the prepaid data WIKI:

Extra rules for foreigners:

Legally they are not allowed to discriminate foreigners, but tuenti has invented some special rules for them: In physical stores like Movistar shops you can do the registration only by showing your passport. Unlike holders of Spanish ID cards (DNI, NIE) you must pay 25 € and the only option to choose is the 7 € package. The rest will be given as a 18 € card balance. In the following month, you will have a free choice. Thus tuenti seems to try to hold on to you.
This strange policy is not enforced if you order it online. You can use your passport ID or Spanish ID cards (called DNI and NIE) online and pay with a credit card or cash-on-delivery and choose any package you like. They'll send it to any Spanish address like your hotel.

This policy was confirmed in 2014 by the Tuenti support forum and by own experience. They charge you worse than the locals and Americans love it... I don't really understand why you praise them for it.

Anyway, they give the 1 GB add-on (not the original pack) for €4 during this summer in a promotion which is a good price for data on 4G/LTE.

I went to a Vodafone shop and a Yoigo shop and was specifically told that the data allowance on those could only be refilled once per month. This was all communicated through my wife who is a native Spaniard.

So it depends on whether you need unlimited internet access or to save a few Euros.

Oh, and if you've been in Spain for a while then I'm sure you're used to this kind of crap. If you refused to do business with any Spanish company that tried to rip you off then you would be living on the street already.

I hate to tell you, not even your Spanish wife is immune to Spanish "customer service".

This is what Yoigo has to say about their prepaid plans:
"Superados los MB a alta velocidad, ésta se reduce hasta máximo 64 kbps sin coste adicional. Si lo necesitas, por 2,42 € € IVA incl. puedes contratar 200 MB más a alta velocidad hasta 4G para usar dentro del mes. Los MB a alta velocidad que no consumas en un periodo no se acumulan para el siguiente."

With Yoigo data even "roll over" to the next month like you say in the US. Add-ons are similar with Vodafone and Digi mobil and Hits mobile. You can make extra money, when you need extra data. Even Spanish telcos have found that out.

Don't tell your wife that she was misguided on that. From my experience they can get very upset when they feel cheated. Better tell her, that the Tuenti promotion with 4€ for 1 GB add-on is the best on the market which is true.

Hard to say whether your English is weak or your Spanish (or both). But don't feel bad, I'm sure your German is excellent.

I've written twice (in English) that I'm looking for data which I can refill an unlimited number of times per month. What you posted (in Spanish) says nothing about that. Also, what you posted specifically says that Yoigo data does *not* roll over to the next month. Sorry

I agree with your Spanish: data or volume does NOT roll over on Yoigo. I haven't noticed the word "NO".

Sorry, but I can't agree with your English. You specifically asked for a refill of your (data) package ahead of time = before the running time of the original package was over.

Just for definition: a refill is filling up data (or other allowances) in packages which have been used up to give you more or extra volume. OK?

In Europe at least, this can be archieved by two different ways:
(1) the operator lets you buy another (base) package ahead of time. Then you'll have the new allowance for the running time of the new package.
(2) the operator lets you buy add-ons, sometimes called boosters or otherwise, to add a certain allowance/volume to your base pack. [A base package is what you can call a monthly plan in the US - but in Europe plan is normally not used for prepaid. Here the monthly base rate on prepaid is seen as a package too.]

Both ways I consider as "refills". You only consider (1) to be a refill. I can't go with that. Option 2 meets the definition of a refill too and serves your needs as well.

Option (1) is really rare in Europe for a simple reason. Most packages have now combined data/voice/text allowances. Starting a new package ahead of time means that the other allowances will be lost as they don't roll over. This is legally very tricky. So you'll find (1) only on data-only plans or data-only packages.

Tuenti, by the way, offers you add-ons (option 2), not to buy a new base pack ahead of time, because it includes "VOZDigital". When you have used up 80% (or something like this) of your data volume, Tuenti offers you "extra bonos" for a different price and volume.

The main disadvantage of option (2) applies to Tuenti too: All add-ons (in volume) refer to the original running time of the base pack. They don't extend the time frame. Or in other words, you will loose the rest of your added allowance when the running time of the original package is over.

The only prepaid operator in Spain who lets you buy a new (base) pack ahead of time (option 1) is Hits mobile as far as I know. But there may be others.

You're still misunderstanding. All of the carriers I talked to except for Happy Movil and Tuenti only allow you to buy more data allowance *once* per month. Happy Movil and Tuenti allow you to buy more data allowance an unlimited number of times per month.

I perfectly unterstand what you want. All I say is, that Yoigo and Vodafone representatives (these two companies you named) either were misinformed or lied to you and you posted it as a fact, which is wrong.

Yoigo (Prepaid): Superados los MB a alta velocidad, ésta se reduce hasta máximo 64 kbps sin coste adicional. Si lo necesitas, por 2,42 € IVA incl. puedes contratar 200 MB más a alta velocidad hasta 4G para usar dentro del mes.
http://www.yoigo.com/tarifas/tarifas...el-uno-600-mb/
In English: If you exceed the included high speed data volume, speed will be reduced to max. 64 kbps without additional cost. If you need more, you can book another 200 MB high speed volume in up to 4G speed for €2.42 to be used during the month.

Vodafone on Yu and International (Prepaid): Si consumes los MB o minutos antes de los 30 dÃ*as:
•Podrás seguir navegando, aunque la velocidad se reducirá a 32 Kbps.
•Puedes solicitar en cualquier momento la renovación anticipada y acumular los MB y minutos que no hayas consumido
http://www.vodafone.es/particulares/...repago/?tab=01
In English: If you have consumed your data or minutes before the 30 days:
- you can keep on surfing, but speed will be reduced to 32 kbps
- you can buy at any moment a renewal ahead of time and accumulate data or minutes which you have not consumed.

This is exactly what you were looking for. They offer it. To say, they don't, is simply wrong.

What? None of what you posted addresses the issue of whether data can be refilled (not filled, refilled) more than once per month. When I walked into a Vodaphone shop and a Yoigo shop, they specifically told me that data could only be refilled once per month, and nothing you posted above contradicts that. I don't know how else to explain this.

So Tuenti requires an initial €25 Euro outlay and then you spend €7 to get the 1 GB pack and you're left with a €18 balance?

And for a short visit, 1 or 2 weeks, you can add €7 packs again or else you lose the balance?

Or if you anticipate only using 1 GB or less, you can pay €13 for the cheapest Movistar pack and that's your total cost vs. €25 for the Tuenti package, which also requires installing their app?

Or the best value seems to be a 2 GB Mundo SIM from Orange for €15.

Tuenti seems to make sense if you plan to load the €7 pack 3 times for €21 total, leaving you €4 which you probably end up burning.

Do the carriers have different tethering policies for iPads?

Orange Spain also allows renewals of the data allowance of their prepaid plans (Mundo, Ballena, Ardilla) at any time:
https://ayuda.orange.es/particulares...ion-anticipada

If you do it before using the allowance completely, any unused volume of your previous allowance will be lost. So one always starts with the volume of the new allowance only.

The place to do it is a bit hidden in a web user area:
Contrata / Módulos de ahorro / Ahorro en navegación / Renueva los megas de tu tarifa

.Tuenti (4G coverage on Movistar network) seems to have a new tariff offering 2 GB per 7 euros. The offer is available until the end of September.

Well I tried to see if I could buy a Tuenti SIM on my trip to Mallorca in April.

The place I was staying at was an apartment in Palma but they didn't really have a secure mailbox so I couldn't order it and send it there.

I tried the Movistar store and they didn't have it, so I had to buy the Movistar SIM, which wasn't such a great deal.

FNAC stores were suppose to have prepaid SIMs from all the carriers but they said they were out of them.

Going again in about a month, to Bilbao and San Sebastian. Hoping I have better luck because they're offering 12 GB for 14 Euros during their promotion.

I'm in Madrid at the moment and both Movistar stores I've tried here are also out of Tuenti. I think the word is out.

I think Movistar has no incentive to sell you the Tuenti vs. their own product, since Tuenti is more generous with the data at the same prices.

Plus the setup must be more cumbersome with the Tuenti app.

They have an incentive since I'll go to Vodaphone if they won't sell me Tuenti (which I did).

Hmm, according to the Prepaid Wikia, it's shady the way they price-discriminate against foreigners on the Tuenti.

So I was going to try to order it online, not search for stores.

That is sad but not applicable in this case. My wife is Spanish and she was the one trying to buy a Tuenti SIM.

Can you give me a link to the Prepaid Wikia?

Here it is:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Spain

And here's the account about Tuenti and foreigners:

Great wiki, thanks!

The extra rules were applied to me one or two years ago, when I bought my last Tuenti SIM in a store.
I later asked the customer support and they confirmed this. So it seemed to be official policy. That's different to that poor American guy who was charged €55 for a Vodafone CallYa 1GB starter in a downtown Berlin branded Vodafone store. This starter costs €10 for every human being in Germany and Vodafone was furious when I told them.

With Tuenti in Spain it's essentially only a problem when you want to stay with them for one month only. When you stay for longer, it's no issue as you can still use your credit. I think they are only fed up with the 1-month-tourists who come and go.

I don't know if they have revised their rules again and would like to hear some feedback from new foreign Tuenti users what they have experienced buying a starter in a store. As this policy is surely against EU regulations not to discriminate against other EU citizens. As you see above, EU customer protection doesn't apply to Americans :-)

So if you've got a Tuenti SIM in a store, tell me. They are sold not only in some Movistar stores, but in the larger FNAC, El Corte Inglés, Telecor and in MediaMarkt/Saturn stores too. Here is a locator:
https://www.tuenti.com/movil/puntos-de-venta

Also have in mind that the summer triple data promotion ends 26/09/17 (that's 09/26/17 for US Americans) and from that date on only regular rates will be charged on new bonos (bundles).

I had no luck finding Tuenti SIM in Palma, Mallorca, back in April.

Two big Cortes Ingles stores, neither had any. In one, they had separate kiosks for Movistar, Vodafone and Orange. I couldn't even get the International Smartphone SIM in these stores.

So I went to a Movistar store and no Tuenti. Orange stores charged more for Mundo or Balena SIMs than advertised on their sites.

So now I'm in Bilbao and I ordered the Tuenti SIM with the current promotion of 12 GB for 14 Euro. They required me to add 1 Euro to have as a remaining balance so I paid a total of 15 Euro.

They delivered it to my Bilbao hotel and I picked it up last night. It was activated already (of course when I ordered online, I had to enter my passport number).

First it showed 3G and then LTE. I entered the APN, user and password values for the hotspot fields on my iPad Air 2 and hotspot became available after I rebooted it.

I tried the Tuenti app. US App. Store indicated multiple language support but it's in Spanish.

Speeds are okay in center of Bilbao, about 19 Mbps down. The network ID says "Tuenti" not the "Movistar" network it's suppose to be using.

Great to have a lot of data. Not sure what kind of Wifi speeds some of the hotels I'll be staying at will have. But I'm visiting Asturia as well as the Basque country and in some places, Movistar 4G coverage is spotty, so will see how it goes.

I have another trip at the end of August, to Munich and Austria. If I could recharge within the app. using my US credit card, I may try it, because the German rates aren't so great. Haven't researched Austrian rates yet.

But with RLAH, it would be nice to get another 12 GB bundle at the end of August and use it in Germany and Austria, though who knows which networks it will roam on.

Recharging with my US credit card in the app was one of my favorite things about Tuenti. I used Vodaphone this time but my US credit card always failed in their app.

Hello wco81

Welcome to be the Basque Country :)

Tuenti/Movistar has a great 3G+2G coverage in most places even remote locations but Vodafone's 4G seems to be wider and I think less congested.

I'm using Vodafone 4G in the outskirts of Bilbao (Urban area) with same results now (2 tests --> 20 Mbps down, ping 32-34 ms)

You can also use tuenti app to make voip internacional phone calls free of charge (please check included destinations) and it won´t even consume data if you're within Spain. You can of course use wifi to call with tuenti App. Tuenti users say with 4G/3G voip calls with their APP are fairly good.

You can also use RLAH with Tuenti within European Union (confirmed by them), even voip calls (data comsumption will be taken into consideration)

Tuenti has got also speed reduction when reached amount of data purchased (I think 64kbps)

Regards

Hey gaztelugatxe.

I enjoyed my trip to Basque country, though I stopped by the place your name references on my way back from Donastia to Bilbao.

Unfortunately, it was fogged over so the visibility wasn't the greatest that day. But I saw it also on Game of Thrones.

I wrote up more details about my experiences with Tuenti in the Prepaid Data in Spain thread.

But thanks for letting me know about Vodafone. Something I'll keep in mind if I re-visit.