Airtel Kenya – Full Review And Tips On How To Get The Most Out Of It

A Little Background History – Airtel Kenya

If you are in Kenya, then you know what Airtel Kenya is. For those who don’t, it is one of the most popular telecommunication companies in Kenya. I can say that it is number two, following Safaricom limited. Safaricom as you know has really dominated the Kenyan Telecommunication market. Airtel is owned by Bharti Airtel, which also owns Airtel Africa. For those of you who are old school, you might recall that it used to be called Celtel Kenya, then Zain Kenya. When Bharti Airtel managed to buy it in November 2010, it changed its name to the now-known Airtel Kenya.

Airtel boasts of having about 27% of the market share of the Telecommunication population. This accounts for about 16.2 million subscribers. Next, I will tell you about the products and services they provide.

Services Provided By Airtel Kenya

Airtel Kenya mainly provides the following telecommunication services;

• Internet services
• Voice Calling services

Airtel Internet Services

I have to say, a lot of people have an Airtel line because of their data and voice tariffs, which are really cheap compared to Safaricom. They charge for data bundles for as low as 1 Ksh per 5 Mb used. This is really cheap compared to Safaricom’s data bundles. They have daily bundles, weekly bundles and even monthly bundles to suit your needs, and ensure that you have a good experience surfing the internet.

Also, as of this time, they have the hourly monthly bundle which is 15 shillings, this is cheaper compared to Safaricom’s hourly bundles, which costs 20 shillings. With this bundle, the user purchases 1 Gb of internet bundles which last for an hour. For example, if you buy your hourly bundle at 8 A.M, it will expire at 9:00:59 A.M

How To Buy Airtel Internet Bundles

1. Access your phone’s app menu, and scroll until you find your phone’s dialer application.
2. Dial *544# and choose option one, which is “Amazing + Bazu Data” (This is the option currently and might change in the future)
3. In the next option, you will find options to buy daily bundles(option 1), hourly bundles(Option 2), 7 days bundles(Option 3), 30 days bundles and so on. Select the option that suits you.
4. Done! Ensure that you have enough airtime in your account that is equal to the number of data bundles you want to buy.

Also, read;

How To Buy Airtel Airtime From Mpesa – Airtel Paybill Number

Mara Moja (2022 Review)

Below is a table I made for you, that includes daily, weekly and monthly data bundles Airtel Kenya has and their prices. Please note that these prices change, but I will always update them as time goes.

Type Of Bundle	Price	Amount You Get
Daily	Ksh. 10	70 MB
	Ksh. 20	200MB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 50	600MB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh 20	150MB + 150MB Night + Free Whatsapp
	Ksh 10	50MB + 50MB Night

	Ksh. 99	2GB
	Ksh. 99	1.5GB + 1.5GB Night + Free WhatsApp
Weekly	Ksh. 350	350MB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 100	750MB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 250	3GB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 500	6.5GB + WhatsApp

Monthly	Ksh. 300	3GB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 500	5GB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 1000	12GB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 1500	20GB + Free WhatsApp
	Ksh. 2000	30GB + Free WhatsApp

Airtel Voice Calling Services

You can call Airtel to Airtel line for as low as 1 bob per minute. If you call from an Airtel line to a Safaricom line, the rate will be at 2 bob per minute. You could also subscribe to Tubonge Voice Bundle, which could get you more minutes to talk to your loved ones. I will talk about tubonge later on in this article. If you want to skip to that part, click on it on the table of content, to jump straight to it.

Airtel Money Service – Airtel Mobile Money

Airtel users can also send money to one another through Airtel Money services. It is not only limited to airtel to Airtel users, because they can also send money to other networks, for example, Safaricom’s Mpesa. It is free to send money from one user to another, and Airtel money agents are located countrywide. Sending and receiving money through Airtel money is very simple. To do so, you can use the procedure below;

Sending Money Through Airtel Sim Toolkit(STK)

1. Open your phone’s app menu and scroll over to Airtel SimToolkit, and open it.
2. You will then have to select option two, “Airtel Money”.
3. Select option three, “Send Money”
4. You will then get two options, the first one to send to another Airtel line or to send to a Mpesa line. Select the appropriate one for you to proceed
5. Select enter a phone number or choose one from your sim contacts
6. Enter the amount you want to send
7. Confirm the details and press ok
8. Enter you pin
9. Done!

Sending Money On Airtel Through USSD

You can also send money through your airtel line using the Airtel USSD code. The USSD code we will be using for this method is *334#. You can access this through your phone dialer application. Just dial the code and follow the instruction.

Sending Money On Airtel  Using My Airtel App

1. The first step is to head over to your google play store or apple store and download and install the app. For Android users, click here, and for iPhone users, click here.
2. After installing My Airtel applications, open them.
3. For the first time installation, you will be required to register. Make sure your Airtel Line’s internet connection is on, if you use another line’s connection, the process won’t work.
4. After completing step two, select Airtel money on the tabs above.
5. You will be required to enter your PIN. If you forgot your PIN, click on the forgot pin option
6. You will then see send money option amongst other options.

Airtel Money Traffic And Costs For Sending Money In September 2022

AMOUNT TO BE SENT	CHARGES FOR OTHER NETWORKS	AIRTEL TO AIRTEL	WITHDRAWAL FROM AGENT
Ksh. 10 – 49	Ksh. 0	Free of charge	Airtel money Minimum withdrawal is Ksh 50
Ksh. 50 – 100	Ksh. 0	Free of charge	Ks. 9
Ksh. 101 – 500	Ksh. 6	Free of charge	Ksh. 22
Ksh. 501 – 1000	Ksh. 10	Free of charge	Ksh. 23
Ksh. 1001 – 2500	Ksh. 20	Free of charge	Ksh. 25
Ksh. 2501 – 5000	Ksh. 50	Free of charge	Ksh. 40
Ksh. 5001 – 10000	Ksh. 75	Free of charge	Ksh. 75
Ksh. 10001 – 25000	Ksh. 90	Free of charge	Ksh. 125
Ksh. 25001 – 35000	Ksh. 100	Free of charge	Ksh. 160
Ksh. 35001 – 45000	Ksh. 105	Free of charge	Ksh. 225
Ksh. 45001 – 70000	Ksh. 105	Free of charge	Ksh. 270
Ksh 70001 – 150000	Ksh. 105	Free of charge	Ksh. 270

Remember that if you want to withdraw your cash from Airtel Money, you will have to carry your original National identity card, driver’s license or passport.