Airtel Smart Premier Tariff Plan in Nigeria: What Changed
Smart Premier and its *318# code are gone from Airtel's website. For heavy callers the nearest plan is SmartLife: 33k/sec with 3 free minutes per 6 paid.
Smart Premier was the plan for people who are on the phone all day. Your first minute each day cost 40 kobo a second, and after that every call to any network was 11 kobo a second, or ₦6.60 a minute. That is how this page described it in 2018, with *318# as the code to join.
Airtel Nigeria’s website no longer lists Smart Premier or that code. Its voice plans page has two prepaid plans, SmartLife and SmartTALK, and neither comes close to ₦6.60 a minute. So the question for a heavy caller is which of today’s options costs the least.
What a heavy caller can use now
| Option | Calls to all networks | Per minute | The catch | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmartLife | 33k/sec, with 3 free minutes for every 6 paid | ₦19.80, or ₦13.20 if every free minute is used | Free minutes last 48 hours | *414*2# |
| SmartTALK | 25k/sec | ₦15 | None | *414*1# |
| TalkMore bundle | 16.66k/sec | ₦10 | Unused minutes expire with the bundle | *234*1# |
SmartLife, the nearest plan
SmartLife works on the same idea as Smart Premier: you pay a higher rate, and you get something back for calling a lot. The rate is 33 kobo a second (₦19.80 a minute) to all networks, with no access fee. For every 6 minutes of paid local calls, Airtel gives 3 minutes back.
The terms on Airtel’s SmartLife page:
- The 6 minutes are counted within a week, Monday to Sunday. The count resets at midnight on Monday.
- Only calls paid for from your main airtime count.
- Free minutes last 48 hours and work for local calls only.
- They cannot be transferred to another line, and you lose them if you migrate out of SmartLife.
The FAQ lower down the same page says the 6 minutes can be made over 30 days. The terms say a week. Plan around the week, since it is the stricter of the two. Dial *310*1# to see your free minutes.
Does SmartLife beat SmartTALK?
Six paid minutes cost ₦118.80. What a minute really costs depends on how many of the 3 free minutes you use before they expire.
| Free minutes used, out of 3 | Minutes you get for ₦118.80 | Real cost per minute |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 9 | ₦13.20 |
| 2 | 8 | ₦14.85 |
| 1 | 7 | ₦16.97 |
| 0 | 6 | ₦19.80 |
SmartTALK is ₦15 a minute with nothing to track. SmartLife only beats it if you use at least two of every three free minutes, and at two the saving is 15 kobo a minute. Use all three and you save ₦1.80 a minute. Make fewer than 6 minutes of calls in a week and nothing comes back, at a rate ₦4.80 a minute higher.
Against Smart Premier it is no contest. SmartLife at its very best is ₦13.20 a minute, exactly double the old ₦6.60.
TalkMore bundles
The cheapest minute on Airtel’s site is in a bundle. TalkMore sells minutes for calls to all Nigerian networks at ₦10 each.
| Bundle | Price | Minutes | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TalkMore 100 | ₦100 | 10 | 1 day |
| TalkMore 200 | ₦200 | 20 | 3 days |
| TalkMore 300 | ₦300 | 30 | 5 days |
| TalkMore 500 | ₦500 | 50 | 7 days |
| TalkMore 1000 | ₦1,000 | 100 | 14 days |
| TalkMore 1500 | ₦1,500 | 150 | 30 days |
Dial *234*1# to buy and *234*8# to check the balance. The bundles are open to all Airtel customers, whichever tariff plan the line is on. Unused minutes roll over if you buy another TalkMore bundle before the current one expires. The minutes are for calls only, so texts, data and international calls still come out of your airtime.
For someone who got the best out of Smart Premier, the ₦1,500 bundle is the natural fit. It is 150 minutes over 30 days, or 5 minutes a day. The same 150 minutes would cost ₦2,250 on SmartTALK.
How to migrate and check your plan
Dial *414# and pick SmartLife or SmartTALK. The direct codes on Airtel’s pages are *414*2# for SmartLife and *414*1# for SmartTALK.
To see which plan your line is on, dial *121#, choose “Manage my account”, then “My tariff plan”. Airtel’s website does not say what became of lines that were on Smart Premier. If yours still shows it, call Airtel on 300 and ask what rate the line is charged before you move, because Airtel’s site gives no code for going back.
The data bonus Smart Premier gave on every recharge is not on Airtel’s pages either. SmartLife gives new customers a one-off ₦1,000 welcome bonus, which Airtel breaks down as 16 minutes of calls and 200MB, and a 100% data bonus on selected plans for the first 90 days.
Smart Premier is not Airtel Premier
Airtel still uses the word Premier, for something else. Airtel Premier is a rewards programme for customers who spend a lot. The lowest tier, Platinum, is a spend of ₦15,000 to ₦44,999 kept up for six months. Members get priority on the network and birthday gifts. Apart from some free calls on your birthday, nothing on its page changes what a call costs.
For the plain flat-rate option, see our page on the Airtel Smart Value plan and SmartTALK. All four of Airtel’s current options are side by side in our guide to the best Airtel tariff plan for calls.
Quick answers
What is the Airtel Smart Premier tariff plan code?
It was *318#. Airtel’s website no longer lists Smart Premier or that code. The code for its current plans is *414#.
What is the call rate on Airtel SmartLife?
33 kobo a second to all networks, which is ₦19.80 a minute, with 3 free minutes for every 6 paid minutes of local calls in a week.
Which Airtel plan is cheapest for long calls?
A TalkMore bundle, at ₦10 a minute. Of the two tariff plans, SmartTALK is ₦15 a minute flat, and SmartLife comes to ₦13.20 only if you use every free minute.
How do I check my free minutes on SmartLife?
Dial *310*1#. Free minutes expire 48 hours after you get them.
How do I check my Airtel tariff plan?
Dial *121#, choose “Manage my account”, then “My tariff plan”.
