Airtel Smart Trybe Tariff Plan for Students in Nigeria
Airtel no longer lists a plan for students. What SmartTRYBE did is now split across a night plan, social plans, Flexi bundles and two call plans.
*312# was how you joined Smart Trybe, or SmartTRYBE as Airtel wrote it. On Airtel’s website that code now buys data, and nothing there connects it to a tariff plan. The code for changing plan is *414#.
SmartTRYBE was the network’s plan for students and young people, and it is not on Airtel Nigeria’s website. The voice and data pages list no plan for students at all. What the plan did is now spread across a call plan, a night plan, the Flexi bundles and the social plans, and anyone on Airtel can buy them.
| SmartTRYBE in 2018 | On Airtel’s website now | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Calls at 20k/sec for 50 seconds, then 11k/sec | SmartTALK at 25k/sec flat, or SmartLife at 33k/sec with free minutes | *414# |
| Night browsing: 500MB for ₦25, midnight to 5am | Night plan: 250MB for ₦50, midnight to 5am | *312# |
| 30% extra data on bundles above ₦500 | 2GB of night-time YouTube data and 200MB for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, added to weekly plans from ₦1,000 and monthly plans up to ₦20,000 | *312# |
| Free 15MB every week | Nothing like it |
Night browsing on Airtel now
Airtel’s data plans page lists one night plan: 250MB for ₦50, usable from midnight to 5am. It sits with the daily plans and is bought through *312# like every other data plan.
Per megabyte that is four times what SmartTRYBE charged. ₦25 for 500MB was 5 kobo per MB. ₦50 for 250MB is 20 kobo.
The other night allowance comes free with bigger plans. Weekly plans from ₦1,000 and monthly plans from ₦1,500 to ₦20,000 include 2GB of YouTube Night data. Airtel says it works from midnight to 5am each day while the plan lasts, and only on YouTube.
Social plans on a small budget
These work on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok only, not in a normal browser. Dial *312# to buy one and *323# to check any data balance.
| Price | Data | Valid for |
|---|---|---|
| ₦100 | 200MB | 2 days |
| ₦300 | 1GB | 3 days |
| ₦500 | 1.5GB | 7 days |
Flexi, the nearest thing to SmartTRYBE’s mix
One payment for a Flexi bundle covers minutes, data and 5 SMS. Dial *234*2# to buy and *234*8# to check the balance.
| Bundle | Price | Minutes | Data | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flexi 500 | ₦500 | 10 | 400MB | 7 days |
| Flexi 1000 | ₦1,000 | 20 | 1.2GB | 7 days |
| Flexi 2000 | ₦2,000 | 40 | 2.5GB | 30 days |
| Flexi 5000 | ₦5,000 | 100 | 12GB | 30 days |
Set each against the ordinary data plan at the same price. ₦500 on a weekly plan is 500MB, so Flexi 500 swaps 100MB for 10 minutes of calls. ₦2,000 on a monthly plan is 3GB, so Flexi 2000 swaps 500MB for 40 minutes, and those minutes would cost ₦600 on SmartTALK. Flexi is the better buy when you make the calls anyway. With hardly any calls, take the plain data plan.
Unused minutes, data and SMS roll over if you buy another Flexi bundle before the current one expires.
Calls: SmartTALK or SmartLife
SmartTALK is 25 kobo a second to all networks, which is ₦15 a minute. Dial *414*1#. SmartLife is 33 kobo a second, or ₦19.80 a minute, and gives back 3 free minutes for every 6 paid minutes of local calls in a week, which last 48 hours. Dial *414*2#. Neither has an access fee.
When most of your money goes on data and calls are occasional, SmartTALK is the better of the two, because SmartLife only pays off once you pass 6 minutes of paid calls in a week and then use the free ones. ₦100 of airtime is 6 minutes 40 seconds on SmartTALK and 5 minutes 3 seconds on SmartLife.
We compare both plans and Airtel’s call bundles on the page for the best Airtel tariff plan for calls. Our page on the old Smart Value plan has more on SmartTALK.
A line that still shows SmartTRYBE
To see which plan you are on, dial *121#, choose “Manage my account”, then “My tariff plan”. Airtel’s site is silent on lines that were on SmartTRYBE, so check before you assume. If it still says SmartTRYBE, ring Airtel on 300 and get the line’s rate before you move.
