Three allowances that are easy to confuse
- Flexi minutes: on eligible plans, a shared allowance for covered local and international calls. Check your plan’s list and how minutes are counted.
- A preferred country or number: a separate benefit on some offers. Ask whether it covers one selected number or a set of eligible destinations, whether it needs activation, and whether you can change it.
- International add-on: a separate allowance with its own destination, number or network rules, price and expiry. A list for one add-on does not apply to another.
Roaming is a different question: it concerns using the UAE line when you are outside the UAE. This guide is for calls placed while you are in the UAE. Calls through a data app are also different from dialling the number using your mobile voice service.
Compare plans using your real calling pattern
| If you mostly call… | Ask this first |
|---|---|
| One relative’s mobile number | Is that number’s network and number type eligible for any preferred-number benefit? Is it active immediately or only after selection? |
| Several numbers in one country | Do the plan minutes cover all of those numbers? Check mobile and landline separately. |
| More than one country | Is each destination on the list linked to this exact plan? What happens after the shared allowance runs out? |
| Business, short-code or premium-rate numbers | Are those number types excluded or billed separately even when the country is included? |