Buying a SIM card at Budapest Ferenc Liszt (BUD)
BUD has exactly one SIM seller in arrivals, and it charges €50–60 for a Yettel tourist SIM. A verified 50GB Airalo plan for Hungary is $36.
Hungary eSIM plans compared
Airalo50 GB · 30d$36$0.72/GB✓ checkedBest value18 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 3 $4 $4 3 GB 3 $7.50 $2.50 3 GB 7 $8 $2.67 5 GB 7 $11.50 $2.30 5 GB 15 $11.50 $2.30 Unlimited 3 $11.50 — 5 GB 30 $12 $2.40 10 GB 7 $18 $1.80 10 GB 15 $18.50 $1.85 Unlimited 5 $18.50 — 10 GB 30 $19 $1.90 Unlimited 7 $27 — 20 GB 15 $31 $1.55 20 GB 30 $32 $1.60 Unlimited 10 $34.50 — 50 GB 30 $36 $0.72 Unlimited 15 $48 — Unlimited 30 $69 — 
Nomad50 GB · 30d$45$0.90/GB✓ checked10 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 7 $4.50 $4.50 3 GB 30 $9 $3 Unlimited 3 $11 — 5 GB 30 $12.50 $2.50 10 GB 30 $16 $1.60 Unlimited 5 $18 — 20 GB 30 $20 $1 Unlimited 7 $25 — Unlimited 10 $33 — 50 GB 30 $45 $0.90 
Saily20 GB · 30d$31.99$1.60/GB✓ checked5 plansData Days Price Per GB 1 GB 7 $3.99 $3.99 3 GB 30 $7.99 $2.66 5 GB 30 $11.99 $2.40 10 GB 30 $18.99 $1.90 20 GB 30 $31.99 $1.60 
HolaflyUnlimited · 3d$11.90unlimited✓ checked6 plansData Days Price Per GB Unlimited 3 $11.90 — Unlimited 5 $20.50 — Unlimited 7 $27.50 — Unlimited 10 $36.50 — Unlimited 15 $50.50 — Unlimited 30 $73.90 —
Providers marked ✓ checked were read from their own site on ; those marked indicative come from our earlier research and are not yet verified. Providers change pricing without notice — check before buying. Host networks marked ? are taken from provider listings and have not been confirmed by us; where no network is shown, the provider does not publish one. How we check prices.
One counter, and you should walk past it
Budapest Ferenc Liszt has a single place to buy a SIM card in arrivals: the Airport Hub store, which sells Yettel tourist SIMs at €50–60.
There is no second option to compare it against, no carrier-run kiosk, no vending machine we know of. That is the whole retail landscape at BUD, and it is priced accordingly. This is one of the strongest arguments for arriving with an eSIM already installed of any airport in Europe.
What €50–60 buys elsewhere
Every plan below is a complete Hungarian data package, not a starter fee, and every one of them costs less than the airport SIM.
| Plan | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Saily 1GB / 7 days | $3.99 | Verified |
| Airalo 1GB / 3 days | $4 | Verified 13 Aug 2026 |
| Nomad 3GB / 30 days | $9 | Verified 18 Aug 2026 |
| Airalo 5GB / 30 days | $12 | Verified 13 Aug 2026 |
| Nomad 10GB / 30 days | $16 | Verified 18 Aug 2026 |
| Airalo 20GB / 30 days | $32 | Verified 13 Aug 2026 |
| Airalo 50GB / 30 days | $36 | Verified 13 Aug 2026 |
Fifty gigabytes with a month of validity, verified on Airalo's site on 13 August 2026, costs $36. At any exchange rate you like, that is comfortably under €50. A tourist SIM at the airport is therefore not a small premium for convenience — you are paying more for less, and the gap is large enough that it is worth ten minutes of preparation before you fly.
A city-centre Hungarian SIM costs around $8 and requires no ID whatsoever, so even the physical-SIM route is cheap the moment you leave the terminal.
The queue is short. That is not the point
Waiting times at the counter are 10 minutes at peak and around 3 minutes off-peak. By airport standards that is quick, and it is worth saying plainly, because a lot of airport SIM advice is really queue advice. Here the queue is fine.
The problem is the price on the other side of it. Ten minutes is not what makes this a bad purchase.
What to do instead
Install an eSIM before you leave home. It provisions over your home wi-fi, sits dormant, and comes up when the aircraft doors open and your phone finds a Hungarian network. Airalo, Saily, Nomad and Holafly all sell Hungary online. If you are unsure your handset takes an eSIM, check the compatible phones list — it is a two-minute check that has to happen before you fly, not after you land.
If you would rather have a physical SIM, buy it in Budapest. Magyar Telekom, Yettel and Vodafone all have city stores, no ID is required, and the price is roughly a sixth of the airport's. Arriving without data for the ride into town is a mild inconvenience; the airport's own wi-fi and a downloaded offline map cover it.
The one case where the Airport Hub counter earns its money is genuine emergency: a phone that cannot take an eSIM, a dead travel SIM, and a need to be reachable immediately. Then €50–60 is the price of solving the problem now. Otherwise, no.
What we do not know about BUD
We hold no terminal-level detail for the Airport Hub store, no opening hours, and no record of whether it operates for late-arriving flights. If your flight lands overnight, do not build a plan around finding it open. We also hold no data on what the Yettel tourist SIM actually includes at €50–60 — allowance, validity, whether it supports hotspot — so we cannot tell you what you would be getting, only what it costs.
Hungarian network coverage, plan pricing and the full local-versus-eSIM comparison are on the Hungary hub and in our Hungary SIM comparison.
Common questions
Where do you buy a SIM card at Budapest Airport?
At the Airport Hub store in arrivals. It is the only SIM seller at BUD and it stocks Yettel tourist SIMs at €50-60. We do not hold its opening hours, so late-night arrivals should not rely on finding it open.
How long is the queue for a SIM at BUD?
About 10 minutes at peak and roughly 3 minutes off-peak. The wait is not the problem at this airport — the price is. A complete 50GB Airalo plan for Hungary is $36, verified on 13 August 2026, which is less than the counter charges.
Can I just buy a SIM in Budapest city instead?
Yes, and you should. Magyar Telekom, Yettel and Vodafone all have stores in the city, a prepaid SIM runs around $8, and Hungary requires no ID to activate one. Use airport wi-fi and an offline map for the journey in.