On previous trips to Berlin I’ve waited until I’ve been set up in the city to search out a SIM for my phone, but for this trip I needed to be SMS-ready soon after landing to arrange for transfer of apartment keys. Fortunately there’s now a handy solution (that’s a double entendre for those bilingual of you paying attention!) in the Capi shop right in the terminal at Tegel Airport.

They sell prepaid SIM cards for the Blau Internet Flat plan that fits any GSM phone (it’s a universal mini, micro and nano SIM) for 19,95 EUR; this includes 20 minutes of calling and 1 GB of data; calls are 9 cents/minute and SMS are 9 cents each. It may not be the best deal in town, but it has the virtue of being (a) very easy to purchase, (b) not in need of any activation using a browser and (c) no wait for activation, so the number is active as soon as you put the SIM in the phone and power it on.