Hello, all! I wanted to share my experience with KKday, as I ordered a SIM card through them for my solo summer trip to Taipei, Taiwan. Having a SIM card with unlimited data allowed for effective public transportation and street navigation, saving precious time during my short stay in the city. Please note that this product review for the KKday SIM Card is not sponsored and is limited to my experiences.
About KKDay
KKday is a travel platform that connects travelers with local tours and activities. They make it easy for travelers to find fun and authentic experiences online in numerous countries, including Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. I found them through a quick Google search when researching SIM options in Taiwan.
I was able to easily navigate to Elephant Mountain in Taipei thanks to my SIM card!
SIM Card Process
The process was relatively straightforward and hassle free. Here are the basic steps to get your SIM card if you’re flying into Taoyuan International Airport (TPE):
Place the order specifying the approximate pick-up time.
Locate the KKday booth in the terminal arrival area when you land at TPE.
Show staff your passport and boarding pass to collect your SIM.
Install your SIM card. Make sure you check it works before leaving!
Use your SIM card for the desired number of days.
Pros of KKday SIM Card
Easy: SIM cards can be purchased in advance online with a credit card.
Inexpensive: I paid ~$10 USD for my 3-day 4G SIM with unlimited data.
Convenient: SIM cards can be picked-up in Terminal 1 and 2 at the Taoyuan Airport in Taipei. The Terminal 1 booth is open 24 hours while Terminal 2 is open 5:30 am to 1:00 am. You need to specify which terminal you will be picking up your SIM from upon placing your order.
Reliable: Chunghwa Telecom is the carrier and provides fast, reliable service throughout Taipei. The only place with slightly spotty service was in the mountainous Jiufen area outside of the city center.
Cons of KKday SIM Card
Purchase limitation: You can only purchase one SIM card per person.
Non-reloadable: To my knowledge, this specific SIM card cannot be topped-up or loaded with more data after it expires. (I would have preferred to re-use the SIM card upon future trips to Taiwan.) If you would like a reloadable SIM option, you would need to purchase from a provider shop rather than KKday.
Processing time: Orders must be placed by 4:00 pm two days prior to the day you plan to pick-up your SIM. For example, if you wish to pick up your SIM card on November 13, you must complete your online booking before 4:00 pm on November 11.
Travel Tips
It is easier to purchase a SIM card in the airport compared to in the city. I recommend purchasing from KKday or other providers before leaving the airport.
Make sure your phone is unlocked. If it is not, you will not be able to use the SIM card.
Starting in 2019, your phone will need to be 4G compatible for the SIM to properly operate in Taiwan.
As a woman who frequently travels solo, having a phone with data relieves some travel anxiety and makes me feel safer. Although I do not always opt for SIM cards, they make short trips much easier. I recommend using KKday if you’re visiting Taipei because their SIM service is easy, cheap, and convenient! For more detailed information, visit this webpage.
We are writing this Klook review article to help our readers get a better understanding of what is Klook and to answer the question of whether Klook is legit. We have personally made many bookings through Klook over the past year and have been working with them as an affiliate partner since April 2017, so are well positioned to write this review.
We have personally used Klook to book a wide range of travel activities in multiple countries, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, and are very happy to continue to book our travel activities with them into the future.
Note that this article is sponsored by Klook but our opinions are our own.
What is Klook?
To get started a common question is what is Klook? Klook is a travel tech startup which is headquartered in Hong Kong. Klook Travel Technology Limited is the proper company name and it is a private company which is expanding quickly since it was founded in 2014.
Klook focuses on providing within destination travel requirements, such as attraction tickets, day tours and local attractions for over 120 destinations around the world. Klook do not offer flights or accommodation. Klook do not run tours themselves, they work with local providers in each destination to offer a large range of tour, ticket and transfer options.
The Klook website focuses on providing their travel activities in the native language of each reader and has tailored activity pages for each nationality.
Is Klook Legit?
Klook is a legit company which has been very successful so far and has successfully raised significant capital investments to help to build and expand the company worldwide. They receive over one million bookings per month and are growing rapidly.
Is Klook Reliable?
As you can probably tell from the scale of Klook’s activities described above they need to have very reliable systems to manage all of their bookings and provide customer service.
Our Klook Travel Review
We have now made 37 bookings through Klook, ranging from day tours, attraction tickets, airport transfer, pocket wifi rentals and sim card purchases. Our Klook bookings have been made for Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Japan for travel over the past year.
Out of those 37 Klook bookings, one was cancelled shortly after booking due to lack of availability of the tour and was quickly refunded.
The only booking we made which did not work out was one of our airport transfers in Singapore. When we realised that our driver was not arriving we were able to work out a plan B to get to the airport. We engaged with Klook customer assistance using the Klook app on my phone and they quickly responded and refunded our money within one week.
The other 35 Klook bookings all occurred seamlessly – we have collected tickets, rented pocket wifis, sim cards, passes, received items by mail and used both printed and Klook app QR codes on our phones to gain access to various attractions, all with no issues.
We have also worked with Klook as an affiliate partner since April 2017 and their system has been very good to track bookings made by our readers and they pay our affiliate commissions every month on schedule with no issues.
Overall we are satisfied that Klook are a very safe and reliable company to use to book your travels and would definitely recommend them.
Disneyland Tokyo Castle
Klook Customer Service
An important part of making your bookings through Klook is understanding the Klook customer service model.
After you make your booking you will quickly receive an email to confirm your booking. Some items are instant confirmation so you should receive a ticket for these items within a few minutes. For other items they may take 24-48 hours to confirm your booking. You will then receive another email to confirm your booking and to provide all of the details you need in terms of where to go and how to use your booking, as well as cancellations conditions.
While you are travelling you can use the Klook app to track all of your bookings and to see your confirmation details. The Klook app is very easy to use and keep track of your trip bookings, and it also provides you with reminders for each activity.
You can also use the Klook app to contact customer service on the go, confirm information, ask questions and ask for support if something is not working they way you expected. They usually respond quickly and are very helpful.
Klook Contact Number
Klook does not have a contact phone number prior to making a booking, the easiest options to contact them are either by email to support@klook.com or their online chat function which is easily accessible via the Klook App – go to ‘Account’, ‘Help Center’, and on the page is a popup to ‘Ask Klook’, which then has a range of options.
You will see the help number in the check out page once you are ready to complete your order. Also, after you have completed your bookings you will have a Klook contact number provided in your booking confirmation emails.
How to Use Klook
Klook is very easy to use, either via their app or on their webpage. Each travel activity has a detailed description of what you can book, including any limitations and the cancellation policy. Make sure you read this information carefully before you make your booking, then select your preferred options and then add the item to your Shopping Cart. You can then keep on shopping until you are ready to finalise your bookings.
Once you are ready to finalise your bookings, Klook will then ask for any additional information required to complete your bookings, which may include information such as passport details, flight arrival and departure information etc depending on what you are booking. Once you are ready, add your payment information and click to proceed and your booking should quickly be finalised.
Payment options include either Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Alipay.
On the Klook Home Page you can select your destination o start exploring the options
Klook App Review
As mentioned above, the Klook app is a great option to both make your bookings, and also to be able to track all of your bookings while you are on the go. You need to ensure you have access to data for this app to be useable during your trip. The Klook app is available in both the Apple Store and the Google Play Store. Make sure you download the app and set it up before you depart on your trip.
I also suggest you also set up Whatsapp on your phone prior to departure if you are booking any day tours or private transfers. Most drivers will reach out to you the day before to confirm your booking and pickup location.
In our case where our Singapore driver did not arrive we had not received a message prior, so really should have followed it up earlier. Make sure you set up Whatsapp prior to departure as the app requires confirmation from your local phone number, so if you plan to use a prepaid sim card during your trip you may find that you cannot confirm your Whatsapp account.
Klook Discount Code
Klook also offers some great discount code deals from time to time which will be emailed to you if you have set up an account with them.
Another really popular option is the Klook first time promo code, which enables first time users of Klook to get a discount on their first booking. Our Klook promo code is MDE8G to get a $A5 discount off your first order. You add the code just prior to final payment in your Klook Shopping Cart.
Klook App Bookings Page
Klook Credits
Klook also has the Klook Credits loyalty program. For every item you book and complete in Klook you receive Klook credits, which you can use to get discounts off other bookings through Klook.
The popular online marketplaces to trade your goods in most European countries include eBay and Amazon. However, the same platforms will not bring you the desired sales if you are in Poland. Why? People from Poland prefer Allegro to these platforms, as their favorite online marketplace to get all the items they want.
And with over 21 million registered users and 17 million visiting customers every month on Allegro.pl, Allegro has managed to hold a significant position in Poland.
Allegro is one of the leading technology-driven trading companies in Poland and in Europe. Allegro was founded in 1999 in Poznań and today has offices also in Warsaw, Toruń, Wrocław, and Kraków. At the very start, the company created by just a few people was headquartered in the basement of a computer wholesaler and the first version of the site fitted on just one floppy disk. The e-commerce market in Poland was still in its infancy at that time, and Allegro was one of the businesses that contributed the most to its growth. Since then, over a dozen or so years, the company has undergone a huge transformation. From an auction site for hobbyists, it has evolved into the most popular e-commerce platform. Allegro currently employs over 1,800 people, nearly half of whom are top-class experts in technology.
With almost two decades of existence, the Allegro platform has evolved to become the most trusted Polish online marketplace. According to the report “E-commerce in Poland 2019” conducted by Gemius – a renowned market research company, revealed that 80% of respondents identified the Allegro platform as their preferred brand in the e-commerce industry.
Furthermore, only 13% of the respondents, who were mostly online shoppers in Poland, linked eBay and e-commerce. Additionally, a statistical report released by Aukcjostat.pl showed a significant disparity between the two Internet auction platform’s market share, with Allegro claiming a remarkable 82% and eBay a paltry 1%.
21 million accounts have been created on the platform so far. Customers buy over 1.2 million products every day, of which over 95% are new items, sold at a fixed price, with a warranty and insurance. Allegro offers modern on-line financial services, such as 0% instalments, renewable instalments Raty Od.nowa and leasing. Allegro is home to over 125,000 merchants: not only the world’s biggest brands, but mostly small and medium Polish enterprises. Allegro continues to improve standards on the e-commerce market by fostering consumer rights and supporting the development of entrepreneurship.
A significant part of the Allegro Group, Allegro is a top e-commerce company. The brand owned also PayU – an online payment system, Ceneo – a price comparison site, and other top services, including OtoMoto and Bankier (*Corrigendum: PayU, OtoMoto and Bankier are not in our group since end of 2016).
The progress and regression of eBay over the last decade in the Polish market can be considered as a typical example of how renowned global brands stand the risk of losing their top spots to local, stronger competitors.
Allegro has successfully dominated the Polish online market due to a couple of reasons. The first is the excellent management it has enjoyed over time, and its continuous strive to improve its brand image with the view to become an acknowledged leader in the Polish market.
At Allegro portal each product from every company is sold individually. For instance, a seller that wants to put a product up for sale on Allegro is required to create a different card for that product. Such card must contain all the information about the product, including the name, photos, description, technical information, price, etc.
Thus, in a situation where several sellers are offering the same products, each seller will provide its product card. When a buyer search for the particular product, there are several cards displayed, each from different sellers. This gives the buyer the opportunity to make comparisons easily and settle for the best. Amazon, on the other hand, uses a single product card for each product, and buyers can only choose their preferred seller from a list.
Allegro came into existence in 1999 as an auction site. While the purpose of the site remains the same, there has been a slight change in its mode of operations – sales no longer follow the auction model. The prices of products are now fixed, but there are slight differences across different sellers.
Top Polish marketplace – what is the future?
The Allegro brand is very much prominent, so much that it had pushed eBay into luring Polish clients by removing the listing fee for issuing two years ago. As part of its plans to enter the Polish market fully, Amazon opened a fulfillment center in Wroclaw in 2014.
Another emerging online marketplace in Poland is AliExpress, perhaps because it sells certain exotic items that are not available on Allegro.
Registering on Allegro is simple. Simply sign up at allegro.pl by clicking on “My Allegro->Sign Up” and following the instructions. You will find a link on your Allegro account that helps you to create your PayU account, which you will use in receiving all funds from Allegro.
Bank account
You do not need a local bank account to start selling on Allegro. You can transfer all your funds from PayU to other bank accounts.
Currency
The only acceptable currency on Allegro is Polish Zloty (PLN), thus PayU stores and sends the funds in PLN. However, your local bank can help you covert the PLN into your preferred currency.
Standard and recommended shipping and returns policies
It is highly advisable that you offer free shipping. Likewise, providing a local return address is highly recommended, although not compulsory.
Acceptable type/size of sellers and suitable products
Every size or type of sellers is welcome on Allegro, likewise all products.
Handling stock
For best results, it is highly recommended that you get a local warehouse. If, for any reason, you are unable to secure one, offer quick and free shipping for your products.
Other specifics
Offer listings and customer service in Polish language. The listing design on Allegro can be customized, so get the best out of this by adding relevant information.
Conclusion
Apart from the difference in currency and language, there is no much difference in how Allegro works compared to other top online marketplaces of the world. While you can sort the currency difference with your local bank, a Polish speaker will help you to get started whenever you are ready.
