Do you need a Turkish phone number for Migros, Watsons, or Gratis loyalty cards in Istanbul, and can you still get the discounts without one?

The most useful takeaway for Migros is that if you already have a Turkish phone number, cashiers may not even ask for a separate loyalty card — one recent shopper said discounts were applied automatically. Still, keep the number ready in case staff want to look up the account by phone.

For Migros, there was no confirmed success story with a virtual number. The topic came up, but nobody provided proof that a virtual number works, so the safer assumption is that a regular Turkish mobile number is needed for loyalty registration.

For Gratis, the discussion pointed toward loyalty registration being tied to a Turkish phone number. No working method was shared for getting the card without a local SIM, so that appears to be the main limitation for short-term visitors.

The same issue came up for Watsons: people asked whether the card could be obtained without a Turkish number, but no confirmed workaround was provided. In practice, travelers should not count on being able to register a Watsons loyalty card in Istanbul without a local number.