Understanding the ins and outs of your Vodacom data plan will go a long way towards helping you manage your data – ensuring you don’t run out at an inconvenient time or run up charges you weren’t expecting. Here are five ways to stay on top of it.

1. Enable Date Alert SMS or Check Your Balances Yourself

These are handy little alerts that you’ll get via SMS to let you know when your data bundle is running low.  Even better, don’t wait for the notification – check the balance on your data plan regularly in the VodaPay app or via USSD to make sure you’re not running low.

2. Avoid unforeseen charges with Vodacom’s Out-Of-Bundle Limit Lock

When your data bundle runs out, you can still use data – but you’ll be charged out-of-bundle (OOB) rates. These are charged per MB at a rate that depends on your plan – and can quickly add up.  With Vodacom’s Out-Of-Bundle Limit Lock, you can set your own spending limit (even R0).

With this limit in place, once your data plan runs out and you’ve reached your R0 spending limit, your access to the internet and apps that use data (e.g. WhatsApp and social media) will pause – helping you avoid unexpected charges. You can change or remove the limit anytime using the *135# menu and navigate to services, followed by next and then selecting the out-of-bundle limit lock option.

This feature is available to all Vodacom customers, including prepaid, Top-Up, and contract users. Just note: it doesn’t apply when you’re roaming.

3. Keep track of where your data is going

Being smart about managing your data plan isn’t just about keeping tabs on how much data you have – it’s also about tracking where your data is going. Apps – and even your device – may have default settings that cause them to run automatic updates and background processes that use data.

Signs this is happening: Your data is disappearing way too fast and you can’t figure out why. To find out what’s eating your data, go to “My account” in the VodaPay app and tap “Detailed Data Usage”. Click here for tips on data saving.

4. Check the validity period of your data bundle – before you buy it

Vodacom offers many different data plan options to suit different people’s needs. Different data plans expire at different times. For example:

Weekly bundle: Valid for seven days, including the day you bought it

Monthly bundle: Valid for 30 days, including the day you bought it

Internet Daily: Valid until midnight on the day you bought it

Recurring bundles: You can also buy recurring bundles that automatically renew every calendar month on the same date you got it. You can either get billed monthly or pay upfront for a set number of months (3, 6 or 12 months).

Roll-over data: On prepaid, if your bundle renews before the current one expires, unused data will roll over for 30 days. On contract, unused data from a recurring data plan also rolls over once, so it will stay valid for one additional month.

5. You can transfer data to someone else

Did you know Vodacom lets you share excess data on your data plan with other Vodacom customers using the Data Transfer feature? Super convenient for parents and friend groups! Note: Transfers are only allowed between the same or compatible customer types (e.g. Prepaid to Prepaid). Tap here to find out how to do it.

These tips will help you manage, maintain and save on data bundles, whether you are a prepaid or contract customer. For more details about contracts and SIM-only deals, visit the Vodacom shop.