So you’re travelling abroad, and you want to stay in touch with the folks back home. Maybe you want to share an Eiffel Tower selfie with your bestie, or maybe you just want to tell your Mum that you landed safely in Bangkok. Either way, you’ll need a smartphone with a connection. And that typically means a data roaming package.
Data roaming is when you use your mobile device’s data services (Internet, apps, etc) when you're outside your home network’s coverage area. It lets you connect to an overseas partner network, allowing you to use data as if you were still on your home network. It does, however, come with extra charges – which is why it’s so important to understand how it works.
Stay Connected
Of course, roaming isn’t your only option. ESIMs are another choice, but they can be expensive.
You could take your chances with free WiFi hotspots – but that leaves you at the mercy of hotels, restaurants and patchy connections in other public spaces. You could also try buying a local SIM card at your destination – but for that to work you’d need an unlocked phone, a new (foreign) number and possibly a working knowledge of the local language. (Also: your foreign SIM is useless when you come back home.)
Some brave souls try to avoid using their phones completely when they’re overseas… but all that does is give you a quick, hard lesson in how much you’ve come to rely on your always-on device.
Vodacom Travel Data Bundle
And why would you go to all that hassle, when you can use a Vodacom Travel Data bundle? International roaming with a Vodacom Travel Data bundle lets you pay a fixed bundle fee for the bundle that you choose and the country you visit. It’s available for each day you use data while roaming, and Vodacom will send you usage notifications and alerts as you reach your limit (for free via SMS).
Travel Data Bundles are valid for seven days, and you’ll pay as little as R99 for 1GB of data. That’s about the same as two bottles of water in Disneyland Paris. The 5GB data bundle is available for R349, which is about the cost of two tickets on the London Underground.
Travel data bundles are available to all Vodacom contract, prepaid and top-up customers. If you’re a Prepaid or Top-up customer, make sure you have enough airtime when you’re travelling to enable the bundle allocation.
Also remember to call Customer Care on 082135 to check if your roaming service is active.
How To Use It
Where can you use it? Well, that’s one of the great things about Vodacom’s global footprint. Your Vodacom Travel Data Bundle is available in more than 200 destinations, from Zambia and Zimbabwe to Afghanistan and the Åland Islands. Get the full list here.
Opt in via USSD *135*130# or on the VodaPay App, under >Buy >International roaming >Travel data bundle. You can also contact our call centre, or visit your nearest Vodacom store for assistance and more information.
