With Vodacom's simple roaming solutions, you'll get fixed, predictable rates for calls, SMS and data, plus some awesome discounts, so you can travel with total peace of mind.
You're probably counting down the days until you take off for your overseas holiday, or your trip to visit family higher up on the continent. You've got your passport packed, with its requisite visas, and all the kit you'll need for a European winter or an equatorial summer.
But if you haven't chosen a roaming package from Vodacom before you leave, you could end up with serious buyer's remorse when you come home to an unexpectedly high phone bill.
Here, we break down the five different ways Vodacom makes roaming more affordable.
Travel Saver
Vodacom's Travel Saver offers the lowest roaming rates, and is ideal if you're taking your tablet, phone and/or dongle with you. You'll be charged a fixed low rate per MB of data, per minute of making and receiving calls, and per SMS.
There are 180 countries round the world whose Vodafone partner networks support Travel Saver users, and these countries are divided into two price zones.
When travelling to Zone 1 countries, including France, the US and Mozambique, you'll get the lowest rates:
- R2.50 per minute to make and receive calls
- R2 per MB of data
- For a fee of R30 per day.
You'll pay a little more in Zone 2 countries, which include Namibia and Thailand.
To get an accurate calculation of how much you'll pay in the country you'll be visiting, use this calculator.
How to activate
Activating Travel Saver before you leave is as simple as SMSing 'Save' to 123 or logging into My Vodacom and choosing Services -> Calling Services.
Or you can activate it through the VodaPay App. Go to My Services -> Manage Services -> Calling Services to activate.
We recommend this option because it allows you to check your balances and manage your spend, no matter where you are.
Vodafone World
Get some great discounts on on call and data rates when you activate International Roaming with Vodacom. Rates vary, depending on where you're going and the price plan you're on. Find out the cost with the roaming calculator.
How to activate
- Contract customers: Seven days before you leave, call 082 111 free from a Vodacom phone or SMS IRM to 31051.
- Prepaid customers: Activate any time before you leave SA by SMSing TRAVELON to 123 or calling 082 135. (Deactivate by SMSing TRAVELOFF to 123 when you're back or +2782123 if you're still away.)
- Top Up customers: Roaming is activated by default.
Data roaming
This is one of the great advantages to choosing Vodacom's international roaming solutions. For no extra cost, you get LTE roaming on selected Vodafone partner networks - as you know, it's much faster than 3G.
You'll always be connected while on holiday (so you can check your email if you absolutely have to, stream music for long road-trips, and upload your pics to social media) with the fastest connectivity speeds.
When you activate basic roaming, data roaming is activated automatically. Plus, Vodacom will SMS you for free to let you know you've gone over the R2 000 mark, so you can stay in control of your data costs.
And Super-Saver rates mean you'll qualify to pay a reduced rate at R17.50/MB when you roam on selected Vodafone partner networks.
(You need a phone or device that is LTE-capable and with a 64k or 128k SIM card.)
SMS Roamer
This is the most affordable way to roam! And it's the simplest to activate, too.
Send SMSs for R2.75, and receive SMSs for free while you're travelling.
Simply SMS 'ROAMON' to 123 before you leave, and 'ROAMOFF' to 123 when you return.
(Note that voice and data capabilities will be turned off while you're travelling on SMS Roamer.)
Africa Roaming
This solution offers you dramatically reduced international roaming rates when you travel to other African countries with Vodacom networks.
These are:
- DRC
- Tanzania
- Lesotho
- Mozambique
As well as these partner networks:
- Vodafone Ghana
- Kenya Safaricom
And the rates you'll qualify for are:
- R2.90 per minute for local calls in the country you’re visiting
- R5 per minute for calls back to South Africa or to other countries
- R2.90 per minute for receiving calls
- R1.50 for every SMS you send
- R5 per MB of data used
All you have to do to get these reduced rates is to activate Vodafone World roaming (see the point above), and stay on the Vodacom or partner networks while you're in that country. You'll automatically be billed at the reduced rates.
