Vodafone keeps roaming simple: one price, almost everywhere. The details that cost people money are what counts as a day, the 90-day limit, and which data you can actually use overseas.
How Vodafone $5 Roaming works
- A$5 extra a day, added to your bill, on top of your plan fee.
- You use your own plan: its data, calls and texts, in over 100 destinations, including Japan, Indonesia (Bali included), the US, the UK, Europe, New Zealand, Thailand, Fiji, Singapore and India.
- A day is a 24-hour block that starts the first time you use your phone overseas.
- Up to 90 days a calendar year. After that, pay-as-you-go rates apply.
- No speed-capped data. If your plan has unlimited data at a capped speed once the allowance runs out, that part can’t be used overseas.
Run out of plan data on an Infinite or Plus plan and Vodafone adds 1GB for A$5. Without $5 Roaming, pay-as-you-go is A$1 per MB of data, A$1 a minute for calls made or received, and 75c per text sent.
When Vodafone charges you
$5 Roaming is on by default for postpaid phone plans. You’re charged for a day when you use data, send a text, or make or answer a call overseas. Vodafone says receiving messages is free and won’t trigger the fee.
What a week away costs on Vodafone
Seven days of $5 Roaming, against a SimKit eSIM with 2GB a day and SimKit’s cheapest plan with at least 7GB. The Vodafone figure is only the roaming fee: the data comes out of your plan allowance.
| 7 days in | Vodafone $5 Roaming Your plan’s own data, calls and texts | SimKit day pass 2GB a day, data only | SimKit data plan Cheapest with 7GB+, data only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | A$35 | A$33.49 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Bali (Indonesia) | A$35 | A$28.98 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United States | A$35 | A$26.40 | A$16.80 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| United Kingdom | A$35 | A$18.68 | A$11.90 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| France | A$35 | A$21.90 | A$13.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| New Zealand | A$35 | A$30.27 | A$21.20 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Thailand | A$35 | A$28.98 | A$15.40 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| Fiji | A$35 (lowest) | A$63.11 | A$42.50 10 GB, 30 days |
| Singapore | A$35 | A$28.34 | A$17.10 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
| India | A$35 | A$33.49 | A$29.50 (lowest) 10 GB, 30 days |
At A$5 a day, Vodafone shares the lowest daily price of the big three with Optus Plus plans, and a SimKit day pass with 2GB costs about the same or a little less in most places. The difference is the fixed-data plan: for most destinations, a week’s worth of SimKit data costs less than four days of $5 Roaming, and your plan allowance stays untouched for home.
Vodafone prepaid roaming add-ons
Prepaid Plus and Pay and Go customers buy a Roaming Add-on in the My Vodafone app, then turn roaming on.
| Add-on | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | A$5 | 1GB, 100 minutes, 100 texts |
| 3 days | A$15 | 3GB, 150 minutes, 150 texts |
| 7 days | A$35 | 7GB, 350 minutes, 250 texts |
Minutes include calls you receive. Once an add-on runs out, you pay A$1 a minute, 75c a text and A$1 per MB from your credit.
How to turn off Vodafone roaming
In the My Vodafone app you can switch off $5 Roaming (you’ll then pay pay-as-you-go rates if you use your phone) or turn international roaming off completely. You can also call 1555. To keep receiving texts free, leave the service on and turn off data roaming for the Vodafone line on your phone.
How to keep your number without paying for roaming
Most phones sold in the last few years hold two lines at once. Your Vodafone SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts, and a travel eSIM handles data. Four steps, all done at home:
- Check your phone takes an eSIM and isn’t locked. Dial *#06#: if you see an EID, it has one. Our eSIM compatible phones list covers the rest.
- Install your travel eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly. A SimKit plan only starts when it first connects at your destination, so installing early costs nothing.
- Turn data roaming off for your Vodafone line. Leave the line itself switched on so texts still arrive. On iPhone: SettingsthenMobile ServicethenYour main linethenData Roaming
- When you land, pick the eSIM for mobile data. Turn data roaming on for that line only. How to use an eSIM walks through it on iPhone, Samsung and Pixel.
Receiving a text doesn’t cost anything on Telstra, Optus or Vodafone, so bank codes and one-time passwords still reach you. Answering a call does start the daily fee, and so can listening to voicemail, because that is a call too. Let calls go to missed, and call back on WhatsApp, FaceTime or Messenger over the eSIM’s data.
Turning data roaming off stops data charges only. If you’d rather not risk a fee from an answered call either, switch roaming off for the whole service in your carrier’s app. Incoming texts may stop too, so do it only if you don’t need them.
Vodafone roaming or a travel eSIM?
If you’ll be making plenty of calls, $5 Roaming is fair value. If it’s mostly maps, messages and photos, a travel eSIM usually costs less and leaves your 90 days for later in the year. Compare Telstra and Optus, or see every carrier side by side.