Use your plan overseas as you would in Australia for $5 extra a day
Works in more than 100 countries
Best for short trips
How do I use Vodafone's $5 roaming?
If you're a Vodafone postpaid customer, you'll have access to its $5 roaming add-on. Once Vodafone's roaming activation is on (which should be automatic on your Vodafone account, but double-check before your first trip), it's a pretty easy process:
Go to your eligible country of choice (you can see the full list of countries below).
Take your phone off Aeroplane Mode.
Your Vodafone roaming will automatically switch on. Make calls, upload photos, go nuts.
$5 buys you 24 hours to use your plan as you would at home, with the same data inclusion.
For example: If you have a Vodafone Lite plan, you'll have 40GB to burn through within a month, with unlimited local calls and texts.
The 24 hours starts when you use your phone to call, text or surf the web.
If you don't plan on using your phone much in 1 day, or will be somewhere with plenty of Wi-Fi, you can keep your phone on Aeroplane Mode and save the $5.
Things to watch out for:
You can receive texts for free, but sending a message, using data, making or receiving a phone call will trigger a new 24 hours (and thus another $5 a day charge).
Only your maximum speed data is included, which means you can't make use of Vodafone's Infinite data overseas.
If you go over your maximum speed data on your plan, you'll be charged $10 for an extra 1GB of data, so keep an eye on your usage.
You can use Vodafone's $5 roaming add-on for up to 90 days in a calendar year. Frequent travellers may need another international roaming option.
Vodafone roaming is subject to network availability in other countries. This means you might not get mobile Internet as fast as you're used to in Australia, or as widespread coverage.
Which Vodafone plans are eligible for $5 roaming?
$5 roaming is available on any of the current Vodafone postpaid mobile plans. It is not available on data-only plans.
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Unfortunately, if you're on Vodafone prepaid, you can't access the same $5 roaming add-on.
Instead, for $5 a day, you get an inclusion of calling minutes and between 200MB and 285.71MB of data to use each day during your trip, depending on which Prepaid Roaming add-on you choose.
Is Vodafone's $5 roaming worth it?
It depends. If you're just going on a short trip for a few days, you're visiting multiple countries or you need to stay contactable on your Australian number, then it's a great choice.
Vodafone's $5 roaming is the most generous of any Australian telco, with Telstra and Optus both charging $10 a day while including less.
The Telstra International Roaming Pass costs $10 a day and includes standard calls and texts, with just 500MB of data. If you're going to New Zealand, it's $5 a day.
Optus's International Roaming add-on is $10 a day and gets you unlimited standard calls and texts, with only 1GB of data. If you're away for a week, you can pay $50 for 5GB to use over 7 days (which is still more expensive than Vodafone).
Of course, you can also pick up a prepaid SIM at your destination or get a specific travel SIM, but they make more sense for longer or more frequent trips.
Where can I use Vodafone's $5 roaming?
The eligible countries can be switched out from time to time, so it's always a good idea to confirm on the Vodafone website. As of April 2022, these are the included countries:
Aland Islands
Albania
America (USA)
Argentina
Armenia
Austria
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia (includes Bali)
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nauru
Netherlands
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Norway
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russia
Samoa
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
Serbia
Singapore
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tonga
Turkey
United Kingdom
Ukraine
United Republic of Tanzania
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Vietnam
Virgin Islands, US
Wales
If your destination isn't on the list, you can still use pay-as-you-go (PAYG) roaming. Just keep in mind that PAYG can get quite expensive and rates may change depending on where you're going.
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Alice Clarke is an award-winning freelance journalist, producer and presenter, as well as co-curator of the PAX Aus Together Lounge. In her 15 years as a journalist she’s appeared in The Age, Herald Sun Finder, Gizmodo, Kotaku, the ABC, Stevivor, Cracked, Curve and many other publications. See full profile
With Vodaphone’s $5 per day roaming cover, do I get 24 hours from my first activity or until midnight on the day?
E.g. if I start activity at one minute past midnight do I have a $5 time limit for 23 hours and 59 minutes? Or for example, if I start at 11 pm do I only have 1 hour or 24 hours to 11 pm the next day?
And if I stop using “roaming” for 2 days do I pay for those two days or only, automatically, does another $5s only start when I call home to Australia? Further, my wife and I will be in Greece together, how much will it cost me to call her if we are both in Greece but not near each other? We are both postpaid long term Vodafone customers.
If you are in Greece and use the $5 roaming it will start from the time when you make first call. Suppose you are making a call at 12 pm today it will work until tomorrow 11:59 pm. You will be charged the $5 fee only on days you make or receive a call, send a text or use data overseas. The $5 fee will appear on your bill to be paid at the end of the billing period. If you go over data allowance, they’ll automatically add 1GB for $10.
And if you both are in Greece and not at the same place the $5 roaming will still work for you.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Hi guys, I am currently in the Philippines & I have Virgin Sim on month by month basis. It has just increased in price from $20 per month to $30 per month. I need to retain my Australian # to receive calls only. Is there a cheaper option for me?
Thank you for your inquiry. We understand that you wanted to keep your Australian number active while out of the country for incoming calls.
Generally, there are three options that you may consider.
1. First is to check if there are roaming mobile contract (including monthly) that you can take on, wherein you may likely get more value out of every dollar plus there’s no need of putting up a recharge.
2. Migrating your services to prepaid wherein you can enjoy mostly PAYG packages.
3. Getting travel packs from Australian providers, to keep your services going.
It is important that you review their Critical Information Summary Sheets and/or consider discussing your needs with a consultant to know which one suits you.
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With Vodaphone’s $5 per day roaming cover, do I get 24 hours from my first activity or until midnight on the day?
E.g. if I start activity at one minute past midnight do I have a $5 time limit for 23 hours and 59 minutes? Or for example, if I start at 11 pm do I only have 1 hour or 24 hours to 11 pm the next day?
And if I stop using “roaming” for 2 days do I pay for those two days or only, automatically, does another $5s only start when I call home to Australia? Further, my wife and I will be in Greece together, how much will it cost me to call her if we are both in Greece but not near each other? We are both postpaid long term Vodafone customers.
Hi Ron,
Thank you for getting in touch with finder.
If you are in Greece and use the $5 roaming it will start from the time when you make first call. Suppose you are making a call at 12 pm today it will work until tomorrow 11:59 pm. You will be charged the $5 fee only on days you make or receive a call, send a text or use data overseas. The $5 fee will appear on your bill to be paid at the end of the billing period. If you go over data allowance, they’ll automatically add 1GB for $10.
And if you both are in Greece and not at the same place the $5 roaming will still work for you.
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
Hi guys, I am currently in the Philippines & I have Virgin Sim on month by month basis. It has just increased in price from $20 per month to $30 per month. I need to retain my Australian # to receive calls only. Is there a cheaper option for me?
Hi Adrian,
Thank you for your inquiry. We understand that you wanted to keep your Australian number active while out of the country for incoming calls.
Generally, there are three options that you may consider.
1. First is to check if there are roaming mobile contract (including monthly) that you can take on, wherein you may likely get more value out of every dollar plus there’s no need of putting up a recharge.
2. Migrating your services to prepaid wherein you can enjoy mostly PAYG packages.
3. Getting travel packs from Australian providers, to keep your services going.
It is important that you review their Critical Information Summary Sheets and/or consider discussing your needs with a consultant to know which one suits you.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jonathan