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vodaphone across Europe

Matrid
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

hi. Im from Sydney, flying in to Budapest in July, spending 6 months in Europe. My brother in UK suggests i go with Vodaphone as he uses this successfully when travelling (though ill be adding Albania, Montenegro etc to my places to visit.

My question is..... Can i get a Sim card and pre-pay monthly plan in Budapest that will be competitive ($) and cover Bulgaria, Romania etc along with the main Euro countries?

Will i need to make sure my phone (hardware) is compatible, or are these things global now?

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

You have to buy the top-up vouchers in the UK. You can do this in most supermarkets, and pay either with cash or with your non-UK credit card. If you and the card are physically present, it doesn't have to be a UK card!

You can then apply the voucher either in the UK or while travelling, but I suspect that some of the methods described in 63johnw's post may not work from abroad. I've only used a voucher abroad by logging in to my online account, where there's an "activate voucher" option in the top-up section - and, these days, you do have to receive an incoming text with a security code, in order to log in. But that shouldn't be a problem, and there's no charge for incoming texts. Though you would need to set up the account before you left the UK - I'm sure I've seen reports of problems if you try to do that while roaming.

The real restriction will be the "fair usage" restriction on roaming - I'm reasonably sure that 2 months continuous roaming will result in your account being suspended, although I can't immediately find confirmation on that. Ah, found it in the PAYG airtime terms - "If you use your inclusive allowance for roaming for a total of 2 months or more during any 4-month period we may charge you for further use or bar your roaming services".

However, if you start with a period in the UK, then you'd get a couple of months of travelling elsewhere in Europe (to be clear, "elsewhere in Europe" includes the Republic of Ireland!) before any restrictions or additional charges kicked in.

Oh, a further thought - I tried to top up by voucher within the App. In theory it gets around the need to log in, but it was extremely hard work - so check that you can use that route in the UK before trying it from abroad!

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35 REPLIES 35

Thank you all  -- ToniCa the detail and links you provided are most appreciated.

As I will be arriving in Budapest and spending a month over that way before hitting London I will need a solution for that region  - I checked out the Vodafone Bulgaria website and I dont think I'll be arranging a sim there.... looks like too much hard work and I'll be on holiday! I will visit aVodafone store here and see what a month of roaming will cost me there...... then get a PYG1 plan when i hit the UK.

ToniCa  - thanks for pointing out that using the plan in Ireland (south) will contribute to roaming as I probably would not have picked that up and I intend spending 2-3 weeks there.

Thanks again everyone for your help

Cheers

donnyguy
16: Advanced member
16: Advanced member

If your brother lives in the UK, you should ask him to pick you up a prepaid Vodafone sim card and activate it before maling it to you (by making an outgoing call).

You can check out the packages on this website and find the one that's right for you. 

You are potentially going to have a couple of issues as mentioned above.

1. Recharging your account. If this is a problem then again, ask your brother to buy on your behalf and transfer some cash.

2. Whether you fall foul of the roaming requirements. But no-one will know for sure how that's going to work. Plus you'll be in the UK for a period of time during your trip so you might be OK.

Assuming your brother activates a sim and helps you get the recharge cards (don't put them on and select packages until you're ready to travel) then you're good to go.

Thanks to the European roaming rules, you'll be covered and able to roam with no extra charges in Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania as they're all European Union countries. 

Vodafone also offer free roaming in Albania so you'll be good there.

You then mention the UK, obviously that'll technically be your home network so no issues.

The Republic of Ireland is included as well.

BUT... be aware that Montenegro and some surrounding countries (e.g. Serbia) aren't included so will be charged at standard roaming rates. You might want to switch off your roaming data there and rely on wi-fi depending on how long you're there for.

 

The benefits of getting a UK sim and using that for the duration is (1) your brother is here so can call you on a local number and reach you wherever you are. Also means you're not charged for incoming calls either (except in Montenegro) and (2) you're from Australia, a lot of the Australian networks offer packages that include calls to UK numbers so your friends / family there can call you.

 

The only concern is that at some point during the trip, you over-use the free roaming and they cut it off. But you could just pick up a second sim card from Vodafone UK whilst you're in the UK, activate it, don't recharge it and keep it as a just in case. Should anything happen en-route. Swap to the new sim.

 

 

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

Above I gave a link to the latest acceptable use policy. I was reading it through last night, to get the hang of some of the restrictions - generally it all seemed to make good sense, but I was startled to read:

"Don’t: use your SIM outside the UK for prolonged periods of time. You should not be using our services for extended periods of travel or if you are permanently resident outside the UK."

Unless something has got lost in the translation, it looks as though we have all been giving duff advice!

Edited to add some further duff advice: before your SIMs leave the UK, not only set up an online account, as discussed above so that you can be sure of applying any top-up vouchers while outside the UK, but also check that there aren't any roaming restrictions on the account. PAYG SIMs used to come with a roaming bar as standard, but I suspect that ceased to apply when free roaming within the EU came in.

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

And yet another thought! If you opt in to Vodafone International (free for PAYG customers), then while you're in the UK you will be able to call Aussie landlines for 5p a minute (mobile numbers 25p a minute).

Aus.JPG

AnnS
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @Matrid

 

Please note the only way to top up a PAYG phone abroad is online using a UK debit or credit card.

 

Screenshot 2018-03-25 10.29.37.png

 

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

Whatever the Vodafone help pages may say, I have regularly topped up both my own phone and those of other family members while abroad by logging in to my account or theirs, and then using a top-up voucher purchased in the UK.

Of course, since Matrid has relatives in the UK, he can also ask one of them to top up using an ATM - you just enter the number that you want topped up, re-enter it for confirmation, choose an amount, and it gets debited to your bank account.

TJ
Community Manager (Retired)
Community Manager (Retired)

These are all really useful points that everyones raised and @Matrid; I hope you have a great time on your travels ✈️

As previously advised I think your main problem's going to be the fair usage policy, if you're going to be over in Europe for more than two months.

When topping up directly from abroad you'll need to use a UK debit/ credit card. I don't see why purchasing vouchers in the UK before you went wouldn't activate whilst abroad though.

Hi all and thank you. I just had a forced absence, picking up the thread again....

A few more questions:

1. When I go to order my PAYG1 sim card, I have the option to order 2. Whats with this - will I get 2 seperate numbers? so effectively I could have 2 seperate plans? Or give one to my partner....?

2.  I dont see that I can add money when I order the sim -  so I assume that once received my next step is to actvate the sim then "top up". Does anyone know the amounts I will be able to choose from?

3. Can you confirm that there is no fee for inbound calls or sms while roaming - so if I have the phone turned on, with the data turned off there is definitely no charge -  and this will only occur if I MAKE a call, or SEND an sms.

(I have read that if I have the data turned on, but I am not using any, there may still be charges due to "chattering" ..... so I understand this.....)

4. To buy an extra 500MB for the day (for 1 GBP)  - "just call 2345" or "text Data500 to 40514".  Will both of these options work from the Continent?  

(Note : this extra 500MB may take up to 2 hrs to appear on your account)

5. No question here -  just wish to mention this for others reading the thread. The 24hr period is from midnight to 11.59pm based on the time of the main city of the country you are in....

 

Thanks again!

 

 

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member
  1. If I go to http://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/ and choose the PAYG1 option, I only see being able to order one SIM. If you see the option to order two, they would be separate numbers and separate PAYG accounts.
  2. I also see an option to order the card without a top-up, or with £5, £10 or £20 top-ups. If you top up later, it depends a bit where you do it, but at my local supermarket, I get options from £5 to £50, I think with all multiples of £5 along the way!
  3. Incoming standard SMS are free everywhere, but incoming calls are chargeable one you are outside the Europe zone - see http://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/costs/travelling-abroad/ for details. And you're right - keep data off unless you need it, as most phones "leak" data a bit!
  4. Not sure on this - the short-code numbers often don't work from outside the UK.
  5. I think this is the Pay Monthly situation. I have it in mind that PAYG uses the UK midnight as the cutoff point, but I can't spot proof anywhere. 

Before you go, make sure you've set up a voicemail PIN, or you won't be able to access voicemail messages. See https://support.vodafone.co.uk/Using-our-network/Voicemail/897614252/How-do-I-set-up-and-manage-my-v...

 

ToniCa
13: Advanced Member

@Matrid - You're quite right! According to the PAYG1 terms and condtions, "a day will be a calendar day from midnight to midnight (UK time or, if you are roaming in our Europe Zone, the time in the capital city of the country you are in). If you reach the qualifying spend of £1 in a single day you will be able to use your unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data for that day."

That's certainly a turn-up for the books! You have to be a bit cautious to be sure that where you are is actually in the same time zone as the capital city. I've an idea that the Azores and Madeira may not always be the same as Lisbon.