Vodafone Passport offers cheaper calls whilst abroad in Europe, Australia, New Zealand
July 14th, 2010
If you’re travelling abroad to Europe, Australia or New Zealand then Vodafone offer discounted calls and texts with their “Passport” scheme.
If you’re travelling abroad to Europe, Australia or New Zealand (particularly to the latter two as they offer the most substantial savings), you may find it good value to grab yourself a free Vodafone SIM card with “Vodafone Passport”. It will allow you to stay in touch with family and friends at home at a fraction of the price by providing discounted calls and texts.
How much do calls abroad cost with Vodafone Passport?
“Vodafone Passport” is an opt-in feature of Vodafone’s Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go tariffs. In “Passport countries”, you pay your standard UK call costs plus a 75p connection charge for each call.
For Pay As You Go customers on the “Simply” tariff:
| Country | PAYG Standard Call Cost (Without Passport) | With Vodafone Passport |
|---|---|---|
| Europe; making a call | 38p/min | 75p/call + 20p/min |
| Europe; receiving a call | 15p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
| Australia; making a call | 80p/min | 75p/call + 20p/min |
| Australia; receiving a call | 75p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
| New Zealand; making a call | 80p/min | 75p/call + 20p/min |
| New Zealand; receiving a call | 75p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
A standard 10 minute call from Australia/NZ to the UK would cost £8 without Passport and £2.75 with Passport. If you were on the receiving end of a 10 minute call, you would pay £7.50 without Passport and just 75p with Passport. For travellers to Europe, the savings are less substantial but you’ll still save money on calls of 4 minutes or longer.
If you’ve got a Pay Monthly tariff you can use your inclusive minutes whilst abroad but you’ll still need to pay the 75p connection charge per call. Assuming that you don’t run out of minutes whilst abroad, the costs are as follows:
| Country | Pay Monthly Standard Call Cost (Without Passport) | With Vodafone Passport |
|---|---|---|
| Europe; making a call | 38p/min | 75p/call |
| Europe; receiving a call | 15p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
| Australia; making a call | 80p/min | 75p/call |
| Australia; receiving a call | 75p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
| New Zealand; making a call | 80p/min | 75p/call |
| New Zealand; receiving a call | 75p/min | 75p/call + free for 60 minutes |
What about texts and internet?
photo: lrargerich
In passport enabled countries, texts are 10p each (Pay As You Go) or 11p each (Pay Monthly). You cannot use your inclusive texts allowance abroad. Texts are always free to receive where ever you are in the world (this applies to all network and tariffs as receiving a text is outside your control).
Unfortunately, the use of internet abroad isn’t discounted by Passport. If you’ve got a smartphone such as an iPhone, make sure you’ve got data roaming turned off otherwise you could run up a huge bill. Vodafone have full details on the costs of using data abroad on their website.
I’m a Vodafone customer. How do I register for “Passport”?
You need to opt in to add Vodafone Passport to your account. You can do this by calling 5555 from your Vodafone mobile.
I’m not a Vodafone customer. How can I save money using Vodafone Passport?
Providing your phone is unlocked, you could apply for a free Vodafone Pay As You Go SIM card and use this in your existing phone whilst abroad. Remember you’ll need to call 5555 once you receive your new SIM card to enable “Passport”. Whilst abroad, use this SIM card to take advantage of the discounted call and text charges offered by Passport.
In particular, you could encourage other people to call you – this provides the biggest savings as you can talk for up to 60 minutes at a flat rate of 75p per call. They would pay the standard call costs as if you were still in the UK (i.e. they can still use their inclusive minutes). Of course, you’ll have to provide them with your new Vodafone Pay As You Go phone number.
photo: Paulo Brandão
You can get a free Vodafone Pay As You Go SIM card here.
Which European countries are covered by Passport?
As of July 2010, the following countries are covered by the Passport scheme: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal (Including Madeira), Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Including Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland and the Vatican City.
There is a full list at the Vodafone website.
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About Ken
I'm a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology. I've been blogging at Ken's Tech Tips since 2005 with the aim of demystifying mobile technology for the rest of us.
Before writing about mobile technology, my background was in space & atmospheric physics. I have also worked in software development. Nowadays, I help companies to explain mobile technology to their customers. Please check out my portfolio or get in touch for more information. I'm also on Google+.
Hey thanks for posting this is a really good deal