Operator roaming options, checked on each operator's own site, next to live eSIM prices by destination. Keep your home SIM for calls and texts; use the eSIM for data.
See every saving in one table →Vodacom sells its roaming options as Travel data bundles in two sizes, 1GB and 5GB, each valid for 7 days. Both are data only. Vodacom lists the bundles as usable in more than 200 destinations, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia (Bali), Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Dubai (UAE), Vietnam, Turkey, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Switzerland and Australia. The same two families, Travel data bundle 1GB and Travel data bundle 5GB, are open to contract, prepaid and top-up customers. Vodacom lists no separate postpaid pack line for these bundles.
You buy a Travel data bundle by USSD code or in the VodaPay app under Buy, International roaming, Travel data bundle. Prepaid and top-up customers need enough airtime for the allocation to work. Roaming must be enabled on your line, and Vodacom advises opting in to a bundle before you leave South Africa. Vodacom sends free SMS alerts, including a warning before the bundle runs out. If you keep using data after a bundle runs out, a bundle of the same size is allocated automatically. In-flight and cruise ship satellite connections are excluded and charged at standard roaming rates. Full details sit on the Vodacom roaming page.
A Vodacom Travel data bundle covers data only, so calls and texts are not part of it. A traveller who wants to keep receiving calls, texts and bank codes on the South African number can leave the home SIM in the phone for those and carry mobile data on a separate data-only travel eSIM. The eSIM connects to local networks with automatic network selection, is installed by QR code before the trip and switched on when you land, and covers 190+ countries. A data-only eSIM has no phone number, so calls and texts stay on the home SIM or go over internet apps. This page compares each operator pack with live data eSIM prices for the same trip, destination by destination, so check the table above for the destinations where the eSIM costs less than the Vodacom bundle.
Facts checked 26 October 2026.