Free calls from mobiles when in Europe or Oz this summer.

rosyposy_2001

Hi! First time on here!
I recently ordered my free sim card from vodafone to use when I go to France in August, and following the advice in martin's email I registered for Passport and then topped up by £10, only to find out today from the updated info on this website that what I actually needed was the Freedom Pack, in order to get the 300 free texts. However, when I registered in order to top up, the only option in the drop-down menu was for a calling package at various prices, there was no option for the Freedom Pack. As I see that it says on the Vodafone website that you can only have 1 pack at a time, can anyone tell me if I have to use up the £10 I have just topped up with before I can get a Freedom Pack? I hope not as this fone is only used for holidays, I have an Orange phone which I regularly top-up and use at all other times, and Orange are already giving me texts at UK rates as from 1st July. (I very rarely make or receive calls when abroad.)
Can I perhaps purchase the Freedom Pack as well just before I go away, as apparently they expire after 30 days, and I shall be away for 3 weeks, so it would be really helpful to get the 300 free texts!
Thanks.

europa

Hi everyone, once you receive your free sim, activate it, then create an online account and go to Barrings->Manage call bars. To remove the bar, voda will charge your cc 1£. However it will credit your account with 2£50 in return, thus making you 1£50 free credit! In my case, the credit was applied immediately.

PS: You should also receive 1£ just for activating your sim, tho, according to the Ts&Cs, that can take up to 28 days to be credited.

spanky1982

rosyposy_2001 wrote: »

Hi! First time on here!
I recently ordered my free sim card from vodafone to use when I go to France in August, and following the advice in martin's email I registered for Passport and then topped up by £10, only to find out today from the updated info on this website that what I actually needed was the Freedom Pack, in order to get the 300 free texts. However, when I registered in order to top up, the only option in the drop-down menu was for a calling package at various prices, there was no option for the Freedom Pack. As I see that it says on the Vodafone website that you can only have 1 pack at a time, can anyone tell me if I have to use up the £10 I have just topped up with before I can get a Freedom Pack? I hope not as this fone is only used for holidays, I have an Orange phone which I regularly top-up and use at all other times, and Orange are already giving me texts at UK rates as from 1st July. (I very rarely make or receive calls when abroad.)
Can I perhaps purchase the Freedom Pack as well just before I go away, as apparently they expire after 30 days, and I shall be away for 3 weeks, so it would be really helpful to get the 300 free texts!
Thanks.

You have various options available to you. If you have not spent any of the £10 credit then you can convert this to the freedom pac which will give you the 100mins and 300txts. To do this call 2345, select option 2 (freedom Packs) then select option 2 (purchase a freedom pack) use you keypad to key in 10, it will then ask you to confirm you want to purchase the freedom pack from your credit, press 1 and its all done.

Alternatively you could just buy a freedom pack and credit this to the sim which will give you the 100 mins and 300txts along with the £10 credit. This is a useful option if you need to ring any 08 numbers as these cannot be used with the freedom pack... or if you really want to use the internet. I would not suggest using the internet though as it will be very costly as it is not included in the free summer roaming promotion. The best reason to have credit is for picture messaging as these can be sent whilst abroad but again cannot come from your freedom pack.

Hope this helps.

europa

skappy70 wrote: »

Just found this FAQ on the Vadafone website:
Can I use my Vodafone pay as you go Freedom Pack minutes abroad?
Yes, but you can only use your Vodafone Freedom Pack minutes with Vodafone Passport - after the first three minutes then the rest of your call can come from your Vodafone Freedom Pack minutes (up to the usual Vodafone Passport limits).

i too have just seen this on vodafone's website. does this also apply to the passport SUMMER PROMO? my guess is that this was the case pre- summer promo, where one was charged 75p connection. can anyone confirm?

europa

europa wrote: »

i too have just seen this on vodafone's website. does this also apply to the passport SUMMER PROMO? my guess is that this was the case pre- summer promo, where one was charged 75p connection. can anyone confirm?

answer to my own question (from the Voda forum):

"...whilst the summer roaming promotion is in place then your freedom pack will start working straightaway

The link probably won't be updated as this is only a temporary promotion (until August 31st), at which point that info will become valid again - the first 3 minutes will be used as your "connection charge"

Froggitt

The Vodafone Passport scheme is free to join and usually allows its customers to make and receive calls when abroad at UK calls rates plus 75p connection per call (or up to 29p per text) - but this Summer it's dropping the connection fees.

Voda just told me that they are not dropping the 75p connection fee per call.

Froggitt

but their website says

we've abolished our normal 75p roaming charge

Wish theyd get their act together

Froggitt

The second person I spoke to confirmed the original details and the website.

rosyposy_2001

Hi Spanky,
Thanks so much for your very detailed help with converting my vodafone credit to a Freedom pack! All done in 2 minutes following your instructions, would have taken me ages to work out!
Off on hols tomorrow, thanks again for your help.
Rosemary

cepheus

I am going on a cruise to the Canaries (Spain), Portugal and Morocco next week. The ship is equipped with an advanced roaming network (according to the brochure) does this mean

a) The Vodaphone SIM will allow me the local call rates, in other words will this be classed as Europe)

b) If not will the signal overide any nearby land based mast if when near a port, that would otherwise charge me local rates, and fleece me?