Tired of bills? Use these data roaming hacks next time you travel

With ubiquitous public Wi-Fi now relatively commonplace at airports, hotels, shopping malls, beaches, and even public places, there is far less need to be connected via roaming data than there was a decade (or even five years) ago. Still, there’s major convenience in being connected via one’s own number when travelling overseas.

WhatsApp, banking apps (including notifications/approvals), and two-factor authentication SMSs all work a lot better – and are significantly more secure – when you have a solid mobile connection (versus public Wi-Fi).

The problem is that, generally, using mobile data while roaming is expensive. Rates are about R1 per megabyte (MB) to popular destinations (Cell C’s roaming rate for prepaid is an astonishing R10/MB for the 30-odd countries – excluding the UK and the US – where it offers this service!).

Read: One country’s Covid restrictions are turning into a moneyspinner

Before travelling overseas, consumers should research and consider their options. Don’t simply accept that you’re going to pay ruinous charges to connect and therefore be data-starved, living in ‘Airplane Mode’ for most of your trip.

Local-network bundles

Check whether there are special roaming bundles available for your current (SA) network.

MTN offers Hello World data bundles in the countries where it has operations. A 1GB bundle costs R299 and is valid for 14 days, far cheaper than paying a per MB rate. The downside? The destinations. These include such tourist hotspots as Afghanistan, Guinea Conakry, Iran, Liberia, Sudan and Yemen.

As a consequence of being a subsidiary of Vodafone, Vodacom has the best roaming bundles in the market. It offers ‘All For You’ bundles which have data and voice minutes, as well as Travel Data bundles.

Either option works in over 200 destinations. For these, 1GB and 100 minutes costs R199, while 5GB and 200 minutes is R549.

For popular destinations, the data-only bundles cost R99 for 1GB or R349 for 5GB and are valid for seven days. This is ridiculously good value.

You could add a Vodacom eSIM to your device and buy one of the above bundles, but this won’t be too different to buying a local SIM/eSIM at your destination and adding data to it. The only benefit is that you’d have a South African number abroad (and anyone calling you won’t have to pay international call rates).

Roaming, or a travelling SIM

If there aren’t any bundles available on your network – Telkom, Cell C, and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) such as FNB Connect don’t offer bundles – you could elect to roam on the roughly R1/MB rate … but expect a hefty bill on your return if you’re on contract (or load up plenty of prepaid airtime before you depart!).

If neither of these are options, you have various alternatives.

Buy a travelling SIM in South Africa for use overseas. One popular option is b4i.travel, sold exclusively through Cellucity, but other such services exist.

With eSIMs becoming more widespread on higher-end smartphones, there are also services like aloSIM to consider (b4i.travel has eSIM options too).

Read: These are the best passports for travellers to hold in 2023

With these services, you buy a SIM (physical or eSIM) based on your destination in South Africa and add it to your device before leaving. Different destinations have different prices. For example, a 5GB European b4i.travel eSIM for 39 countries costs R549. The same package for the US is R499. On aloSIM, these cost around $15-16 (around R300), but don’t offer pan-European (including UK) coverage.

Alternatively, buy a SIM (or eSIM) as soon as you arrive at your destination.

The only drawback with this process is the time it takes to register your details (think Rica, but in Spanish). Adding mobile data is seamless, generally via the operator’s mobile app.

Try select one of the largest mobile operators in the country you’re visiting – you’ll benefit from better network coverage. This may not be the first store you see at the airport (or the SIMs on offer in a vending machine).

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