International Roaming

Vodafone roaming New Zealand: Plans, pricing, and alternatives

Learn everything about how Vodafone roaming in New Zealand works for Australian travelers. Plus, find out other connectivity alternatives.

Vodafone Australia offers travellers three types of roaming plans for New Zealand. But how different are these plans from each other? Also, how much do these cost, and how do they work?

Let’s break down the different Vodafone roaming plans for New Zealand, plus some alternatives to avoid roaming charges using a travel eSIM.

In this article

Does Vodafone AU offer roaming in New Zealand?

Vodafone Australia roaming is available in New Zealand with the following plans:

$5 Roaming
Pay-as-you-go
Prepaid roaming add-ons

Note: $5 Roaming is only available on selected plans (Vodafone Infinite, Plus Plan, Vodafone Infinite Data Plan, and Ultra+ Plan).

Vodafone roaming in New Zealand: Plans and pricing

Here’s what you should know about the three Vodafone roaming options in New Zealand

$5 Roaming

Before diving into the different plan types, here are two key things all Vodafone travelers should know:

$5 Roaming is automatically activated on eligible plans, so you should be good to go. Still, it’s a good idea to log in to your My Vodafone account to confirm activation.
There’s a 90-day limit per calendar year on using $5 Roaming. After that, roaming fees may increase, so keep this in mind if you’re planning a long-term stay.

Now, here’s what $5 Roaming looks like for different Vodafone plans:

Vodafone Infinite, Plus Plan, and Infinite Data Plan
- Pay $5 AUD/day to use your local allowance in New Zealand.
- If you run out of data while abroad, you can top up at $5 per additional GB.
Vodafone Ultra+ Plan
- Enjoy unlimited data in New Zealand.
- If you exceed 30 GB of tethering, you’ll be charged $5 per extra GB.
- This plan still comes with the 90-day usage cap per calendar year.

Pay-as-you-go

If you don’t have a $5 Roaming eligible plan or haven’t activated the $5 Roaming plan, you can rely on the pay-as-you-go fees.

Here are the Vodafone roaming in New Zealand fees:

Calls: $1.60/second
SMS: $0.75/SMS
Data: $1/MB

Prepaid roaming add-ons

The prepaid roaming add-ons are available for those travellers with prepaid services.

These add-ons work for 1 to 7 days, and you can top up this service for as long as needed. All plans include mobile data, phone calls, and text messaging.

Here are the available plans for New Zealand:

$5: Works for 1 day, including 200 MB, 25 minutes for outgoing and incoming calls, and 30 international texts.
$15: Works for 3 days, including 750 MB, 90 minutes for outgoing and incoming calls, and 120 international texts.
$35: Works for 7 days, 2 GB, 200 minutes for outgoing and incoming calls, and 300 international texts.

If you need to add a top-up, simply send a text message to 1511 with “ROAM1”, “ROAM5,” or “ROAM7” based on which plan you want to add. You can also visit My Vodafone to purchase any plan at no extra data charge as long as an add-on is active.

All plans work until midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time. You’ll also need to activate the roaming option using My Vodafone.

How to reduce roaming charges in New Zealand with Vodafone?

Vodafone has different options with accessible roaming fees. But this can easily add up once you’re done with the 90 days on $5 Roaming plans and switching to pay-as-you-go.

Here are some alternatives to help you reduce or avoid roaming charges:

Keep an eye on the $5 Roaming usage: Using your local allowance in New Zealand and over 100 destinations is a great way to save money, but try to avoid reaching the 90-day limit.
Choose an eligible $5 Roaming plan: While you might spend a little extra on choosing an eligible plan to use $5 Roaming, you’ll end up saving money in the long run by avoiding pay-as-you-go fees.
Use pay-as-you-go as your last alternative: If you don’t have an eligible plan, try using the prepaid roaming add-ons to avoid extra costs..
Get an eSIM to avoid extra charges: If you want to avoid service limitations or a hefty roaming fee for using pay-as-you-go, relying on an international eSIM is your best alternative.

Holafly eSIM for New Zealand: No limitations or roaming fees

For Vodafone AU users, roaming options from Vodafone are a default solution. However, it’s not the only solution. An alternative to this is the Holafly eSIM for New Zealand. For $15/day, you get unlimited data, 5G connectivity, up to 500 MB of data tethering, and 24/7 customer support.

Pricing reduces the longer you stay. For a 1-week trip, you’ll end up paying $45, or $6/day, making it a great alternative to the $5 Roaming plan.

If you’re looking for a plan with more data and tethering, Holafly Plans are another solution for travellers. For ~98.77/month, you get unlimited data, unlimited tethering, 5G connectivity when available, and can travel to over 170 destinations with the same plan.

Both options are ideal for frequent travellers, digital nomads, or even those looking to avoid spending all their $5 Roaming plan days!

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Julio Osuna

English Content Writer

I first started my content creation journey as a freelancer in 2019, before connecting with Holafly in 2021. At Holafly, my travel and tech interests come together in one place as I craft high-quality articles about the eSIM and related markets. My content aims to help travelers stay connected, wherever they are.

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