Best Vodafone passport option
 

I have been trying to figure out which Vodafone country gives the best prepaid deal with Vodafone passport. I'd like to use this in conjunction with a calling card for occasional roaming. In the past I have used 2 such SIM's from UK and Spain, and noticed huge differences, both in the per-minute rate but also for the time allowed per passport "setup" charge.

The UK deal gives up to an hour of outgoing calls back to the UK (or within the country you are roaming in) for a setup of £0.75 and then the normal national rates which are £0.30 peak or £0.10 off peak. Incoming calls are for an hour at the same setup cost. I was also charged this full fee for incoming calls to my voicemail when my phone was switched off (even when people didn't leave a message)

The Spanish deal is €1 for only 20 mins of calls, though I noticed for some countries such as whilst I was in NZ it was actually €2. This is excluding the per-minute fees for outgoing calls back to Spain (or within country) which are also much higher than the UK deal.

Can anyone tell me what the deal is like for other countries? I think for most countries the setup is €1 but I think the time varies. What countries give favourable per-minute rates on prepaid tarrifs?

Vodafone Germany calls the Passport-Option "Reiseversprechen" (TravelPromise).

It has 75ct flat fee for the first 60 minutes of a incoming call, then additional 20ct/min from the 61st minute.

Outgoing calls are 75ct flat fee + german rate
(Various tariffs, 9ct - 59ct/min inside germany depending on the tariff and network you are calling to).
This rate also applies for in-country calls

Calls to all other countries are charged 1,99 Eur/min + 75ct flat fee

countries:
UK
Albania
Australia
Belgium
Czech Republic
Egypt
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland

Thanks for that. That looks quite good! I presume the prepaid deals with Vodafone Germany are the ones that can be found on: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/germania/voda.html

Are these largely up to date? It will probably be best to have a deal to call German landlines to allow for calling card access. I presume the "OpenEnd Option" will not be possible with Vodafone Reiseversprechen oder?

Yes, they are up to date.
The tariffs are slightly different when using the Reiseversprechen.
See here (in german, but very good readable) http://www.vodafone.de/privat/mobil_...and/78569.html

The Open End and other options do not apply when you are abroad (That'd be too good to be true... hehe)

Chris

Thanks Chris: The "CallYa-Special" is good value for calling landlines (Ins "deutsche Festnetz" ) on weekends. That combined with a German calling card for international calling (such as "go bananas etc.") could be quite interesting for occasional roaming on weekends.

I don't think CallYa Special is available to new entrants

I'm wondering if I got charged the 75c connect fee for unanswered calls as the balance has dropped by quite a bit (1.99 or 2.09 for two of those and a roaming text message to Germany)

Iwas lining myself up to get a Vodafone Sweden one last year, as there was a very good off-peak tariff. Then Telenor took it over, and I assumed Passport would end. It's still on their website though, and detailed on the PPGSM page - 10 Kr connect, 2 Kr per minute (about 14p)

If you have or can find an older Vodafone UK SIM (or chane tariff?), the off-peak rate is 5p for Vodafone and landlines.

And when you use your calling card, if you can plan consecutive calls, many cards (and the UK's call18185 etc) will let you press # to follow-on the next destination, still connected to the callthrough number, thus saving connect fees.

Also, note that you need to call via an access number in either the home or roamed country, so careful if you use a third-country SIM

Currently the only available Callya offer that includes the Reiseversprechen is the Comfort tariff. The cheaper call rates do not apply while abroad, so while roaming you always pay 0,29€/min. for calls back to Germany (landlines and own network) as well as all calls within the country you are visiting (in both cases plus 0,75€ per call).

But it can be added on others, free of charge, as I did online in December

Not according to that Link sent by Chris earlier on, however if "Special" is no longer available... these will only be applicable to old customers.

Does anyone have experiences of countries other than Germany or UK?

In Italy the setup fee is 1€ on Zone 1 countries, 2€ for Zone 2 and so on. And it's valid for 30 mins for incoming calls, while outgoing calls have the normal national fee you have on your plan (plus the setup, of course). This works only on calls to Italy, not for the same-nation calls, if I'm not wrong.