In March 2021, I returned from Taiwan after a year.
Then I did not go on a trip for a year because of travel restrictions.
So in February 2022, I decided I would go on a trip again in March 2022.
Mostly because travel restrictions were being lifted left and right.
So, what is the best way to catch up on a year of lost travel time?
Visit as many countries as you can within a month.
I visited Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia & Slovenia.
I really love how easy it is to travel throughout Europe!
During this trip, I (re-)tested 41 local SIM cards, like Vodafone (CU) Greece, Airalo's Eurolink Europe eSIM, Nomad's Europe eSIM & SimCorner's Europe travel SIM cards.
If you have read any of my SIM card buying guides before, like the Greek one, or watched a YouTube video of mine, you know that I am crazy enough to buy and test so many SIM cards.
If this is your first Phone Travel Wiz review – welcome.
I buy and test all/most SIM cards in a country and tell you which ones are the best so that you do not have to 😎.
You have probably heard of Vodafone before – perhaps you even use Vodafone's services at home.
Or you may have tried Vodafone in another country.
Vodafone is often a hit or miss – it can be the best option in a country or the absolute worse.
So what about in Greece? Is Vodafone Greece any good?
The only way to find out is to test Vodafone Greece and compare it with the other Greek SIM cards (COSMOTE Greece & WIND Greece).
And that is what I did – and I will share my experience in this review.
And based on the title of this review, it will not be a pretty one… but there is a chance for redemption with Vodafone Greece (not for me anymore but for you).
Let's get started, shall we?
Original publication: 21st of July 2022. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Who is Vodafone Greece?
I am pretty sure anyone reading this review has heard of Vodafone before.
Or its African counterpart called Vodacom.
But I will not give you a detailed history of Vodafone
Instead, I want to quickly introduce Vodafone Greece and introduce you to the Greek telecom market.
Vodafone Greece is the second-largest mobile operator in the country, behind COSMOTE Greece but ahead of WIND Greece.
But what is this “Vodafone CU” I mentioned in the title of this review?
It is a sub-brand by Vodafone Greece, which was initially a youth-focus brand.
I do not recall the age restrictions with this SIM card, but it has now been abolished, and everyone can get a Vodafone CU Greece SIM card.
Yes, that includes you, you oldie 🤪 – no, I am playing.
Nowadays, whenever visiting a Vodafone store, the salesperson will give you a Vodafone or Vodafone CU SIM card, depending on their stock.
But I would not be surprised if they still give Vodafone CU Greece SIM cards to young-looking peeps while oldies get Vodafone SIM cards.
Alright, that is more than enough Vodafone Greece history for now.
In Greece, you have three mobile operators, three sub-brands & one Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) easily accessible to travelers offering prepaid services, which I will list in order of market share (MNOs) and alphabetical order (sub-brands/MVNO):
- COSMOTE Greece
- Vodafone Greece
- WIND Greece
- Frog Mobile (COSMOTE Greece MVNO)
- Q Greece (WIND Greece sub-brand)
- Vodafone CU (Vodafone Greece sub-brand)
- What's Up (COSMOTE Greece sub-brand)
Of course, I tested the other two mobile operators during my trip to Greece in March. You can read them here: What's Up (COSMOTE) Greece & WIND Greece.
In the title of this review, I said Vodafone Greece is/was awful, but it should not have been the case.
But why is that? You will find out later.
For now, let's talk about Vodafone Greece's coverage first, after these quick frequency details:
- 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
- 3G: 900 MHz & 2100 MHz
- 4G/LTE: 800 MHz (Band 20), 1800 MHz (Band 3) & 2600 MHz (Band 7)
- 5G NR: 3500 MHz (n78)
- VoLTE: Yes
- VoWiFi: Yes
Here you have Vodafone Greece's APN settings:
- Name: Vodafone Gr
- APN: internet.vodafone.gr
Note: leave anything not mentioned above untouched.
Vodafone (CU) Greece Coverage + My Experience
You can have a mobile operator providing you 1 Gbps download speeds.
But if it covers only one street in the entirety of Greece, it will be useless.
So, how is Vodafone Greece's coverage?
It is the best in the country.
When looking at 4G/LTE availability in Greece, Vodafone Greece has an availability percentage of 88.3%. Ahead of WIND Greece (84.8%) but behind COSMOTE Greece (89.8%).
Vodafone Greece has the second-best 4G/LTE coverage experience (8.4 on a 10-point scale), ahead of WIND Greece (8.1) but behind COSMOTE Greece (9.1).
When looking at 5G NR, Vodafone Greece has an availability percentage of 5.4%, again ahead of WIND Greece (4.6) but far behind COSMOTE Greece (16.3%).
Good to know: Vodafone CU (Greece) customers have full access to Vodafone Greece's network (at least on 2G, 3G & 4G/LTE).
So far, I have been talking about coverage from other reports, but what was my coverage experience with Vodafone (CU) Greece?
It was trash. Yes – straight-up garbage.
That is because I was restricted to 3G all the time except for one day – the day I left to return to the Netherlands.
I will talk about this situation in the speed section later, but I was not pleased.
Moreover, Vodafone (CU) Greece's reception is awful for some reason – but I have read and have been told its 4G/LTE network is much better.
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to try out 4G/LTE properly – let alone 5G NR 🥲.
Anyway, below is Vodafone (CU) Greece's coverage map:
How to Get a Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM Card & Prices
Being written.
Vodafone (CU) Greece Plans, Bundles & Offers
Vodafone Greece and Vodafone CU (Greece) each have SIM card-specific plans.
Meaning that if you get a Vodafone CU SIM card, like me, you can only get Vodafone CU plans and no Vodafone Greece plans and vice versa.
Vodafone Greece has four data-featured plans:
- Combo Plans
- Tourist Packages (combo for tourists)
- Vodafone You (customizable combo)
- Internet Packages
Vodafone CU (Greece) has four data-featured plans:
- Speaking Plans (combo)
- Panic Button (short-term data)
- Internet Plan
- CU Pass (social data)
All Vodafone (CU) plans can be activated on the Vodafone (CU) app(s).
Combo Plans
The Combo Plans are, as the name implies, combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for Vodafone Greece customers.
Combo Plans can be purchased on the My Vodafone (GR) app:
| Price | Data | Social Media Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Local/EU SMS 1 | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50 EUR | N/A | N/A | 200 minutes | N/A | 1 day |
| 3 EUR | 150 MB | N/A | 150 minutes | N/A | 7 days |
| 5 EUR | 1 GB | N/A | 250 minutes | N/A | 7 days |
| 8.50 EUR | N/A | Various 2 | 500 minutes | N/A | 15 days |
| 8.50 EUR | N/A | Various 3 | 500 minutes | N/A | 15 days |
| 10 EUR | 600 MB | N/A | 600 minutes | 100 SMS | 30 days |
| 10.50 EUR | 1 GB | N/A | 300 minutes | N/A | 30 days |
| 12 EUR | 800 MB | N/A | 600 minutes | 100 SMS | 30 days |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)
2 Amazon Prime Video, Daily Motion, Deezer, ERT, Napster, Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, Vimeo & WebTV
3 Call+, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, Tinder, Tumblr, Twitter, Viber, Vodafone Message+ & WhatsApp
Tourist Packages
The Tourist Packages are combo plans or data plans (with 5G NR access) aimed at tourists for Vodafone Greece customers.
They include data, minutes for local and international use & SMS for local and international use.
You do not need a Vodafone Tourist SIM card to activate these plans (because they do not exist).
Tourist Packages can be purchased on the My Vodafone (GR) app:
| Price | Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Vodafone International Minutes 2 | International Minutes 3 | Vodafone International SMS 2 | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.50 EUR | 3 GB | 50 minutes | 600 minutes | 50 minutes | 600 SMS | 15 days |
| 8.50 EUR | 7 GB | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 days |
| 17 EUR | 7 GB | 120 minutes | 1500 minutes | 120 minutes | 1500 SMS | 30 days |
| 17 EUR | 16 GB | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 30 days |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)
2 to Vodafone Greece & Vodafone around the world (Vodafone International)
3 to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom & the United States
Vodafone You Plan
Vodafone You is a customizable plan allowing you to set how much data (with 5G NR access) and how many minutes you want for Vodafone Greece customers.
Each Vodafone You plan needs at least 800 MB of data and 500 minutes, brining the minimum plan to 10 EUR.
The following Vodafone You options are available, which can be set up on the my Vodafone (GR) app:
| Data/Minutes | 800 MB | 1.1 GB | 1.6 GB |
| 500 minutes | 10 EUR | 11 EUR | 13 EUR |
| 600 minutes | 11 EUR | 12 EUR | 14 EUR |
| 700 minutes | 12 EUR | 13 EUR | 15 EUR |
Internet Packages
The Internet Packages are data plans (with 5G NR access) for Vodafone Greece customers.
Internet Packages can be purchased on the My Vodafone (GR) app:
| Price | Data | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| 1.50 EUR | 3 GB | 1 day |
| 3 EUR | 5 GB | 2 days |
| 5 EUR | 4 GB | 7 days |
| 8.50 EUR | 4 GB | 7 days |
| 10 EUR | 3 GB | 30 days |
| 10 EUR | 4 GB | 30 days |
| 10.50 EUR | 7 GB | 25 days |
Speaking Plans
The Speaking plans are combo bundles with data (with 5G NR access), minutes & SMS for Vodafone CU (Greece) customers.
Speaking can be bought on the My CU app:
| Price | Plan | Data | Local/EU Minutes 1 | Local/EU SMS 1 | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50 EUR | Daily Voice | N/A | 200 minutes | N/A | 1 day |
| 3 EUR | Talk to All Weekly | N/A | 250 minutes | N/A | 7 days |
| 5 EUR | Weekly Combo | 1 GB | 250 minutes | N/A | 7 days |
| 8.50 EUR | Voice & Video 15D | Unlimited 3 | 500 minutes | N/A | 15 days |
| 8.50 EUR | Video & Social 15D | Unlimited 2 | 500 minutes | N/A | 15 days |
| 10 EUR | CU Combo | 600 MB | 1200 minutes | 600 SMS | 30 days |
| 12 EUR | CU Combo L | 1200 MB | 1200 minutes | 1200 SMS | 30 days |
| 15 EUR | CU Combo XL | 1400 MB | 1400 minutes | 1400 SMS | 30 days |
1 for calls/SMS within and to other EU/EEA member states and back to Greece (NOT from Greece to other EU/EEA member states)
2 for Amazon Prime Video, Daily Motion, Deezer ERT WebTV, Netflix, Spotify, Vimeo & YouTube only
3 for Call+, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, Tinder, Tumblr, Twitter, Viber, Vodafone Message+ & WhatsApp only
The Panic button gets you 5 GB of data (with 5G NR access) valid for an hour at no cost for Vodafone CU Greece customers.
However, it can be activated only twice a month and is for local use only.
Text SOS to 1252 to press the Panic Button.
| Price | Data | Validity | Activation Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 GB | 1 hour | SOS |
Internet Plans
The Internet Plans are data (with 5G NR access) bundles for Vodafone CU (Greece) customers.
Internet Plans can be bought on the My CU app:
| Price | Plan | Data | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 EUR | Nata Giga Day | 1 GB | 1 day |
| 1.50 EUR | Nata Giga Day L | 3 GB | 24 hours |
| 3 EUR | Nata Giga Wknd | 5 GB | 1 weekend (Friday 18:00 – Sunday 23:59) |
| 5 EUR | Nata Giga Week | 4 GB | 7 days |
| 7 EUR 1 | Giga Nights | 12 GB | 30 nights (20:00 – 8:00) |
1 cannot be used while roaming
CU Pass
The CU Pass are are data plans for select social media, music streaming, or video streaming apps for Vodafone CU (Greece) customers. They are for local use only.
CU Pass can be bought on the My CU app:
| Price | Plan | Social Data |
|---|---|---|
| 2 EUR | Weekly Video & Music Pass | Various 1 |
| 5 EUR 3 | Video & Music Pass | Various 1 |
| 5 EUR 3 | Social & Chat Pass | Various 2 |
1 for Amazon Prime Video, Daily Motion, Deezer, ERT WebTV, Napster Netflix, Spotify, Vimeo & YouTube
2 for Call+, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, Tinder, Tumblr, Twitter, Viber, Vodafone Message+ & WhatsApp
3 you pay 3 EUR instead of 5 EUR if you are under 24
EU Roaming
You can use your allowances in the following EU/EEA member states without paying roaming fees:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Guadeloupe
- Hungary
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Martinique
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Réunion
- Romania
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Martin
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
As Vodafone (CU) does not have dedicated EU/EEA roaming allowances, you can use your full allowance without restrictions in other EU/EEA member states.
Vodafone (CU) Greece Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check
Vodafone (CU) top-up vouchers are sold in Vodafone stores, grocery stores, corner shops & electronics shops throughout Greece.
I did not have to recharge my Vodafone CU (Greece) SIM card because Greece was a short stop on my one-month Europe trip.
But I will still let you know about topping up your Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card.
The following (online) Vodafone (CU) Greece top-up (bonuses) are available:
| Top Up | Bonus Data | Bonus Validity |
|---|---|---|
| 10 EUR 1 | 500 MB | 15 days |
| 12 EUR | 700 MB | 15 days |
| 15 EUR | 900 MB | 15 days |
| 20 EUR | 1.1 GB | 15 days |
1 for Vodafone Greece only
To top up your Vodafone (CU) Greece SIM card, call 1252 and follow the instructions.
You can also recharge online (Vodafone/Vodafone CU) with (international/EU) debit and credit cards.
Text Y to 1252 to check your Vodafone (CU) Greece balance.
You can also top up and check your balance on the My Vodafone (GR) app (Android/iOS/Huawei AppGallery) or the My CU app (Android/iOS).
Vodafone (CU) Greece Speed Test Results (in Athens)
Alright, now it is time to talk about the speeds you can expect with Vodafone (CU) Greece after covering all the other essential topics like coverage.
But before I share my 12 speed test results from Athens, I do want to set the stage first and make a small comparison with Vodafone (CU)'s competition.
Vodafone (CU) Greece is regarded by Speedtest as the second-fastest mobile operator in Greece in Q1-Q2 of 2022.
With a median download speed 37.33 Mbps, Vodafone (CU) Greece is slightly faster than WIND Greece (35.95 Mbps), but way behind COSMOTE Greece (82.94 Mbps).
However, when we look at 5G NR, Vodafone (CU) Greece is losing the 5G NR race with an average download speed of 110.3 Mbps, behind WIND Greece (146.6 Mbps) and COSMOTE Greece (178.3 Mbps).
Okay, those were valuable insights – let's talk about my speed test results now.
I did 12 speed tests with the Speedtest app at various test locations throughout Athens.
Here are the results:
Those are sad results, are they not?
Every result in italics is on 3G.
Which was basically all the time… except for at Athens Airport.
In the coverage section of this review, I already explained why I was on 3G all the time.
Because of Vodafone Greece's delay in activating 4G/LTE (and 5G NR, for that matter), the results are unrepresentative.
Meaning that there is no point in me analyzing them any further because you will most likely not be on 3G all the time.
Well… not entirely.
Remember very early on this review when I said that besides testing the three Greek SIM cards, I also tried out two travel eSIMs and a travel SIM card?
One of the travel eSIMs, Airalo's Europe Eurolink eSIM, did use the Vodafone Greece network… and it was on 4G/LTE all the time!
So let's look at the Airalo Eurolink results to see how things look.
Well, that is much better, right?
Let's pretend the Airalo Eurolink eSIM is Vodafone Greece for a second and compare the results with COSMOTE Greece and WIND Greece:
Okay, these results are still slower than the competition (especially with WIND Greece being on 5G NR almost all the time).
But you should know that travel eSIMs are almost always slower than the local SIM cards.
And with Vodafone (CU) Greece having the fastest result at Athens Airport when 4G/LTE was enabled, I am confident that the results would be (much) faster than WIND Greece's and would rival COSMOTE Greece's too.
But I guess I have to go back another time to get proper results – and then on 5G NR!
But for now, I will be exploring Australia (and perhaps New Zealand and Taiwan) until at least April 2023.
I am coming for you again, Greece 😈.
My Overall Experience with Vodafone (CU) Greece – Is It Any Good?
Even though I did not have the best experience with Vodafone CU Greece, I would still recommend it.
Support Phone Travel Wiz
I spent 32 EUR on Greek SIM cards (12 EUR for What's Up (COSMOTE) Greece, 10 EUR for Vodafone (CU) Greece & 10 EUR for WIND Greece) and 126 USD on eSIMs (100 USD for Airalo and 26 USD for Nomad) for my Greek SIM card reviews series.
While I love buying, testing & reviewing SIM cards and eSIMs, it is an expensive endeavor.
But it allows me to test the SIM cards in each country extensively.
That way, I can share my experiences with you so that you do not get suckered into a good deal (price-wise) but have a terrible network experience.
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Greek SIM Card Reviews
As mentioned earlier, I also tried out COSMOTE Greece and WIND Greece when I was in Athens.
You should read those reviews too.
>>> COSMOTE Greece Review | WIND Greece Review <<<
Later, I will make a comparison post of the three Greek mobile operators… but that will take a while (I have many reviews of other countries that I still need to write, so they are prioritized).
But you can still make an educated purchased after reading the Greek SIM card reviews.
Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other European SIM cards from this trip.
Greece SIM Card Buying Guide
There are five other SIM cards to choose from in Greece besides Vodafone (CU) Greece.
I analyze and discuss them in-depth in my Greece SIM card buying guide.