A complete UK guide to roaming charges and cheaply using your phone abroad

Mobile and data roaming charges: a complete UK guide to saving money when using your phone abroad with EE, Vodafone, O2, Three and more.

We all want to use our smartphones on holiday, and it’s nigh on essential to be connected when you’re travelling with work, but it’s not always straightforward understanding how different mobile networks treat roaming and the charges that often come with it.

Here’s everything you need to know about mobile and data roaming so you never experience a shock bill again.

What is roaming, anyway?

Roaming is the insidious state your phone clicks into when you enter a different country. Fail to switch roaming off when you go on holiday and you can end up being charged hundreds or even thousands of pounds for a bit of browsing and uploading a few holiday snaps.

In another context, this kind of thing would seem a criminal scam, but it’s how the system works at the moment.

With a bit of pre-planning, you can save yourself these nightmarish charges. But with any luck the whole roaming issue may be solved before too long.

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What’s the current EU policy on roaming?

The EU is currently planning new legislation that will fix the issue of ridiculous roaming charges, within the EU at least. Right now there’s a cap on EU mobile charges, but the goal is to make roaming free. 

However, the first plan put forward has already been pulled back following a brief period of consultation. It was announced on September 6, 2016 and scrapped three days later.

The issue was that, despite promises that EU roaming would be gone by mid-2017, a clause in the new proposal’s terms meant it would only be free up to a point. You’d get up to 90 days of roaming per year for free, with a maximum single period of 30 days.

This was devised as a way to make roaming free for the average traveller, without giving you scope to search Europe-wide for the best contract deal. However, the European Parliament and some consumer organisations kicked up a fuss because this isn’t really the “free roaming” we’ve been promised.

President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker ordered the new deal to be pulled back. With a withering groan, we like to imagine.

The EU Commission says it will come back with a revised scheme very soon. As it appears the Commission was responding to complaints about the 90-day limitation rather than pressure from operators, it’s likely we’ll get a better deal in the end.

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How will Brexit affect roaming charges in the future?

This new legislation is the coda following years of wrangling. However, it could all disappear when the UK leaves the EU.

The EU already puts a very restrictive cap on charges allowed in Union countries, keeping final fees down to under 5p per megabyte. In some countries the figure is 100 times more expensive.

Unless mobile networks decide to stiff us as much as the EU probably will post-Brexit, you can expect there to be better bolt-ons and bundles available than just a basic rate of £5 to £6 per megabyte in the EU. However, it’s perfectly feasible that the safety net of low-cost (and eventually free) roaming will disappear.

We have a few years left before we fall into that kind of digital apocalypse. Right now most carriers have fairly good deals for EU roaming, and some aren’t even too bad outside the EU. Here’s the run-down of the state of affairs across the UK’s networks, including MVNOs such as GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile.

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Roaming with Vodafone

Roaming charges at Vodafone are in a state of flux. For contracts started before May 5, 2016 you can pay £3 per day in Europe or £5 per day elsewhere to carry over your standard data allowance into another country.

These are called the EuroTraveller and WorldTraveller bolt-ons.

Here’s the full list of countries in which you can use EuroTraveller.

1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Bulgaria
4. Canary Islands
5. Croatia
6. Cyprus
7. Czech Republic
8. Denmark
9. Estonia
10. Finland
11. France (inc. Monaco)
12. French Territories
13. Germany
14. Gibraltar
15. Greece
16. Hungary
17. Iceland
18. Ireland
19. Italy (inc. Vatican City)
20. Latvia
21. Liechtenstein
22. Lithuania
23. Luxembourg
24. Malta
25. Netherlands
26. Norway
27. Poland
28. Portugal (inc. Madeira)
29. Romania
30. Slovakia
31. Slovenia
32. Spain (inc. Balearic Islands)
33. Sweden

Europe Zone 2 – NON-EU

1. Albania
2. Bosnia & Herzegovina
3. Channel Islands (inc. Guernsey, Jersey) & the Isle of Man
4. Faroe Islands
5. San Marino
6. Switzerland
7. Turkey

Here’s the list of countries for the £5 WorldTraveller:

1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Argentina
4. Aruba
5. Australia
6. Barbados
7. Bermuda
8. Bonaire
9. Brazil
10. British Virgin Islands
11. Canada
12. Cayman Islands
13. Chile
14. China
15. Colombia
16. Congo, Democratic Republic of
17. Costa Rica
18. Curaçao
19. Dominica
20. Dominican Republic
21. Ecuador
22. Egypt
23. El Salvador
24. Ghana
25. Grenada
26. Guatemala
27. Guyana
28. Haiti
29. Hong Kong
30. India
31. Indonesia
32. Israel
33. Jamaica
34. Japan
35. Kenya
36. Lesotho
37. Mexico
38. Mozambique
39. New Zealand
40. Panama
41. Peru
42. Puerto Rico
43. Qatar
44. Russia
45. Saba
46. Serbia
47. Singapore
48. Sint Eustatius
49. Sint Maarten
50. South Africa
51. St Kitts and Nevis
52. St Lucia
53. St Vincent
54. Suriname
55. Thailand
56. Trinidad and Tobago
57. Turks and Caicos Islands
58. UAE (until 16 October only)
59. Uruguay
60. The US Virgin Islands
61. USA

Outside these bolts-ons, roaming rates are typically expensive. In the US you’ll pay £1 a minute for calls, for example.

If you signed up after May 5, 2016 the outlook is a bit different. Vodafone now splits its contracts into deals with roaming allowances and those without. Ultra-cheap deals don’t come with any roaming.

You can still buy the WorldTraveller bundle, letting you pay £5 a day to take your usual allowance to many countries, but in Europe you have to pay per-minute, per-megabyte. This is the kind of roaming we’re trying to avoid.

In EU countries, the charges aren’t too horrendous, at 4.6p a megabyte. However, the situation is bad in “zone 2” countries that are not part of the EU.

In Turkey, for example, you’ll pay 45.9p per megabyte. That’s the sort of charge that could cost you hundreds of pounds over a week’s holiday. This is mean-spirited roaming at its worst, although Vodafone may be looking to change this.

Vodafone’s current plans are only available until October 16, suggesting we’ll see a brand-new approach to roaming soon.

On the bright side, Vodafone roaming is among the fastest, with 4G speeds in 70-plus destinations across the world.

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Roaming with O2

O2 uses a fairly simple-to-understand bolt-on for its roaming services. You get 120 texts, 120 minutes and unlimited data. The cost just varies depending on where you are.

Here’s the run-down:

£1.99 Countries

1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Bulgaria
4. Croatia
5. Cyprus
6. Czech Republic
7. Denmark
8. Estonia
9. Finland
10. France
11. Monaco
12. Guadeloupe
13. La Reunion
14. French Guiana
15. Martinique
16. Germany
17. Gibraltar
18. Greece
19. Guernsey
20. Hungary
21. Iceland
22. Ireland
23. Isle of Man
24. Italy
25. Vatican
26. San Marino
27. Jersey
28. Latvia
29. Liechtenstein
30. Lithuania
31. Luxembourg
32. Malta
33. Netherlands
34. Norway
35. Poland
36. Portugal
37. Romania
38. Slovakia
39. Slovenia
40. Spain
41. Sweden
42. Switzerland

£3.99 Countries

1. Turkey

£4.99 Countries

1. USA
2. UAE
3. Australia
4. South Africa
5. Thailand
6. Canada
7. Mexico
8. Brazil
9. Hong Kong
10. New Zealand
11. Japan
12. Cape Verde
13. China
14. Sri Lanka
15. Indonesia
16. Albania
17. Colombia
18. Argentina
19. Peru
20. Chile
21. Panama
22. Uruguay
23. Venezuela
24. Botswana
25. Guatemala
26. Nicaragua
27. Antigua and Barbuda
28. Honduras
29. El Salvador

This probably sounds like a great deal, particularly if you’re going to Europe rather than, say, the US. However, don’t expect too much from the “unlimited” data.

“More than 150MB of general data or more than 50MB of streamed video or audio data,” is considered a breach of fair use, meaning O2 will start throttling your speeds aggressively. The bolt-on is no good for streaming Spotify or Netflix unless you only need a brief bit of entertainment.

It’s relatively slow to start with too, with no 4G on offer.

These bolt-ons only apply to pay-monthly users. If you’re on pay-as-you-go, you can only get 100MB for £1.99 in Europe.

In the USA, for example, you’ll be stuck with an eyeball-melting rate of £6 per megabyte or an unattractive bolt-on of £120 for 200MB a month.  

To make sure you avoid the worst rates where possible, you need to sign up for O2 Travel before you leave the country.

“If you’ve got a pay-monthly SIM, text O2TRAVEL to 23336. If you’ve got a pay-as-you-go SIM, text TRAVELON to 21300.”

O2’s roaming comes across as slow and dated, but if you don’t mind aggressive throttling it’s not too bad a deal in the EU.

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Roaming with Three

Smallest of the major networks Three has the most interesting approach to roaming, making it a core part of the service’s appeal. Three Feel at Home lets you use your phone as you would in your own country in a fistful of other countries with no extra charges.

At the time of writing, 42 countries are covered.

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey)
6. Croatia
7. Cyprus
8. Czech Republic
9. Denmark
10. Estonia
11. Finland
12. France
13. Germany
14. Gibraltar
15. Greece
16. Hong Kong
17. Hungary
18. Iceland
19. Isle of Man
20. Indonesia
21. Israel
22. Italy
23. Latvia
24. Liechtenstein
25. Lithuania
26. Luxembourg
27. Macau
28. Malta
29. Netherlands
30. New Zealand
31. Norway
32. Poland
33. Portugal
34. Republic of Ireland
35. Romania
36. Slovakia
37. Slovenia
38. Spain
39. Sri Lanka
40. Sweden
41. Switzerland
42. USA

A lot of associated islands are included too. The one thing to note is that calls to numbers in another country aren’t included, though. So while you can call from Macau to the UK for “free”, calling a Macanese number will cost you £1.40 a minute. Ouch.

Plenty of people also complain about the speed of Three’s Feel at Home internet. It’s not 4G, but I’ve had largely positive experiences with it.

Three also patches-up some of the European areas missed by Feel at Home with its Euro Internet Pass. For £5 a day you can get unlimited but throttled internet in places like Turkey.

This is definitely a network you need to research into a bit before going on holiday. Mistaking a normal location for a Feel at Home one could cost you. However, Feel at Home should be roughly what future (in a pre post-EU UK, at any rate) roaming looks like.

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Roaming with EE

Gigantic network EE offers pretty good provision for those visiting Europe, but it’s useless elsewhere. Let’s start with the good stuff, though.

Since August, EE started rolling 500MB of EU data into its higher-end normal plans, and “Max” ones offer a massive 15GB of high-speed Euro data. You also have a choice of bolt-ons, all of which represent a reasonable deal.

For £1 in Europe you can get 50MB per day. That’ll do the trick for looking up restaurants, checking your emails and so on. After that initial 50MB the rates goes up, though, so it’s for light users only.

There are chunkier bundles too. For £3 per day you can get 500MB with the Euro Data Pass, or £4 for the full Euro Pass, which adds unlimited text and calls.

Here are the countries in which the passes work:

1. Austria
2. Azores
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Canary Islands
6. Croatia
7. Cyprus
8. Czech Republic
9. Denmark
10. Estonia
11. Finland
12. France
13. French Guiana
14. Germany
15. Gibraltar
16. Greece
17. Guadeloupe
18. Guernsey
19. Hungary
20. Iceland
21. Ireland
22. Isle of Man
23. Italy
24. Jersey
25. Latvia
26. Liechtenstein
27. Lithuania
28. Luxembourg
29. Madeira
30. Malta
31. Martinique
32. Monaco
33. Netherlands
34. Norway
35. Poland
36. Portugal
37. Reunion Islands
38. Romania
39. Saint Barthelemy
40. Saint Martin
41. San Marino
42. Slovakia
43. Slovenia
44. Spain
45. Sweden
46. Switzerland
47. Vatican City

There’s plenty for the European traveller, but the deals for elsewhere are poor. Head to the US and you’re looking at £4 for 40MB per day. At 10p a megabyte it’s still radically better than standard roaming rates, but is not going to make you want to use your phone unless you absolutely have to.

Roaming with MVNOs

If you’re out for a contract bargain, you should always tap up Tesco Mobile. However, it doesn’t have a particularly dynamic roaming plan.

In the EU, you get a fair deal. Any use within your normal allowance will cost you 4p a megabyte, bang on the EU cap charge.

This is the sort of charge that’ll leave you flicking roaming on and off as needed. Tesco Mobile will let you rack-up £40 of extra charges a month before blocking your SIM, but that’s still a lot of cash if you only paid £40 for a low-cost European flight from one of the budget airlines.

Costs elsewhere in the world are among the worst we’ve seen. In the USA, for example, you’ll pay £8 per megabyte. That’s plain upsetting.

Tesco Mobile is a good network for those looking to save a bit of money in the UK, but you could easily wipe out those savings with a few holidays unless you switch roaming off.

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As another low-cost network, it’s no great surprise that GiffGaff has similar roaming fees to Tesco Mobile. Look behind the scenes a little and it’s a flat-out no-brainer.

Both GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile use O2’s network, effectively reselling its core services. They’re called MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators).

In the EU, you’ll pay 5p extra per megabyte downloaded within your allowance. Outside the EU, it’s a grim £5 a megabyte. Even GiffGaff advises you turn roaming off when you’re in such a country. You get the sense GiffGaff would like to offer a better deal, but can’t because of the way it operates.

Our last pick is another virtual network, but it uses EE’s infrastructure rather than O2’s. Just like GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile, Virgin Mobile offers a fair deal for roaming in the EU, but you’ll pay £5 per megabyte in the USA, and up to £12.50 a megabyte in some other countries.

Rather than letting you sign up for daily bolt-ons, you buy data packs that last for 30 days in the EU.

For light users, this can actually work out pretty well. You can buy 10MB for 35p, 50MB for £1.50 and 250MB for £5. If you can make that 250MB last for a full week, it’s a very affordable way to stay connected while you’re on holiday. Just make sure roaming is switched off if you go to New York.

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Have you been stung by horrendous roaming charges? Let us know in the comments.