Jetting off on holiday soon? Whether it’s a week in the sun or a month-long backpacking adventure, you’ll need to find the best way to use your phone abroad.

We’ll cover everything you need to know right here in this handy guide. We’ll take a look at the best international roaming plans in the UK, along with what’s on offer from the major network providers.

And while you’re making your holiday preparations, make sure you check out the Wise card from the money services provider Wise.

It could save you money on holiday spending, letting you pay and withdraw cash like a local in 150+ countries - and all for low fees and great mid-market exchange rates.

What is international roaming?

International roaming is simply when you use your phone abroad to make calls, texts or access the internet - without using Wi-Fi. When you go online, you’ll be hopping onto a local mobile network.

Whether roaming is free or you’ve bought a roaming package (or are happy to pay charges for per-MB data use), you may need to adjust your phone’s settings in order to use it.

Check with your network or phone manufacturer for specific tips on how to do it. But generally speaking, you should be able to go to your phone’s settings, find ‘Mobile networks’ or something similar and switch on the ‘Data roaming’ toggle button.

Tips for choosing the best UK roaming plan or network

When shopping around for the best roaming plans in the UK, your first port of call should always be your existing mobile network provider. Find out what they charge for international roaming.

If you’re going to Europe, it may well be free - or you can buy a relatively affordable international roaming package.

If it’s too expensive or your destination isn’t covered, you may want to look elsewhere. When choosing a roaming provider, check the following:

• Whether your destination is supported for roaming
• What the roaming charges are for data, texts and calls - for both contract and SIM-only plans
• Whether there are add-ons or roaming packages you can buy
• What the network coverage is like in your destination
• Whether you’ll be tied to a contract or plan after your holiday has finished.

Best international roaming plans and networks in the UK - top 10 options

Now, let’s take a look at the best UK mobile plans for international travel, along with what options each network offers.

It’s important to note that nearly all providers have a ‘fair usage limit’ for roaming. This means that although you can use your phone almost as you would at home, there are some caps on how much data you can use. So, always check before you travel.

Here’s your at-a-glance look at international roaming options in the UK right now:

Provider	Europe	Rest of the world
O2	Free roaming	£6 a day for contracts £1.99 a day for PAYG (selected destinations)
EE	£2.47 a day for contracts £2.50 a day for PAYG	£25 a month for Roam Abroad Pass
Three	£2 a day for Go Roam in Europe pass	£5 a day for Go Roam Around the World pass
Vodafone	£7.39 a day (free if you have an Xtra Plan)	£7.39 a day
BT Mobile	Free roaming	£6.47 a day for Travel Data Pass (12 destinations)
Sky Mobile	£2 a day	£2 a day for Roaming Passport Plus (selected destinations)
VOXI	£2.25 to £15 a day	£15 to £25 for Global Roaming Extra pass (selected destinations)
Lebara	Free roaming	Free roaming in India. For other destinations, costs vary for Roaming Add-on.
GiffGaff	Free roaming	Not supported
Smarty	Free roaming	For other destinations, costs vary for ‘out of plan’ add-ons.

O2¹

One of the UK’s biggest phone networks, O2 offers free roaming within Europe (40+ countries) up to a 25GB data limit. Other fair usage limits and conditions apply, as with all the other networks on our list.

If you’re travelling outside of Europe, you have a few options. If you’re a Volt or Pay Monthly customer on selected O2 Refresh and sim-only tariffs, you’ll be able to make use of the O2 Travel Inclusive Bolt On. This gives you unlimited data, minutes and texts in 27 destinations outside of Europe.

Other Pay Monthly customers can get the Travel Bolt On for £6 a day in selected destinations. It’s £1.99 a day for Pay As You Go customers.

If you don’t have any O2 Travel Bolt Ons, standard rates will apply for using your phone abroad.

EE

EE charges £2.47 a day to use your minutes, text and data allowance in Europe, if you’re on a Pay Monthly or sim-only plan.²

You can also roam in the EU on Pay as You Go, choosing one of the following options:³

• 24 hours - £2.50 a day
• 7 days - £10.

Travelling outside of the EU? EE also has a Roam Abroad Pass for £25 a month, which covers 47 European destinations as well as the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia.⁴

There’s also an option to buy a Travel Data Pass to cover other destinations. These cost £8.45 per day for 150MB of data, and include countries such as Colombia, Peru, Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.⁵

Three⁶

Three has a choice of 3, 7 and 14 day Go Roam passes available. There are two options - Go Roam in Europe and Go Roam Around the World, covering 71 destinations between them.

It’s £2 a day for Go Roam in Europe, and £5 a day for Go Roam Around the World. The fair usage limit for both is 12 GB of data. You can unlock the daily pass, or save money with a pass covering the length of your holiday.

If your destination isn’t covered by either pass, standard roaming charges will apply.

Vodafone

For the purposes of roaming, Vodafone splits the world into four zones:⁷

• Zone A - Ireland, Isle of Man, Iceland and Norway
• Zone B - Europe (47 destinations)
• Zone C - Worldwide (32 destinations including Australia, Canada, US and New Zealand)
• Zone D - Worldwide (73 destinations including China, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, India and Pakistan).

It works slightly differently for PAYG, which is split into Zones A, B, 'Around the World' and 'Rest of the World'.

If you’re on a Pay Monthly plan, you get roaming in Zone A included for free. If you have an Xtra Plan, you can roam in Zone B for no extra cost. If not, it’s £7.39 a day to roam in any of the other zones.⁷

For PAYG customers, there’s the option to buy an 8-day or 15-day Europe Extras package to roam in Europe. This costs £7 or £12 (a one-off charge) depending on the duration.⁸ There are other add-ons available for other destinations too.

BT Mobile⁹

BT Mobile has a Roam Like Home, which lets you use the calls, texts and data allowance from your UK plan in 47 European destinations.

If you’re heading outside of the EU, you can buy a Travel Data Pass costing £6.47 a day for 500MB of data. This works in 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, India, UAE, Turkey, Thailand, Andorra and Mexico.

Sky Mobile¹⁰

When it comes to international roaming, Sky Mobile keeps it pretty simple. You can use your UK calls, texts and data allowances in 55+ popular holiday destinations for £2 a day. You’ll need to buy a Roaming Passport Plus pass, which covers the EU, USA, Australia and many other countries.

If your destination isn’t covered by the pass, then ‘Rest of the world’ roaming charges will apply. You can check what these are on the Sky Mobile website.

📚 Read more: Sky Mobile international data roaming: a complete guide

VOXI

VOXI offers a couple of plans for international roaming - a European Roaming Pass, and a Global Roaming Extra.

You can get the European Roaming Pass for 1, 2, 8 or 15 days, and costs between £2.25 and £15 depending on duration. It lets you use your UK allowances within the EU, up to a 20GB fair usage limit on data. ¹¹

Travelling outside of Europe? You can buy either of the following:¹²

• 8 Day Global Roaming Extra pass - £15 for 100 minutes/texts and 2GB data
• 15 Day Global Roaming Extra pass - £25 for 200 minutes/texts and 4GB data.

You’ll just need to check that your destination is covered.

📚 Read more: VOXI international data roaming: a complete guide

Lebara

Lebara offers free data roaming in Europe for both sim-only and prepaid plan customers.¹³ This lets you ‘Roam Like Home’ and use your UK plan allowances while in the EU. It also includes India.

For all other destinations, you’ll need to buy a Roaming Add-on. These vary depending on where you’re going and for how long. But as a guide, it’ll cost you £10 for 2GB of data, 200 minutes and 100 texts to get a Roaming Add-on for the USA.¹⁴

Giffgaff¹⁵

If you’re a Giffgaff customer, you can use your UK allowances in the EU for free. It’s important to note though that the network has a fair usage cap of 5GB of data. If you exceed this, you’ll pay 10p per extra MB you use while roaming.

For destinations outside of Europe, you won’t be able to roam with Giffgaff.

Smarty¹⁶

Smarty offers free roaming in the EU, up to a fair usage limit on data of 12GB a month (provided you have at least that in your monthly allowance). You can make unlimited calls and texts if your plan includes them.

If you’re travelling outside of the EU, you can buy ‘out of plan’ add-ons and then pay as you go after that. The cost of the add-on varies depending on the destination. You can find out more and check the prices on the Smarty website or app.

Ready to travel? Don’t forget your Wise card

With your roaming plan sorted, it’s a good time to think about how you’ll spend during your trip.

The Wise card is the ideal travel companion, as it lets you spend and withdraw in the local currency in 150+ countries.

Your pounds are automatically converted at the mid-market exchange rate whenever you spend, without any margins or mark-ups. You’ll just pay a small conversion fee, or no fee if you already have the currency in your Wise account.

Open a Wise account online and you can order your own Wise card for a one-time cost of just £7.

Sign up with Wise today 💰

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And that’s it - our full guide to the best international roaming plans and networks in the UK. We’ve covered the top 10 options, including major networks and smaller providers too, plus info on both Pay Monthly, SIM-only and Pay As You Go options.

You should be all set to compare options and choose the right one for your trip. Or simply stick with your current network if it offers a suitable roaming plan.

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Sources used:

1. O2 - Using your phone abroad
2. EE - EU roaming charges
3. EE - Pay As You Go charges for roaming in the EU
4. EE - Roam Abroad Pass
5. EE - Travel Data Pass
6. Three - Roaming & calling abroad FAQs
7. Vodafone - Global roaming
8. Vodafone - Extras
9. BT - Mobile calling costs
10. Sky - Using Sky Mobile abroad (roaming)
11. Voxi - What are VOXI European Roaming Passes and how do they work?
12. Voxi - What are Global Roaming Extras and how do I get one?
13. Lebara - Roaming
14. Lebara - Roaming Rate Finder - USA
15. Giffgaff - Roaming charges
16. Smarty - Roaming

Sources last checked on date: 30-Apr-2024