Mobile networks that still let you roam for free in Europe… and those that could catch you out

By Liam On Jun 9, 2023

There’s another hidden holiday cost to think about when the Brits go abroad this summer.

Before Brexit, mobile phone providers did not charge UK customers extra for roaming in Europe. However, these rules no longer apply.

This is Money did some research on EU roaming charges from major mobile networks to see how much you’ll have to pay to use your phone abroad this summer.

Goodbye roaming: Some mobile phone providers are now charging UK customers extra when switching on data in Europe

O2

Looking at the terms and conditions of O2’s Europe Zone data roaming, there is a limit on free roaming of 25GB per month, so customers can roam up to this amount of data as they would at home.

If you go through the 25 GB of data, you have to pay £3.50 per GB.

As a rough guideline, 1 GB is enough for five hours of mobile web browsing, or to send or receive about 1,000 emails.

EE

Roaming in the EU is no longer included in the subscription fee with EE.

Monthly paying handset and SIM customers can use their calling, SMS and data limits in EE’s European roaming zone for £2.29 one day.

If you have a plan with inclusive extras, you can choose EE’s ‘roam abroad’ pass as an inclusive extra and avoid paying the £2.29 daily fee in the EU.

What is a “fair use” limit?

Instead of charging extra when you limit the data you paid for, some mobile networks simply limit your internet usage. This is called a fair use policy.

It means you may not be charged extra when you use up your monthly credit, but you may be penalized if you exceed by what the network considers ‘reasonable’ – often around 500MB.

Three

For paying monthly customers, roaming charges £2 a day in Europe with Three.

However, if you are on a pay-as-you-go basis, or if your monthly subscription started before October 1, 2021, these charges will not apply. This means customers don’t have to pay anything extra outside their subscription to use roaming in the EU.

Vodafone

If a subscription does not have inclusive roaming in Vodafone’s Europe Zone, which covers 49 European countries, it will cost £2.25 a day to roam in European destinations.

If you need to roam in Europe with Vodafone for more than four days, it may be cheaper to buy one of Vodafone’s European roaming passes, which are £10 for 8 days or £15 for 15 days. Each of these is subject to a 25 GB limit.

Giffgaff

Giffgaff customers have an EU roaming surcharge of 5 GB at no extra cost. They can also make unlimited calls and texts while in the EU.

If you choose to pay as you go and use credit instead, you will be charged for data, calls and texts at Giffgaff’s pay as you go UK rates while roaming in the EU.

If you run out of 5 GB of data while in the EU, you can purchase a new plan that resets your EU roaming and gives you access to another 5 GB while you are away.

If you use up all your subscription data or exceed the EU roaming limit of 5 GB, you will be charged 10 pence per MB for data usage.

Plans start from £8 to access the extra 5 GB of data while you are away.

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BT

BT Mobile has a ‘roam like home’ facility that allows customers to use their mobile abroad in 47 destinations without paying additional roaming charges. This includes data.

Once the credit is used up, BT UK will charge off-plan rates.

BT charges 45.72 cents per minute or 38 cents per minute depending on which country you are in, and 14 cents per message or 11 cents per message.

If you exceed your plan’s data volume while you’re in European countries, you’ll be charged out-of-bundle rates in the UK at 13.06p per MB or 10.83p per MB, depending on the country – so check how much data your plan allows. gives .

To avoid a hefty bill, BT limits the amount of data you can use abroad to £35.

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile also allows you to roam like at home, so you can use your calls, texts and data in the EU as you would in the UK with their subscription and SIM only plans.

If you exceed the data volume of your subscription, you will be charged the same rate as if you were at home £3 per GB per day for the data you use.

Virgin Mobile said they have no plans to reintroduce roaming charges in the EU.

Talk mobile

Depending on when you joined Talkmobile, you may be able to use your UK monthly allowance for calls, texts and data or you may need to purchase a Euro Holiday booster to use data.

If you joined before March 14, 2023, you can use your UK minutes, texts and data bundle at no extra cost when roaming in Europe.

But if you sign up after this date, you’ll need to buy a Euro Holiday Booster which will give you 15 GB of data per day. You can get a Euro Holiday Booster for one day £2.25an eight-day Euro Holiday Booster £10 or a 15 day Euro Holiday Booster £15.

ID mobile

All iD Mobile plans include EU roaming.

You can roam like at home in 50 EU and EEA destinations. Your calls, texts and the data you use will come from your remaining monthly credits, subject to iD Mobile’s fair use policy.

If you run out of credit, you pay 40 pence per minute for calls, 14 pence for texts and 10 pence per MB for data.

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