What Is The Best UK Network For Roaming Abroad?

Now Brexit has happened UK networks are no longer required to provide fee-free roaming in the EU. Whilst initially there was no change to roaming charges abroad some UK mobile networks have started to reassess their roaming charges for customers. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some contenders for the best UK network for roaming abroad…

What changes have been announced?

So far EE, Three & O2 have announced changes to how they will treat roaming in the EU…

Anyone who joins EE or renews/upgrades their contract after the 7th of July will pay a flat £2 per day fee from January 2022 for roaming in the EU, excluding the Republic of Ireland.

O2 is introducing a ‘fair use’ cap of 25GB per month when roaming in the EU, additional charges will be due past this.

Three is reducing their ‘fair use’ cap from 20GB to 12GB when roaming in the EU, additional charges will be due past this.

What is the best UK network for roaming abroad?

We’ve stuck to the ‘major’ networks and ignored all virtual networks e.g. Tesco Mobile, Voxi etc due to the vast amount of them! All the following information is based on packages for new customers, if you are an existing customer you may be on another legacy plan.

Three

Three offers free roaming at the most amount of countries out of all the networks. If you are on a pay-monthly contract you can use your allowance at no extra cost in 71 countries under a scheme called ‘Go roam. You can view the countries included in the scheme here – http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Roaming_Abroad/Destinations

There is a monthly fair usage cap of 12GB of data, 3,000 minutes of calls and 5,000 texts which should be sufficient for most people!

You can read more about the ‘Go roam’ scheme here – http://www.three.co.uk/go-roam

If 12GB isn’t enough you can opt for the Data Passport for £5 a day this will allow you to use your normal allowances for £5 per day in 89 countries worldwide. You can view the 89 countries this can be used in here – http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBISAPI.DLL?Command=New,Kb=Mobile,Ts=Mobile,T=Article,Case=obj(41736)

Roaming charges

Outside of the EU, you’ll generally be charged £2 per minute to make calls, £1.25 per minute to receive calls & 35p a text. Data will set you back £3+ per MB. This does vary from country to country so make sure you check on the Three website for an accurate comparison – http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Roaming_abroad

Vodafone

In second place is Vodafone which allows free roaming in 51 European countries under its ‘Roam free’ scheme. You can view the 51 countries included here – https://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/public/documents/webcontent/vfcon079682.pdf

With Global Roaming Plus – there are 81 destinations where you won’t pay roaming charges – this includes the 51 Roam-free destinations & 29 of Vodafone’s Roam-further destinations.

Global Roaming Plus is included with unlimited data Xtra Plans with 4 Xtra benefits from 16 June 2021, Red Entertainment plans between 4 September 2019 and 11 July 2019, or Unlimited Max plans between 12 July 2019 and 14 June 2021.

If you don’t have a plan with Global Roaming Plus or the country you want to visit isn’t included Vodafone has 105 Roam-further destinations where you’ll pay just £6 a day, and only on the days you use your phone (receiving a call or a text will not trigger the daily charge). 

Vodafone has a 25GB roaming fair use policy per billing month.

Roaming charges

Outside of these countries, the cost to receive/make calls, texts, pictures messages and data varies from country to country so make sure you check on the Vodafone website for an accurate comparison – https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/costs-and-charges/travelling-abroad

O2

In third place is O2 which allows free roaming in 48 European countries with a fair usage cap of 25GB which we mentioned earlier. You can view the countries that are covered here – https://www.o2.co.uk/help/pay-monthly/roaming-in-europe

If you’re travelling outside of O2’s Europe Zone you can opt for the O2 Travel Bolt On. This will give you a daily allowance of 120 texts, 120 minutes, and data roaming, in 27 of our international O2 Travel destinations, including USA, Australia and New Zealand & costs £4.99 a day. You can view the countries included here – https://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel-inclusive-zone

If you have a 30GB, 60GB or Unlimited O2 Refresh tariffs, 150GB or Unlimited 12 month sim only tariffs or 60GB, 150GB or Unlimited 24 month sim only tariffs you will get free access to the O2 Travel Bolt On.

Roaming charges

Outside these countries, you’ll generally be charged £2 per minute to make/recieve calls, 50p a text & 55p a picture message. Data will set you back an eye-watering £7.20 per MB. This does vary from country to country so make sure you check on the O2 website for an accurate comparison – http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/travelling_abroad

EE

EE is the worst network for free roaming, there are a grand total of ZERO countries where you can roam for free! As we mentioned earlier in the post if you join EE or upgrade your contract from the 7th of July you will be charged £2 a day for roaming in the EU from January 2022.

From January 2022, if you have a plan with Smart Benefits, you can choose EE’s roaming pass as a Smart Benefit and you won’t have to pay the £2 daily charge in the EU. This will also allow you to use your allowance for free in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

Alternatively, you can take the roaming pass as an add-on to your plan at any time for £10 a month and you won’t have to pay the £2 daily charge in the EU.

Roaming charges

Outside of the EU, you’ll generally be charged £1.88 per minute to make or receive calls, 62p a text and 67p per picture message. The cost of a data add-in varies heavily but for example, the USA will cost you £4.80 compared to £6.27 in Thailand for 500mb of data. This does vary from country to country so make sure you check on the EE website for an accurate comparison – https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/roaming-costs/

Conclusion

For most people, the best UK network for roaming abroad will be Three as it allows Pay monthly customers free roaming in a total of 71 countries (including inside the EU) subject to a modest fair use cap. Even if you aren’t a Three customer having a sim-only contract for a month will still easily beat the other UK networks if staying longer than a few days! Which UK network do you think is best for roaming abroad? Or do you prefer to pick up a local sim card?