Best network for roaming

Table of Contents Roaming in the EU Major network Roaming Policies EE Vodafone Three O2 MVNO Roaming Policies 1pMobile Asda Mobile BT Mobile FreedomPop Giffgaff iD Mobile Lebara Lyca Mobile Plusnet Mobile Sky Mobile Smarty Talkmobile Tesco Mobile Virgin Mobile VOXI Cost Comparison Conclusion

Using your phone abroad, also called roaming, used to be a sure-fire way to incur a massive bill at the end of the month. That’s no longer necessarily the case, but it’s still important to examine where each of the major UK networks stands on the matter.

Using a foreign network typically incurs additional charges, but a mixture of legislation and cooperation between the world’s networks has reduced the penalty for roaming in certain key territories. Prior to Brexit that most notably meant free roaming across the EU, but while that’s no longer the case on every network and plan, the costs are still usually affordable.

Here’s a breakdown of the roaming policies adopted by every significant UK network, including EE, O2, Vodafone and Three, plus most major MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators). But first, a small note on the state of roaming in the EU.

Roaming in the EU

The EU dropped all roaming charges from June 15, 2017. This meant that making calls, sending texts and using the internet on your phone used to cost the same as at home when in any country that’s a member of the EU, whatever network or plan you're on – though when it came to data there were often fair use limits.

Of course, with the UK no longer in the EU, that's all changed. The specifics of EU roaming terms vary from network to network and will be detailed below under each network’s heading, but in short many either don't offer free EU roaming anymore or only do on select plans.

Recommended SIM Only deals

	6GB data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£7 a month View Deal
	25GB data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£8 a month View Deal
	Unlimited data Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	£21 a month View Deal
Compare SIM Only deals

Major Network Roaming Policies

Below we’ve looked at how the UK’s four major networks – namely EE, O2, Vodafone and Three – stack up in terms of roaming policies.

You can see an overview of their policies in the chart below, then more details for each network under that.

MVNOs like Sky Mobile and VOXI are covered separately further down.

* Add-ons come at an additional cost. For more information on available add-ons see the detailed information for each network below.

Note that this chart details the situation as of September 2023, and where we've listed locations as 'free' they might only be so on select plans.

EE

For all new, upgrading and existing customers, here’s EE’s current roaming policy:

 

Essentials / No Frills plans

Essentials and No Frills plan customers can roam for £2.29 per day in 47 destinations across Europe (see below for a full list). However, this charge will only apply to Pay Monthly handset and SIM Only customers who’ve joined EE or upgraded from 7th July, 2021, onwards. Older customers who haven’t recently upgraded can roam in these places at no extra cost. For tablet, laptop, and mobile broadband customers, these charges came into play for plans started on or after 18th August 2021.

If customers are going on a longer break they can purchase a Roam Abroad pass, which costs £15 per month but allows free roaming in these European locations, as well as in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the US.

There’s also a Travel Data Pass, which gives you 500MB of data and costs £6.26 per day in the US and Canada or £7.84 per day in Australia, China, India, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and UAE. It can also be purchased for £7.84 per day in 45 other destinations including Brazil, Japan and Jamaica, but in these places you only get 150MB of data.

To get the Travel Data Pass, text TRAVEL to 150 before you go or while you’re abroad.

Full Works/ All Rounder plans

If you’re on one of EE’s high-end All Rounder or Full Works plans you have the option to not only roam for free across the EU (up to a 50GB ‘fair usage cap’) but also beyond.

Customers of these plans can optionally add a Roam Abroad pass to their plan at no extra cost, letting them roam for free in the EU, and also roam for free in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the USA, for 52 locations in total. The Travel Data Pass detailed above is also available to these customers.

Note that the Roam Abroad pass is one of a number of Inclusive Extras (previously known as Smart Benefits) available to customers of these plans, so choosing it means you won’t be able to choose something else.

Vodafone

Vodafone has introduced a £2.25 daily charge to use allowances in 51 European destinations – or you can reduce this if you buy an eight or 15-day pass.

However, customers on plans taken out before August 11th 2021 won’t have to pay this charge until they upgrade, and there are plans which avoid the charge, detailed below.

Xtra Plans with 4 Xtra benefits

Vodafone has rolled out a range of new plans called ‘Xtra Plans’ which come with ‘Xtra benefits’, and if you get one with ‘3 Xtra benefits’ then you won’t be charged to roam in the EU.

On top of that, some Xtra Plans go even further and allow for free roaming in 83 destinations – many of which are outside Europe. Note that in all cases though there’s a 25GB fair usage limit.

The additional locations include:

Albania, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Mexico, Montserrat, Mozambique, New Zealand, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, South Africa, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Northern Cyprus, Turks and Caicos, and the US.

Travelling further

For many other parts of the world or for those who don’t have a plan that offers inclusive roaming in 83 locations, you can pay £6.85 per day to use your allowances in 105 locations. These locations include:

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lesotho, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saba, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Northern Cyprus, Turks and Caicos, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Vodafone also lets customers on a 5G plan roam at 5G speeds in select locations.

5G speeds are available in parts of Spain, Italy, Germany and Ireland.

Three

Three’s Lite plan customers (previously called Standard plans) will have to pay £2 per day to use their allowances in the EU (across 49 destinations), and £5 per day to use them in many global locations – listed below under ‘Go Roam Around the World’.

Customers of Value plans (previously called Plus plans) can roam for free for up to 28 days and those on Complete plans (previously known as Premium plans) can roam at no extra cost for up to 56 days.

In all cases that’s up to a 12GB limit. The European locations can be seen in the chart below.

The places beyond Europe that can be roamed in for £5 per day (or inclusively on some plans) are listed in the chart below.

Note that in all cases these charges only apply to customers who signed up to or renewed their contract on or after October 1st, 2021. For everyone else, the locations in these charts can be roamed in at no extra cost (until you upgrade or renew). All Pay As You Go customers can also roam in these places at no extra cost.

If you want to roam somewhere not covered by Go Roam, there’s also a Data Passport, which gives you unlimited data in many locations for £5 per day.

O2

O2 allows customers to roam for no extra cost in 48 European destinations, many of which offer 5G speeds. The list of roaming locations can be seen in the chart below, but is similar to that offered by other networks.

However, unlike other networks O2 hasn’t announced plans to remove free roaming, so at the time of writing it’s the only one of the big four UK networks that still offers free roaming on all plans. Note though that there’s a 25GB data limit when roaming.

On some plans you can also roam in Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greenland, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yemen.

Want to go further? O2 also offers an O2 Travel bolt-on for £6 per day, which gives you unlimited data, minutes, and texts in the locations below.

MVNO Roaming Policies

Below you’ll find brief details of the roaming policies for most of the UK’s MVNOs, along with links to more detailed guides for each where available.

1pMobile

1pMobile allows all customers to roam across 46 European destinations at no extra cost, up to a fair use limit of 14GB of data.

1pMobile will also check that you’re using your phone more in the UK than abroad over a rolling four-month period.

Asda Mobile

Asda Mobile allows customers to roam in 46 European destinations at no extra cost. However, there’s a roaming data limit of 5GB, so you can’t use more than that abroad each month without being charged extra.

It’s worth noting that Asda Mobile offers 5G roaming in parts of numerous EU countries too.

BT Mobile

On BT Mobile you can roam in 47 European destinations at no extra cost, up to a 50GB fair usage limit. Note however that BT Mobile no longer offers plans to new customers.

FreedomPop

FreedomPop doesn’t let you roam at all, making it easily the worst network for roaming.

Giffgaff

Giffgaff lets customers roam in 38 European destinations at no extra cost. However, there’s a fair usage limit of 5GB for all plans that come with that much data or more.

iD Mobile

On iD Mobile you can roam abroad in 50 destinations in the EU, EEA and beyond. Like most networks it has a fair usage policy, but it’s reasonably high at 30GB.

Lebara

Lebara allows customers to roam at no extra cost in the EU, up to a 30GB fair usage limit for customers on unlimited data plans.

This network stands out though by also offering inclusive roaming in India, where there’s likewise a fair usage limit of up to 30GB.

Lyca Mobile

On Lyca Mobile you can roam across the EU at no extra cost, but there’s a variable fair usage limit depending on your plan. At the time of writing the highest available cap is 35GB.

Plusnet Mobile

Plusnet Mobile offers inclusive roaming in Europe, but if you have a plan with 20GB or more of monthly data then you won’t be allowed to use more than 15GB of it when roaming.

Plusnet Mobile is another network that falls under the BT Mobile / EE umbrella, so it’s interesting to see that it offers free roaming as standard when EE doesn’t.

Sky Mobile

Sky Mobile doesn’t let you roam for free, but you can access your allowances in over 55 destinations for £2 per day. You’re not limited to Europe either – supported locations also include the US, Australia and more.

Smarty

When travelling in the EU on Smarty you’ll have access to your normal allowances at no extra cost, up to a fair usage limit of 12GB. It’s worth noting that Smarty has the same parent company as Three, and yet Three doesn’t offer free roaming on all plans.

Talkmobile

Talkmobile allows customers to roam as if at home in 42 European destinations, up to a fair usage data limit of 5GB per month.

Tesco Mobile

Tesco Mobile lets you roam in 48 destinations in the EU and beyond at no extra cost.

Its fair usage terms are less restrictive than on most networks, as it basically just says you can’t be spending more time or data in its free roaming locations than in the UK or the rest of the world. Your usage for these purposes will be monitored over a rolling four-month period.

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile lets customers roam across 43 European destinations at no extra cost. It used to have a variable fair usage limit, but reference to this appears to have been removed. Note also that Virgin Mobile customers will soon be moved to O2 plans, and it's no longer possible to purchase Virgin Mobile plans.

VOXI

VOXI is among the rare MVNOs that charge you to roam even in Europe. The network charges £2.25 per day, though you can get discounts for longer periods, with an eight-day roaming pass costing £10 and a 15-day one costing £15. This pass will cover you in Europe up to your standard data allowance or a 20GB fair usage limit, whichever is lower.

It's worth noting that VOXI also allows 5G roaming in parts of Germany, Spain, Italy and Ireland.

Cost Comparison

As we’ve seen, each UK network has its own roaming provisions and deals that can reduce the cost of using your phone while travelling dramatically. However, they also each have a list of base charges that apply when none of these provisions is met.

By way of a comparison, here is a table that compares the basic unsubsidised costs of placing a local call, sending a text, and surfing the web in three of the most popular destinations for UK travellers, on the UK’s four main networks. 

Roaming Cost Comparison

Country	EE	O2	Vodafone	Three
Australia	£1.54 per minute, 76p texts, £7.84 per day for 500MB	£2 per minute, 50p texts, £7.20 per MB	£6.85 per day to use your normal allowances	£5 per day to use your normal allowances
USA	£1.54 per minute, 76p texts, £6.26 per day for 500MB	£2 per minute, 50p texts, £7.20 per MB	£6.85 per day to use your normal allowances	£5 per day to use your normal allowances
China	£2.34 per minute, 76p texts, £7.84 per day for 500MB	£2 per minute, 50p texts, £7.20 per MB	£6.85 per day to use your normal allowances	£2 per minute, 35p texts, £6 per MB

Conclusion

As you can see, standard roaming charges are hardly what you’d call cheap. But each network’s roaming initiative can provide massive savings in their own separate way.

As things stand at the time of writing (September 2023) O2 arguably tops the pack in terms of the four main networks, as it's keeping roaming free on all plans. That said, for a wide selection of destinations, Vodafone comes out on top, and you can still roam for free on some plans with that network.

For the widest selection of ‘cheap’ roaming locations Vodafone again comes out on top, as it offers add-ons which allow you to roam in locations that aren’t ‘free’ for an affordable daily charge.

That’s only worth doing of course if the add-ons cover locations that you plan to roam in (and which you can’t roam for free in on other networks), but still leaves Vodafone as a top pick overall.

As for the MVNOs, the vast majority do offer free EU roaming. However, VOXI and Sky Mobile don’t, and FreedomPop doesn’t let you roam at all. So these three all rank low – though notably Sky lets you cheaply roam beyond Europe.

Of the other MVNOs, we’d highlight Tesco Mobile as one of the best, as it has less restrictive fair usage limits than the other networks. Lebara also ranks high for certain travellers, since it allows you to roam for free in India.

Overall though we’d say O2 has all of those beat as well, since select plans let you roam widely, on top of all plans letting you roam in Europe. So O2 is our pick as the best network for roaming overall.

Beyond that, our one piece of advice for frequent travellers is to pick out the UK network that offers the best roaming terms for the highest number of countries you intend to visit over the coming two years of your contract.