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Which network is best for international roaming?

Here's your passport to cheap calls.
Joe Minihane author headshot
Written by Joe Minihane, Contributor
Updated on 6 June 2024
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Mobile phone roaming

Some networks offer inclusive roaming in countries outside the EU, while others don't. What's more, if you're canny and choose your network wisely, you can even get inclusive roaming in destinations much farther away.

Which network is best for roaming?

That largely depends on where you like to holiday. We'll be looking at the following providers based on their costs, data allowances, and general roaming policies:

  • Three

  • Vodafone

  • O2

  • EE

  • Virgin Media

  • iD Mobile

  • Sky Mobile

  • TalkTalk

  • BT Mobile

  • giffgaff

  • Tesco Mobile

  • SMARTY

At the time of writing, Three’s Go Roam scheme covers 71 worldwide locations, more than any other network. And winningly, it includes popular destinations like the USA, Australia and Hong Kong.

However, a lot of these destinations are only available on a Three Advanced plan, which is usually more expensive than a regular Three deal.

Typically, Advanced plan contracts work out at around £3 or £4 a month more than an Essential plan. But, in addition to Three’s Feel at Home inclusive roaming scheme, an Advanced plan will also get you Go Binge, allowing you to use select streaming services without eating into your data.

Still, if you normally travel in the EU and don’t use streaming services on the go, you might be better off saving some money and going with an Essential plan instead.

Similarly, EE’s Feel at Home scheme aims to cover 80% of the destinations EE customers visit. But it’s only available on 4GEE Max plans, which generally cost a lot more.

For the extra outlay, a 4GEE Max plan will also give you EE’s fastest 4G speeds and a TNT Sports subscription for the duration of your contract. But again, you’ll have to weigh up whether those benefits are worth the extra cost.

If you’re planning a trip abroad and you’re still locked into a contract, you could get a one-month SIM-only deal or a pay-as-you-go SIM plan that comes with inclusive roaming for your destination.

If, for example, you’re heading off to the USA for a fortnight and you’re currently on an O2 pay monthly contract, you have a couple of options. You could pay £4.99 a day for an O2 bolt-on that’ll give you 120 texts, 120 minutes, and all the data you’ll need, which would cost you a total of £69.86 over your two-week holiday.

Or you could get a one-month Three Advanced plan SIM that’ll give you inclusive roaming in the US. At the time of writing, you can get 600 minutes, unlimited texts, and a generous 8GB of data for just £14 on a one-month rolling contract. If you cancel your contract with 30 days’ notice, this deal works out at £55.86 cheaper than a bolt-on.

Below, we take a look at each network to see what's on offer.

Compare network roaming plans

Roaming policies vary widely from network to network. So, how do you know whether you'll be able to use your phone when you're abroad and how much it will cost?

Luckily, we've done your leg work in this handy network-by-network guide.

Network roaming schemeWho does it apply to?CostDestinations coveredFair usage (if data tariff above amount mentioned)
Three's Go Roam All Advanced plans£2 for Go Roam in Europe and £5 for Go Roam Around the World7112GB. Can spend up to 2 months in roaming zone over 12 month rolling contract period
Vodafone Roam FreeAll customers on new monthly plansNone48None. Can spend up to 2 months in roaming zone over 4 month period
Vodafone Roam FurtherAll customers on new pay monthly plans (except Basics)£6 per day to use your UK plan10425GB. Can spend up to 2 months in roaming zone over 4 month period
EE Max Plan RoamingAll 4GEE Max PlanNone5315GB. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
O2 Europe Zone UsageAll customers on pay monthly plans (not PAYG)None47 Europe Zone destinations10GB. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
O2 Full Travel Bolt-OnSelect phone-and-tariff plans on 4GB or 15GB or aboveNone7510GB. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
Tesco Mobile Home from HomeAll customers on pay monthly or PAYG plansNone48 Europe Zone destinations + 612GB. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
Sky Roaming PassportAll customers on pay monthly plansNone36 Europe Zone destinationsNone
BT Roam Like at HomeAll customers on pay monthly plansNone4715GB. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
iD Mobile Roam Like at HomeAll customers on pay monthly plansNone50Only applies to some SIM only customers. Can spend up to 60 days in roaming zone over 120-day period
SMARTY roamingAll customersNone35Not specified

This information was correct at the time of writing.

Three

three mobile logo

Three’s Go Roam includes 71 global destinations where you can make calls, send texts, and use your data. This feature comes in two formats: Go Roam in Europe and Go Roam Around the World.

Acquiring a Go Roam pass, available for 3, 7, and 14 days, allows you to access your UK allowances within Go Roam in Europe and Go Roam Around the World. These passes can be purchased prior to your travels.

Unless specified otherwise, a daily roaming fee applies to activate your UK allowances in Go Roam destinations for a 24-hour period. The fee is £2 for Go Roam in Europe and £5 for Go Roam Around the World.

You'll incur charges upon using any of your plan's allowances in a Go Roam destination.

To find out how much you could save, use the special calculator on Three's website.

Want to know more? Take a look at our Three roaming FAQs.

See our latest Three SIM deals

Vodafone

vodafone logo on a white background

Vodafone offers a selection of roaming schemes.

Roam-Free lets you use your regular monthly allowance for calls, texts, and data in 48 European countries at no extra cost.

Roam Further allows you to access your monthly allowance in a further 104 countries for an additional £6 per day.

There's also the Global Roaming Plus scheme. At the time of writing, it was reserved for customers on Vodafone's Red Entertainment plans. This scheme allows customers to use their UK allowances in 77 locations, including those in the EU and much further afield.

Vodafone has a 25GB cap on its roaming allowances, although that should be more than enough to see you through.

Find out more with our Vodafone roaming FAQs.

See our latest Vodafone SIM only deals

O2

o2 logo

All O2 pay monthly and business customers qualify for inclusive roaming in 49 European destinations. These are deemed to be in O2's Europe Zone.

Customers who sign up for a plan with a 4GB or 15GB data allowance or more also qualify for the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On roaming in 27 locations further afield, including the USA, Australia, Argentina, and New Zealand. In these destinations, customers are granted a daily allowance of 120 texts, 120 minutes, and 150M of data.

The O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On, included on select plans, lets you roam in a further 27 international destinations. If you’re not on an eligible plan, the bolt on costs £6 per day.

If you're not on a cheaper plan that doesn't include an extended worldwide roaming scheme as standard, you can sign up for an O2 Full Travel Bolt On for £6 per day. That buys you 120 minutes and 120 texts per day and uncapped data to use in locations outside O2's Europe Zone.

Want to see which countries are covered? Have a read of our O2 roaming FAQs.

See our latest O2 SIM deals

EE

ee logo

EE customers who signed up on or after 7 July 2021 will need to pay £2 a day to roam in the EU. Anyone who is on an EE contract that started before that date won't have to pay EU roaming charges.

EE has introduced a new range of 4GEE Max plans for new and upgrading customers. These plans allow customers to use their monthly allowances across 53 destinations worldwide.

These include EU countries as well as the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. This covers over 80% of the time EE customers spend overseas.

Take a look at our EE roaming FAQs.

Virgin Media

virgin mobile logo

Virgin Mobile offers inclusive roaming in 43 destinations with its Roam Like Home scheme. These include 28 EU locations and locations in Europe but outside the EU, such as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Gibraltar.

Roam Like Home also includes some countries outside Europe, such as the Canary Islands, the French Caribbean, Martinique, and Reunion.

Interested? Find out more with our Virgin Media roaming FAQs.

See our latest Virgin Mobile deals

iD Mobile

iD Mobile logo

iD Mobile offers inclusive roaming in 50 destinations in the EU and beyond with its Roam Like Home scheme.

The offer applies to SIM only contracts, pay monthly mobile phone contracts and pay as you go.

Want to know more? Check out our iD Mobile roaming FAQs.

See our latest ID Mobile SIM only deals

Sky Mobile

sky mobile logo

All Sky Mobile customers are able to use their mobile data, calls and texts in 36 European locations for £2 a day.

One major benefit of Sky Mobile as far as roaming goes is that, if you've already stored a trove of unused data in your Sky Piggybank, you can use the data when you're in Europe, too.

Find out more with our Sky Mobile roaming FAQs.

See our latest Sky Mobile SIM deals

TalkTalk

talktalk logo

TalkTalk customers can use their monthly allowance of calls, texts and data for no extra cost in 49 destinations.

However, it's worth bearing in mind that customers who have been with TalkTalk for less than 3 months will need to pay £25 as an advanced payment to activate roaming.

Want to see which countries are covered? Take a look at our TalkTalk roaming FAQs.

BT Mobile

BT color logo

Customers on BT Mobile can enjoy inclusive roaming in 47 destinations thanks to BT's Roam Like Home scheme. This includes locations such as the Canary Islands, Norway and Switzerland.

You can use the BT Mobile app to track your usage so you can make sure you don't go over your allowance.

Want to see which other locations are covered? Read our BT Mobile roaming FAQs.

See our latest BT deals

giffgaff

giffgaff

giffgaff offers inclusive roaming for all its customers in 37 locations in the EU and beyond.

And topping up overseas is easy too. All you need to do is head to the giffgaff website, which free to access, even if you’ve run out of credit.

It's worth noting that you won't be able to use your allowance if you're visiting a country not included in giffgaff's 37 locations.

Want to know which countries are covered? Take a look at our giffgaff roaming FAQs.

See our latest giffgaff SIM only deals

Tesco Mobile

tesco mobile logo

All Tesco Mobile customers can use their monthly allowance of calls, texts and data for no extra charge in 48 European destinations.

Customers travelling further afield will still be able to use their phones while on holiday, but they will need to pay extra.

Want to find out which destinations are covered? Take a look at our Tesco Mobile roaming FAQs.

See our latest Tesco Mobile SIM only deals

SMARTY

SMARTY logo

SMARTY now lets you use your regular monthly allowance of data, calls and texts from anywhere in the EU for no extra cost.

Travelling further afield? You can buy an add-on for that.

Want to find out more? Check out our SMARTY roaming FAQs.

See our latest SMARTY SIM only deals

Want to know more? Take a look at our complete guide to roaming.

Are you unhappy with your current provider's roaming offering? Check out our travel eSIM page to save money on your phone bill while travelling abroad.

Check out our range of Travel eSIMs deals

Choose between dozens of travel eSIM data bundles on Uswitch.

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