Nothing brings on the post-holiday blues faster than a huge phone bill incurred by your device secretly racking up charges while you sipped banana daiquiris.
To prevent a shock raid on your bank account by your phone provider read on for our top tips on using your phone abroad on the cheap.
We reveal the flight mode mistake travellers on planes and cruise ships make, why you should always turn voicemail off, the best network providers for globe-trotters and more.
POST-BREXIT ROAMING CHARGES
Prior to Brexit, the EU Roaming Regulation meant using your existing call, text and data allowances when travelling around Europe incurred no additional costs.
But this guarantee dissolved after Britain left the European Union in 2021.
While many networks – including O2 – continue to offer free roaming in Europe, three of the major providers, Three, Vodafone and EE, quickly re-introduced charges.
According to Clare Casalis, Senior Utilities Analyst at MoneySavingExpert, Three is the most reasonable of the three, charging its contracted customers £2 a day, and also offering multi-day passes, ranging from £5 for three days to £24 for a fortnight.
Meanwhile, EE charges £2.47 a day for those on contract, or £2.50 a day for its pay-as-you-go customers, and Vodafone customers can expect to pay £2.42 a day, £12 for eight days or £17 for 15 days.
Clare Casalis, Senior Utilities Analyst at MoneySavingExpert, has revealed her top tips to prevent your device secretly racking up charges while you sip banana daiquiris
ROAMING CHARGES IN EUROPE PROVIDER EXTRA CHARGESFAIR USE DATA CAP EE £2.47/day for contract. £2.50/day (£10 for 7 days) for pay-as-you-go50GB O2 None 25GB Three £2/day for contracts (or 3-day pass for £5, 7-day pass for £12, 14-day pass for £24). None for pay-as-you-go. If you need more than your UK data allowance, you can buy a Data Passport for £5 for unlimited data in 89 countries 12GBVodafone £2.42/day (or £12 for 8 days or £17 for 15 days) for contracts. From £9 for 3GB for 8 days for pay-as-you-go 25GB Asda Mobile None 5GB GiffGaff None 5GB iD Mobile None 30GB Lebara None 30GB Lycamobile None Depends on your plan Sky £2/a day No set limit Smarty None 12GB Superdrug Mobile None 12GB Talkmobile None. If you need more than your UK allowance you can buy a Euro Holiday Booster which gives you 15GB of data plus unlimited calls and texts to the UK and other European destinations (£2.25/day, £10 for 8 days, £15 for 15 days) 15GB or 5GB Tesco Mobile None until 2026 N/A Voxi £2.45 a day for 1 day, £4.50 for 2 days, £12 for 8 days, or £17 for 15 days Correct as of January 2025. Source: MoneySavingExpert
Further afield, bills can rack up even more, as international roaming can cost ‘up to £15 a day’.
But it’s cruisers who have to ‘be extra careful’, says Clare.
‘Your phone may connect to a “maritime” network or a neighbouring country, which may be outside your roaming allowance,’ she says. ‘Therefore, it’s probably best to make use of any free Wi-Fi or restrict use of your phone to when you’re back on dry land – and always check the network your phone connects to.’
Clare’s advice, if you don’t want to incur any of these extra charges, is to switch off roaming completely, via your phone’s settings.
And remember, flight mode, which blocks digital data services, can be used in conjunction with Wi-Fi, so you can’t make calls but you can stream movies without ending up bankrupt.
Clare recommends downloading all your important documents – including boarding passes – using Wi-Fi before you travel
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO USE MY PHONE OUTSIDE EUROPE? PROVIDER ADD-ONS FOR INTERNATIONAL ROAMING EE EE charges between £5 and £15 a day (£25 or £37.50 for 7 days) depending on the destination. O2 O2 offers O2 Travel, giving you unlimited data, minutes and texts for an extra £6/day. Three Three charges £5 or £7 a day (depending on the destination) to use your UK allowance in over 100 Go Roam destinations, including the USA and New Zealand. Alternatively, you can get a Data Passport for £5 which gives you unlimited data in 89 countries.Vodafone Vodafone offers Roam Further – use your UK allowance in 105 destinations for an extra £7.39 a day.Lebara You can use your UK allowance for free in India and China (as well as Europe). To make calls, use data or send a text while outside the EU roaming countries and India, you can buy an 8 or 15-day roaming add-on for your selected country.Sky For Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, USA and the UAE, you can use your UK plan for a £2/day fee. You don’t need to do anything to get this service. Find out more about the Roaming Passport Plus pass here. Voxi You can get an eight-day Global Roaming Extra add-on to use in 73 countries, including Australia, Canada, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and the USA. It costs £15 for 8 days (100 minutes, 100 texts, 2GB data) or £25 for 15 days (200 minutes, 200 texts, 4GB data). Source: MoneySavingExpert
VOICEMAIL WOES
‘Outrageously,’ says Clare, ‘if you’re outside Europe, you can be charged simply for someone leaving you an answerphone message – even if you never hear it.
‘It all depends on the network you’re on and the country you’re in.
‘As an example, if you’re with EE, it can cost as much as £2.34 a minute to receive a voicemail, and a further £2.34 a minute to listen to it.
‘So picking up a one-minute message could cost you almost a fiver.’
To avoid this unnecessary expense, Clare recommends checking whether your network charges for the country you’re headed to.
Then, she says, ‘simply turn off your voicemail to stop people being able to leave you a message in the first place’.
Cruisers have to ‘be extra careful’, says Clare, because ‘your phone may connect to a “maritime” network or a neighbouring country, which may be outside your roaming allowance’
THE FLIGHT MODE MISTAKE TO AVOID ON CRUISES
A common – and costly – mistake made by holidaymakers is forgetting to turn on airplane mode when on flights and cruises.
Last month, we revealed that a Royal Caribbean passenger was left with a staggering $1,300 (£1,062) mobile phone bill, by simply not switching their mobile to this setting.
Despite having purchased the cruise company’s Wi-Fi package, their phone was connecting to the ‘maritime networks’ when it wasn’t connected to the ship’s internet, and downloading updates and background data using roaming instead.
To make matters worse, the passenger’s child had also unknowingly added to the charges, using the phone to constantly stream videos throughout the trip.
When the furious passenger called Royal Caribbean demanding answers, the cruise line quickly washed its hands of the matter, citing its policy that it is the responsibility of the passenger to activate airplane mode on their own device.
Flyers need to be careful, too, as phones not in flight mode can connect to an AeroMobile network in the sky, which charges international roaming rates.
The money guru continues: ‘Each network has different instructions on how to do this, though you normally have to make a call, so try to make sure you do it before you travel – and certainly before you leave the UK.
‘If you want to be extra safe, you can set your own spending cap, which means you won’t be able to exceed that limit, so you can avoid any unexpected bills. This will cover costs incurred by data roaming, calls and texts.
‘You can do this via your network’s website or app, though if in doubt just call it and ask.’
PROVIDER PROTECTION
‘Don’t get caught out by your network’s “fair use” policy when roaming,’ warns Clare. ‘Even if your provider allows you to use your allowance in Europe, most will still limit the amount you can actually use while abroad through a fair use policy.’
This means you could find yourself running out of data quicker than usual, and having to pay more.
WONDERFUL WI-FI
Clare recommends using Wi-Fi where possible, even for phone calls.
She explains: ‘If you’ve got a smartphone and free internet access, download an “internet-to-phone” calling app such as Skype, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger before you go, or use Apple’s FaceTime.
‘Providing the person you’re calling also has the service, you just need to find a free Wi-Fi spot to call for free.’
You could also use this free internet – usually available in your hotel or restaurants and cafes – to download entertainment, like music and films, but Clare suggests doing this before you jet off, along with downloading boarding passes and maps.
JOYS OF THE ESIM
For travellers tied down to a phone contract, Clare recommends an eSim. ‘With an eSim, you can choose the amount of data and length of time you need it for’
ESIM COSTS FOR THE US AND INDIA ESIM PROVIDER USA INDIA Airalo $26 (£20) for 10 GB for 30 days$25 (£20) for 10 GB for 30 days Easysim £16 for 10 GB for 30 days £79 for 10 GB for 30 days GoMoWorld €19.99 (£17) for 30GB for 30 days €19.99 (£17) for 20GB for 30 days Holafly £59 for unlimited data for 30 days (1) £67 for unlimited data for 30 days (1) Nomad £14.50 for 10 GB for 30 days £21 for 10 GB for 30 days uSwitch £11 for 10 GB for 30 days £56 for 10 GB for 30 days Source: MoneySavingExpert
Clare says frequent travellers to Europe might want to consider switching to a smaller provider that ‘piggybacks’ on one of the four UK mobile networks (EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone). Why? ‘Many of these don’t charge for EU roaming, but you’ll get the same network coverage,’ says Clare, who also notes that international eSims are a less permanent option.
These virtual Sim cards allow users to connect to a local network, alongside a UK physical Sim, meaning you don’t need to be tied down to a contract.
Clare adds: ‘With an eSim, you can choose the amount of data and length of time you need it for – it often works out much cheaper than paying your UK provider’s roaming fees.’
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