BruceM Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 I’ve been examining this conundrum to determine the best approach. I’m a Three Mobile user with an unlimited 4G/5G contract. Three Mobile continue to offer ‘free roaming’ in the EU and beyond however they have now introduced a European ‘roaming activation’ charge of £2/day. So that’s about £60/month! Roaming data limits still apply. My research indicates that the Superdrug SIM alternative provides the best value. £20/month, no fixed contract, unlimited data etc with the usual lower limits when roaming, no additional roaming charge and apparently uses the Three Mobile network. I’m wondering if anyone has come across a more cost effective approach? European SIMs appear uncompetitively priced. Note that we’re not interested in streaming entertainment - just keeping in touch via voice/text/internet and maybe some light browsing to get periodic news updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Have you looked at O2 they seem to have various Sim only deals where the same usage applies as in the UK when travelling in Europe. I’m with Plusnet myself (supported by the EE network) and they have told me there are no plans to introduce roaming charges yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 You might want to look at Giff Gaff. They have all sorts of plans (goodybags) from £6 pcm through £8, £10 £15 etc which give varying amount of data. Can be used in EU with no extra charge. They use the O2 network See detail on their web page https://www.giffgaff.com/roaming-charges Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Both our phones are with TescoMobile (O2). No roaming charges and all working fine in France & Spain. I also have an AsdaMobile (Vodafone) SIM in an old phone and the 30 day 'bundle' that I purchased before we left is working fine too with no roaming charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 We've use both our phones with Sky Mobile sim only. £6 per month each with unlimited calls, texts and 3gb of data. Unused data goes into piggy bank which is great for when away. No additional roaming charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagey Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 laimeduck - 2021-10-19 6:33 PM You might want to look at Giff Gaff. They have all sorts of plans (goodybags) from £6 pcm through £8, £10 £15 etc which give varying amount of data. Can be used in EU with no extra charge. They use the O2 network See detail on their web page https://www.giffgaff.com/roaming-charges Jeremy they have a cap of 20 gig in europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocsid Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Quoting the OP: "I’m a Three Mobile user with an unlimited 4G/5G contract. Three Mobile continue to offer ‘free roaming’ in the EU and beyond however they have now introduced a European ‘roaming activation’ charge of £2/day. So that’s about £60/month! Roaming data limits still apply." My understanding is that the £2/day charge for "Go Roaming in Europe" only applies to "new Three Contracts taken out from the beginning of this month. If as stated you are already a Three user, try putting your planned destination in the box found on this Three Mobile website, and plod through the links it throws up: http://www.three.co.uk/go-roam EDIT: Or if this Link works go directly to here for France: http://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming/France Quoting from the above: "Pay Monthly Roaming charges If your current plan started before 1 October 2021, calls and texts to the UK and between Go Roam in Europe destinations are included in your allowance. You can use up to 12GB of data, which will simply come out of your allowance. After that a small surcharge applies (see below). If you joined Three or upgraded on or after 1 October 2021, you'll need to pay a daily charge of £2 to unlock your UK allowance in France. This daily rate will only apply from 23 May 2022.* " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatsupdoc Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 pagey - 2021-10-20 4:32 PM laimeduck - 2021-10-19 6:33 PM You might want to look at Giff Gaff. They have all sorts of plans (goodybags) from £6 pcm through £8, £10 £15 etc which give varying amount of data. Can be used in EU with no extra charge. They use the O2 network See detail on their web page https://www.giffgaff.com/roaming-charges Jeremy they have a cap of 20 gig in europe Also they will halt the sim after 2 months usage in the EU. Not sure if this is the case for others. I thought of having 2 GiffGaff sims some to overcome the 2 month problem, but I'm not sure if I can buy a goodybag for the second whilst outside the UK. (Edited to correct mistake) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76zedfour Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 I have read a post by a Swedish chap on another forum who changed recently to an unlimited Irish Vodafone Sim for 20euros per month because he claims it isn't capped whilst roaming and they do not enforce the fair use policy for time abroad in the same way Vodafone UK didn't until earlier this year. I read the terms and conditions and it does say all data available to use when roaming. They do have a fair use policy regarding time spent abroad but Vodafone UK did for years and only just began enforcing it earlier this year. I am surprised none of the Irish members have posted about this before so welcome any comments on Vodafone Ireland from them. I use a local Simyo prepay sim in Spain. 9 euros for 25gb data and topup everytime i run out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Anyone considering GifGaf who work on the O2 network needs to be aware of their fair usage policy. We had a mobile on GifGaf which we only used occasionally at home after only a short time in europe they shut down our connection quoting their fair usage policy saying that it needs to be used more at home than away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 We use Sky, the only thing to be aware of is that Switzerland isn't included. I've also just got a superdrug unlimited sim and activated it today in my old mifi, main use for TV streaming. Working fine in UK, France on Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Regarding the AsdaMobile SIM that I mentioned above, an interesting thing is that we have been able to watch BBC iPlayer abroad (Spain) using it, something that I thought shouldn't be possible. I've seen this confirmed on another forum too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 It seems that the daily charge of £2 a day or £10 a month should only come into force after December 31st 2021. Up till then you shouldn't have to pay a roaming charge. Also, the main operators are phasing in their charges, so the December deadline may not apply to all operators. In the EU, as I understand it, free roaming is available but only to EU members, another "benefit" of Brexit!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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