Latest news with #roaming
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
On Universal Credit? How you can save £100s on your summer phone bill
HEADING off for some summer sun should be a relaxing break, not a source of bill-shock. But with many major mobile networks reintroducing expensive daily roaming charges for using your phone in Europe, the cost of a simple holiday can quickly spiral. 1 For a family of four, a two-week trip could add £100s in roaming fees alone. However, a little-known secret could save you a fortune. If you're receiving Universal Credit or other benefits, you could be eligible for a special 'social tariff' on your mobile plan, slashing your monthly costs and letting you use your phone abroad for free. These 'social' or 'essential' tariffs offer the same service as regular packages but at a significantly lower price. They typically come with no long-term contracts, a guarantee of no mid-contract price hikes, and two of the three providers even include free roaming in Europe. For example, O2's Essential Plan costs just £10 a month and gives you 10GB of data with unlimited calls and texts. Crucially, you can use up to 10GB of that data in the EU at no extra cost. The plan is a flexible 30-day deal, with no upfront costs or price rises. Meanwhile, SMARTY's Social Tariff provides unlimited data, calls, and texts for £12 a month. For holidaymakers, it includes EU roaming with a generous 12GB data cap. Easy ways to slash your mobile bill Like O2's offer, it's a flexible one-month plan with no annual price rises. Choosing one of these tariffs means you can avoid the daily roaming charges now levied by most major networks since Brexit. Many providers, including EE, Three, and Vodafone, may charge around £2 to £2.57 per day to use your UK allowance in Europe. That could add up to £35 to your bill for a two-week holiday. Providers like EE and Voxi also offer social tariffs, but be aware that their roaming policies may include extra charges. To apply, simply contact your chosen provider. They will ask for some basic information and carry out a quick, confidential check with the Department for Work and Pensions to confirm your eligibility before setting up your plan. The regulator, Ofcom, provides a comprehensive list of all the available social tariffs on its website. Before switching mobile plans, check if you're still in contract to avoid high exit fees. Over 33million people are out of contract, according to Uswitch, so it's worth checking if you can upgrade or switch to avoid paying more than necessary. To check your contract status, text "INFO" followed by your date of birth (DDMMYY) to 85075. You'll get a text confirming if you'd need to pay an early termination fee. These fees only apply if you're still in contract. If no fee is mentioned, you're likely out of contract and free to switch. Which mobile networks don't charge roaming fees? Asda Asda will let you roam for free in 46 European countries. You don't need to tell Asda if you're going away, you can simply carry on texting, calling and streaming as you would at home. However, customers a have a data roaming limit of up to 5GB so make sure you don't go over. After this, usage will cost 10p per MB. The provider says it will let you know when you reach 80% and 100% of your data limit. BT Mobile BT Mobile's 'Roam Like Home' offering lets its customers roam for free in 47 destinations. You can use your mobile plan allowance to use data, make calls and send texts back to the UK as well as to receive calls and texts for free when you're roaming in these zones. GiffGaff GiffGaff plans can be used in the EU and some other destinations at no extra cost. However, there is a cap of 5GB and if you go over it'll cost 10p/MB. If you're a pay as you go customer, the provider will charge you at the usual UK rates. iD Mobile Roaming comes as standard on all iD mobile phone and SIM only plans. Customers can use their UK monthly allowances of minutes, text and data in 50 destinations worldwide up to 30GB. Lebara Lebara customers can use UK plan allowances while roaming in the EU or India for no extra cost. There is a fair use cap of up to 30GB on the unlimited data plan. O2 O2 is the only major network provider that has not brought back roaming charges. If you're travelling in what it calls its 'Europe Zone' which covers more than 40 destinations, you can call text or use data like you would in the UK and for no extra cost. There is a cap of 25GB. Smarty Smarty lets its customers roam in the EU for no extra costs. If your plan includes calls and texts, they'll also work as usual. However, there's a cap on data of up to 12GB. Talkmobile Talkmobile offers free EU roaming to countries in a list of 'zone A' destinations. This includes France, Spain, Portugal and other popular European spots. Outside of these zone A countries, you'll be subjected to charges. You can check the list of countries covered by zone A on its website at There is a fair usage of 5GB or 15GB depending on when you became a customer. Tesco Mobile Tesco Mobile has once again extended its free roaming offer until 2026. That means that you can use your text, call, and data allowances at no extra cost in 48 destinations
Wall Street Journal
19-07-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Traveling Abroad? How to Avoid Surprise Phone Charges and Save Money on Roaming
On your next trip abroad, you'll need plane tickets, hotel reservations and…a cellular data strategy. There's the simple route: Turn on roaming and let your home carrier charge a daily fee for talk, text and data overseas. That adds up quickly. Verizon's Travel Pass went from $10 to $12 a day last year. And that's for each phone in your family plan. Or there's the money-saving approach: Download a prepaid eSIM for a week's worth of data that costs a fraction of the price.
The Sun
17-07-2025
- The Sun
Warning to Brit tourists over ‘hidden' charge that could cost you £300 before even stepping out of airport
BRITISH holidaymakers are being warned of a 'hidden' roaming charge that could leave you up to £300 out of pocket. Corfu, in the northwestern corner of Greece, lies just 48km from the Albanian coast. 3 3 Because of this, strong mobile signals from across the border can reach parts of the island, especially on the eastern side. This can cause some phones to automatically connect to Albanian networks—even though tourists haven't left Greece. As a result, many holidaymakers have reported receiving a confusing 'Welcome to Albania' text shortly after landing at Corfu Airport, which in some cases has led to unexpected roaming charges and hefty phone bills. One traveller shared a message received from a service called Rate Advice, which read: 'Welcome to Albania! Calls, texts and data in Albania are chargeable and do not come out of your standard allowances or UK data add-ons.' Charges can be as high as £1.50 per MB of data, with a roaming cap of £45 – but many users report blowing past that limit if not careful reports MailOnline. Several tourists have taken to social media to warn others. Steve Moore, from Chesterfield, wrote on Facebook: 'I arrived Sunday, usual welcome text to Corfu charges just the same as UK – 2 days later message 'Welcome to Albania' this is your charges. "Wow what a rip off… was told the network must have changed to a different mast.' Another Facebook user added: 'Only if you go to the east of the island. I did that mistake while on a quad. "Using Google Maps. £128 to drive up road lol.' A third warned: 'We got caught out – £298 bill when we got home.' To avoid these charges, Brits are being urged to manually select a Greek mobile network upon arrival. Turn this off now One traveller advised: 'All you do is let your phone set its paired Greek network automatically when you arrive on the island at the airport. "Once it's selected the correct Greek network, go into your settings and turn OFF 'automatically select network'. "This means your phone will not hunt for or connect to anything else other than your correct Greek network.' Others recommend turning off roaming completely and relying on Wi-Fi in hotels, bars, and restaurants. 'We keep our roaming off at all times and just log into Wi-Fi,' one user said. Some have even reported successfully challenging the charges with their network provider afterwards, though this is not guaranteed. The warning comes as travel experts highlight other mobile settings that could leave travellers out of pocket. Georgia Brivida, from international SIM provider Sim Local, says one commonly overlooked feature is autoplay – which automatically plays videos on apps like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. She warns this can quietly use large amounts of data, especially when abroad. 'Autoplay is a feature that automatically plays videos as you scroll through apps like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, often without you even tapping play,' she said. To avoid any nasty surprises, travellers are being urged to check their mobile settings before flying – and stay alert to unexpected network switches, especially when close to international borders. 3
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Thousands of EE customers overcharged and due a refund - how to check if YOU'RE affected
EE customers are being urged to check their bills after thousands of customers were overcharged while on holiday. The telecoms giant charged customers travelling to Europe double the usual roaming fees, according to The Sun. Customers without roaming included in their plan, as part of an add-on, usually pay £2.59 when using their phone in the EU, but this doubled to £5.18 per day. Previously, phone operators were required to offer fee-free roaming in Europe but this ended after Brexit. Holiday hell: Thousands of customers were charged double for data roaming last month Lots of networks, including EE, reintroduced the charges for customers, especially because there is no longer a data roaming cap. Previously, there was a £45 cap but this is no longer UK law, leaving some customers with huge bills if they use their phone abroad. EE told The Sun it started giving refunds to affected customers on 8 July, but that the process had taken longer than expected. It said the billing error had affected customers for a 'short period' at the beginning of June. Those who were overcharged are being contacted by text and phone calls, but refunds will be automatic. Customers without roaming included in their plan can switch off data roaming services and set bill limits to avoid any unexpected charges, but it's important to check your policies before going abroad. Some travellers opt to use an embedded Sim - or eSim - which can be cheaper than using international roaming, especially if you're away for a longer period of time. ESims make it easier to change networks, and can quickly connect to a local network to pay local rates, without having to swap for a local Sim card. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Any customers that think they were affected by these billing errors, but have not yet been refunded, should contact EE directly. 'Ofcom rules require that bills are accurate and customers are not overcharged. Providers must give customers, on request, and at no extra charge, access to adequate and up-to-date billing information that allows them to monitor their usage and expenditure.' It added it would consider 'appropriate action' for on evidence of errors. Previously, the regulator fined O2 £10.5 million in 2023 and in 2019 fined GiffGaff £1.4 million for overcharging customers.
Phone Arena
11-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
AT&T customer gets $10K roaming bill for one month
Imagine getting a monthly bill from your wireless firm for $10,000. This is what happened to an AT&T customer who received the bill embedded in this story. The size of the bill had nothing to do with buying new devices and included a charge of close to $8,500 for 4.25GB of roaming data. Another $1,000 was rung up for 500 minutes of phone calls. The bill was that high even though the customer said he activated an International Day Pass before he traveled. The AT&T International Day Pass allows a customer to use his existing domestic plan's talk, text, and data allowances when traveling abroad. Receiving the bill has left him feeling panicked and stressed out. "This should not happen," he said. After receiving the bill, the AT&T subscriber called the carrier's customer service line, and a ticket was created, which we imagine will lead to an escalation of the investigation over the incident. AT&T customer is charged $8,500 for roaming despite claiming to have an International Day Pass. | Image credit-Reddit The responses from others were pretty much universal. Most agreed that there is no way that 4GB of data should cost $8,500 in 2025. One Redditor wrote, "4GB of non-plan roaming should be at most $100, not $8500. Basically, the price should be high enough to discourage excessive usage without a proper data plan, but it shouldn't be financially ruinous." The AT&T customer made sure that the International Day Pass was activated before he left the country. In fact, the customer said, "Yes. I called before travel and made sure IDP was active." However, several Redditors noticed that the receipt included in the post made by the AT&T customer did not include a line item for a day pass. However, if you look at the receipt, it does show that the customer upgraded his lines to Business Unlimited Premium 2.0. This plan includes 7 International Day Passes per line per bill period at no cost. If this ever happens to you, or you have another issue with a U.S. wireless firm, one possible solution that was suggested is to file a complaint with the FCC. This can be accomplished by tapping on this link and following the directions to submit your complaint. Those who have filed before with the regulatory agency say that the response is fairly quick. If the customer did everything he said he did, this mistake would seem to be on AT&T . Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
