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O2 international roaming: Costs, plans, and alternatives
O2 international roaming is often included in your mobile contract or offered as a travel pass. Discover costs and how it works for your home plan.
Need to stay connected abroad? O2 roaming allows UK customers travelling abroad to use their regular mobile plan to make calls, send messages, and use mobile internet almost anywhere. That said, it comes at an extra cost. Follow along to learn everything you need to know about how O2 customers can access international roaming, as well as its prices, plans, and alternatives to consider.
Avoid excessive roaming fees
Don't get caught out by data roaming charges. Use local networks at local rates.
What is O2 international roaming?
O2 roaming allows you to use your phone abroad with your regular O2 SIM or eSIM card. This is made possible by agreements that O2 has with other mobile service providers. When you cross an international border, you’ll be connected to a local provider and will have the same coverage as a local user.
O2 roaming zones
Before we start looking into the details and prices for O2 roaming, let’s take a look at the countries covered by different roaming zones:
| Zone | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Europe | Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus (Southern), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City. |
| Travel Inclusive Zone | Europe + Argentina, Honduras, Australia, Madagascar, Botswana, Mexico, Canada, Myanmar, Chile, New Zealand, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador, Peru, Greenland, Rwanda, Guatemala, United States, Guinea, Uruguay, Guyana, Venezuela, Yemen |
| Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate | Europe + Albania, Anguilla, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Bermuda, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Montserrat, Myanmar, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks & Caicos, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia |
O2 roaming plans and prices
The price for roaming depends on the type of roaming you choose, your travel destination, and your current monthly plan. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know before you start using your phone abroad:
EU roaming
While most providers have implemented separate EU roaming charges since Brexit, O2 is known for offering free roaming in the Europe zone for all its pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly customers. So if you’re already an O2 customer, you can use your minutes, texts, and data just as you would at home at no extra cost.
The only thing worth noting is that data roaming is limited to 25 GB, so if your allowance back home is more than that, you won’t be able to use it all while travelling in Europe. If your allowance is less than 25 GB, your roaming limit will match your regular allowance.
O2 Travel Inclusive Zone
O2’s travel inclusive roaming plans are home UK mobile phone contracts that give you roaming access outside of the Europe zone (on top of regular Europe coverage). These are split into two different options:
- O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On (available with Volt and Plus plans): Europe + 27 destinations outside of Europe
- O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate Bolt On (available with Ultimate plans): Europe + 75 roaming destinations
Check our table above for the specific destinations covered, and remember that the more inclusive your plan is, the more expensive your monthly mobile fees will be, even if you aren’t travelling
O2 Travel Pass
Need to stay connected with O2 without buying a travel-inclusive monthly plan? You can get a travel pass for the duration of your trip, and you even have two options for that.
Pay-monthly customers can pay £7 a day to use data, calls, and messages in 63 destinations outside of Europe. Pay-as-you-go customers can only get roaming in Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Monaco, or Switzerland at a rate of £1.99 a day.
Alternatively, you can get a Rest of the World Pass, which offers coverage in 96 destinations outside of Europe. The 24-hour pass costs £7.50 for a day of calls, texts, and data. The 30-day pass offers the same for £99 a month. No other pass durations are available.
This Rest of the World Pass is split into three zones, each offering different packages for the aforementioned price. Zone 1 gets you 300 call minutes and texts, and 500 MB of data for a day, or 3000 minutes and texts and 5 GB of data for a month. Zone 2 gets you 50 MB/day or 500 MB/month without calls or texts. Zone 3 gets you 5 MB/day or 50MB/month without calls or texts.
Pay-as-you-go roaming rates
You’ll be charged pay-as-you-go roaming rates if you don’t buy a travel pass and don’t have a Bolt On plan, yet still try to use roaming outside of the O2 Europe Zone. While it does sound convenient, it comes with a hefty price tag, which makes pay-as-you-go roaming something you’ll want to avoid.
The price of roaming varies from destination to destination, but it can be as high as £7.20 for a MB of data, £3 for a minute of making or receiving calls, and £1 for a single text message.
If you’re not aware of this, you can quickly run up a phone bill that’s bigger than the cost of your entire trip. In general, it’s best to avoid using roaming if you don’t have an inclusive roaming plan or a travel pass. It’s best to get inclusive roaming for your destination before your trip to avoid any unexpected charges.
How to activate international roaming with O2
If roaming is included in your monthly plan, you don’t need to set up anything to use your phone abroad. Simply make sure that data roaming is turned on. Before traveling, log in to your My O2 account and check if you have roaming. If you don’t, you can get roaming by messaging TRAVEL to 23336 or in My O2.
If you’re on a pay-as-you-go plan, text TRAVELON to 21300 or add it in My O2. If you use up your 100MB allowance and want to get more data in the same day, you can text MORETRAVEL to 21300 to get another 100 MB for £1.99.
Once you’ve made sure you have roaming, you can turn on data roaming on your phone. Doing so is fairly simple, and the process doesn’t change, no matter which cell service provider you use. All you need to do is turn on data roaming, and you’ll automatically be connected to a local network in your destination.
That said, if you’re traveling outside of Europe and don’t have an O2 Travel Inclusive Bolt On plan, you might not want to turn on roaming quite yet. If you activate roaming without a plan, you’ll automatically be charged pay-as-you-go rates, which tend to cost way more than a travel pass. To avoid this, buy your travel pass before turning on data roaming.
How to avoid O2 data roaming costs
O2 includes roaming in many of its mobile contracts. And while it sounds convenient, it means that your monthly bills are higher, even if you don’t travel anywhere. And even when you do travel, you’ll be using your regular allowance of calls, texts, and data.
You can buy a Travel Pass, but these are fixed rates starting at £7/day for a daily pass, or £99 for a monthly pass. Using an eSIM or travel SIM card will usually be cheaper than paying for data roaming on your regular plan.
In recent years, using an eSIM for international travel has become the go-to source of mobile internet for millions of people. It’s extremely convenient, as you can buy and activate your eSIM online instead of having to look for a place that sells physical SIMS. The whole process only takes a couple of minutes, so you can enjoy steady internet access almost immediately.
Holafly: A dedicated service for staying connected abroad
Not sure which eSIM to choose for your next adventure? Holafly is the perfect travel companion. All Holafly plans offer unlimited data, hotspot sharing, and 24/7 customer support, ensuring that you never lose connection.
Depending on your destination and plan duration, you can get a Holafly eSIM as cheap as £1.29 a day. Even the shortest, most expensive plans stand at £6 a day, cheaper than O2’s 24-hour travel pass.
If you travel frequently or live a digital nomad lifestyle, Holafly Connect might be an even better option for you. It’s a pay-monthly eSIM subscription that provides coverage in 170+ destinations worldwide with a single plan. Pick your plan, use it for as long as you like, and cancel any time. No long-term commitments or cancellation fees included.
For comparison, O2’s monthly travel pass costs £99 a month and gives you 50 MB to 5 GB of data depending on your destination. The Holafly Connect Unlimited plan costs $64.90 (~£48.50) a month, and gives you unlimited data and coverage in more destinations than the O2 plans.
Avoid excessive roaming fees
Don't get caught out by data roaming charges. Use local networks at local rates.
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A senior SEO writer from Lithuania, combining my passion for writing and travel at Holafly. With years of experience in technical fields, I'm here to answer all of your questions about staying connected. I specialize in turning even the most complicated topics into something everyone can understand.
