The mobile data / international roaming thread

[Skywalker]

e14 wrote:

Skywalker wrote:

AndyGWP wrote:

Ah. I see ladyshopper beat me to it. I came across the following re: Three PAYG SIM cards with free go roam

https://www.three.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/payg-data-packs

Unfortunately it isn’t free post-2021:

From the website:

https://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming-and-international/roaming/go-roam

“Daily roaming charges
Unless stated otherwise, there’s a daily roaming charge to unlock your UK allowance for 24 hours in Go Roam destinations. You’ll be charged as soon as you use any of your plan’s allowances in a Go Roam destination.

Europe
£2
a day

Around the world
£5
a day

If you’re on Pay As You Go, or your Pay Monthly plan started before 1 October 2021, these charges won’t apply. Republic of Ireland and Isle of Man are excluded from the daily charge. Our Fair Use Policies apply in Go Roam destinations. Check out our FAQs for more info.”

Huh, it is included, the terms and conditions you quoted even state that

If you’re on Pay As You Go, or your Pay Monthly plan started before 1 October 2021, these charges won’t apply.

And if someone isn’t on a contract that started before 2021…?

Please see my bold text above…

[Tracey]

Had free roaming on O2 in canada and USA, available on some tariffs and those with volt (virgin media tie up) O2 offer free roaming in Europe and 27 countries in their “inclusive zone”.

OH had a row with three, as they charged him per MB rather than daily. They claim you need to pick the daily roaming option each day, otherwise it defaults to MB charging!

[Lady London]

Hard to believe Three really seem to have become devious shysters these days when they used to be decent.

If they didn’t communicate that very clearly in advance @Tracey I would challenge them. There may be some decency left there.

[Michael C]

Lady London wrote:

Hard to believe Three really seem to have become devious shysters these days when they used to be decent.

If they didn’t communicate that very clearly in advance @Tracey I would challenge them. There may be some decency left there.

I pre-empted a Three fight for current roaming trip to Singapore and Indonesia, LL! I went on the chat to say “I’m still on a ´legacy´contract, so therefore no roaming charges, right?” – the agent said “for GBP5 a day, you can…” etc etc at least half a dozen times. I FINALLY got her to say “Ok, due to your contract, you WON’T be charged anything” in black and white…

Having said all that, as soon as we landed, my phone said “You’ve just reached your credit limit”!! Luckily, I’d also set that at just GBP20, but will be examining invoice next week…. All v tiring, and may just do as you did, dump the number and get the Three payg for each long trip.

[0 post]

Thanks for the airalo referral and bought for Turkey. Here’s mine:

Hey, have you tried an eSIM? Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code ANDY4599 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/b8Ko

[Tracey]

Lady London wrote:

Hard to believe Three really seem to have become devious shysters these days when they used to be decent.

If they didn’t communicate that very clearly in advance @Tracey I would challenge them. There may be some decency left there.

Challenged successfully, mainly on the sympathy that he was genuinely trying to sort out problems from my fall. Laughably the first agent agreed to cancel the charges, that didn’t happen so he had to call again and the agent offered to cancel only half the charges this time, even though he agreed the first agent had probably agreed to cancel all.

[e14]

Skywalker wrote:

e14 wrote:

Skywalker wrote:

AndyGWP wrote:

Ah. I see ladyshopper beat me to it. I came across the following re: Three PAYG SIM cards with free go roam

https://www.three.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/payg-data-packs

Unfortunately it isn’t free post-2021:

From the website:

https://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming-and-international/roaming/go-roam

“Daily roaming charges
Unless stated otherwise, there’s a daily roaming charge to unlock your UK allowance for 24 hours in Go Roam destinations. You’ll be charged as soon as you use any of your plan’s allowances in a Go Roam destination.

Europe
£2
a day

Around the world
£5
a day

If you’re on Pay As You Go, or your Pay Monthly plan started before 1 October 2021, these charges won’t apply. Republic of Ireland and Isle of Man are excluded from the daily charge. Our Fair Use Policies apply in Go Roam destinations. Check out our FAQs for more info.”

Huh, it is included, the terms and conditions you quoted even state that

If you’re on Pay As You Go, or your Pay Monthly plan started before 1 October 2021, these charges won’t apply.

And if someone isn’t on a contract that started before 2021…?

Please see my bold text above…

Which is why we are referring to 3 PAYG Sims only here

[Skywalker]

Skywalker wrote:

I’ve been looking into the three SIM card, and before I topped up, noticed that it had a £2 per day charge for EU roaming, and £5 per day elsewhere – is this correct, or am I looking at the wrong SIM package?

Smarty looks much better in terms of EU roaming as it just comes out of your UK data allowance with no additional charges (noting fair usage).

@e14 – I was looking at three PAYG too – this was my original post…

Have a good evening 🙂

[e14]

Skywalker wrote:

Skywalker wrote:

I’ve been looking into the three SIM card, and before I topped up, noticed that it had a £2 per day charge for EU roaming, and £5 per day elsewhere – is this correct, or am I looking at the wrong SIM package?

Smarty looks much better in terms of EU roaming as it just comes out of your UK data allowance with no additional charges (noting fair usage).

@e14 – I was looking at three PAYG too – this was my original post…

Have a good evening 🙂

Mea culpe – having been subject to Threes sharp practices just wanted to ensure.
Good evening to you to Madam/ Sir

And for clarity 3 PAYG do include go roam at no extra cost but are capped at 12gB

[BajiNahid]

Quick question for those who used airalo. Im using it for the first time and i am a bit confused in regards to how to use the e sim. Do I make sure that i turn my data off so that 5g is not running and EE charge me massive amounts of fees?

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

If anyone would like an airalo referral.

BABER5112 – use code to apply at check out or follow the link below.

Hey, have you tried an eSIM? Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code BABER5112 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/Vt6v

[Tracey]

BajiNahid wrote:

Quick question for those who used airalo. Im using it for the first time and i am a bit confused in regards to how to use the e sim. Do I make sure that i turn my data off so that 5g is not running and EE charge me massive amounts of fees?

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

If anyone would like an airalo referral.

BABER5112 – use code to apply at check out or follow the link below.

Hey, have you tried an eSIM? Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code BABER5112 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/Vt6v

You need data roaming on, but data active on your Airalo eSIM not your usual EE SIM. Your menu options should change somewhere on your phone so you can pick which SIM to use.

[Gavin454]

BajiNahid wrote:

Quick question for those who used airalo. Im using it for the first time and i am a bit confused in regards to how to use the e sim. Do I make sure that i turn my data off so that 5g is not running and EE charge me massive amounts of fees?

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

It’s essentially the same as physically swapping out your SIM card. When you’re using the Airalo eSIM, your phone won’t be connected to EE (or roaming via EE) at all so there can’t be any charges. If you’re worried about messing something up, you could remove your EE SIM from your phone and keep it somewhere safe before you land in your destination country, just to make sure.

You need data/5G turned on when you’re connected with the Airalo eSIM, but this data connection will be via Airalo, not EE.

[BajiNahid]

Thanks a lot guys. It is much appreciated

[davidflies]

I am about to travel to Mexico. Which operator should I pick for good internet connection there?

[pushkar]

davidflies wrote:

I am about to travel to Mexico. Which operator should I pick for good internet connection there?

Telcel was the recommendation from many when I went – you can pick up a sim at the airport and I believe most 7/11s. I had roaming included with EE but ran out of data and just bought an e-sim with data from Holafly for ease.

[crosscheck]

Hi – I wonder if I can tap into the collective wisdom here. I go back and forth between UK and US a lot, spending a few weeks at a time in each place. I have a company-issued phone in the US, so that’s my US number sorted. In the past, I’ve had a monthly contract with 3 in the UK – which gives me a UK number for voice/texts as well as data with free global roaming which I used for all my data needs in the US. The 3 contract is about to expire and I know I won’t get the same deal with roaming any longer.

Any suggestions? I need a number that I can use when I’m in the UK, occasional voice/texts on a UK number while travelling (things like bank texts), as well as the cheapest way to get data-only service in the US. After reading through this thread, looks like the options are:
1. switch to 3 PAYG, which still has free roaming (although they might cut that off suddenly)
2. keep a UK contract (but need something that will let me receive bank texts etc while in the US), plus an e-sim for data in the US. Want to avoid paying for an expensive contract with ATT or Verizon in the US, when I don’t need the service every month.

Thanks for any advice!

[AndyGWP]

I’d agree with your summary @crosscheck – they appear to be the best options (although option 1 is questionable – I’m still not clear if it’s a go’er or not!)

The eSIM’s generally seem quite cheap for the US though, so for short term trips are a good consideration if just required for data (and so you can retain receiving SMS messages via. your UK number)

[Richie]

@crosscheck is your deal with 3 just continuing on a month by month basis?

[mzb]

crosscheck wrote:

Hi – I wonder if I can tap into the collective wisdom here. I go back and forth between UK and US a lot, spending a few weeks at a time in each place. I have a company-issued phone in the US, so that’s my US number sorted. In the past, I’ve had a monthly contract with 3 in the UK – which gives me a UK number for voice/texts as well as data with free global roaming which I used for all my data needs in the US. The 3 contract is about to expire and I know I won’t get the same deal with roaming any longer.

Any suggestions? I need a number that I can use when I’m in the UK, occasional voice/texts on a UK number while travelling (things like bank texts), as well as the cheapest way to get data-only service in the US. After reading through this thread, looks like the options are:
1. switch to 3 PAYG, which still has free roaming (although they might cut that off suddenly)
2. keep a UK contract (but need something that will let me receive bank texts etc while in the US), plus an e-sim for data in the US. Want to avoid paying for an expensive contract with ATT or Verizon in the US, when I don’t need the service every month.

Thanks for any advice!

My wife and I are coming to an end of our 24 months contracts with Three (have been with them for probably a decade now). She called in to inquire for options, and whatever new contract options were available were laughable when it comes to Roaming (best we got was 21 free days of roaming over 24 months). They flat out refused to switch PAYM to PAYG, so requested a PAC and will likely be switching to iDMobile in the interim (and potentially back to Three PAYG)

Having said that, I assume the option to stay on the same contract on a monthly basis still remains, until Three tells me that they won’t honour the terms (e.g. free Roaming). How long is that likely to last? Anyone has a datapoint? I will be in HK in November and that’d be handy.

[Ladyshopper]

mzb wrote:

crosscheck wrote:

Hi – I wonder if I can tap into the collective wisdom here. I go back and forth between UK and US a lot, spending a few weeks at a time in each place. I have a company-issued phone in the US, so that’s my US number sorted. In the past, I’ve had a monthly contract with 3 in the UK – which gives me a UK number for voice/texts as well as data with free global roaming which I used for all my data needs in the US. The 3 contract is about to expire and I know I won’t get the same deal with roaming any longer.

Any suggestions? I need a number that I can use when I’m in the UK, occasional voice/texts on a UK number while travelling (things like bank texts), as well as the cheapest way to get data-only service in the US. After reading through this thread, looks like the options are:
1. switch to 3 PAYG, which still has free roaming (although they might cut that off suddenly)
2. keep a UK contract (but need something that will let me receive bank texts etc while in the US), plus an e-sim for data in the US. Want to avoid paying for an expensive contract with ATT or Verizon in the US, when I don’t need the service every month.

Thanks for any advice!

My wife and I are coming to an end of our 24 months contracts with Three (have been with them for probably a decade now). She called in to inquire for options, and whatever new contract options were available were laughable when it comes to Roaming (best we got was 21 free days of roaming over 24 months). They flat out refused to switch PAYM to PAYG, so requested a PAC and will likely be switching to iDMobile in the interim (and potentially back to Three PAYG)

Having said that, I assume the option to stay on the same contract on a monthly basis still remains, until Three tells me that they won’t honour the terms (e.g. free Roaming). How long is that likely to last? Anyone has a datapoint? I will be in HK in November and that’d be handy.

I’ve just looked back through the thread, as I thought I’d written it. I had approximately 3 months before they emailed me to say I had to change contracts. My husband had a shorter time.

I’m really happy on Smarty (runs on Three) at the moment. I’ve got a PAC and gone back to Three PAYG once for a holiday, and will be doing the same in a couple of weeks, as we’re doing a transatlantic cruise so need roaming for USA. Once the holiday is done I’ll go back to Smarty again.

[S879]

What is the best option for UAE? Going to Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. Currently on EE.

[strickers]

Two things, firstly O2 worked OK in Canada and the USA through the Travel Inclusive zone given to us a free Volt bolton with the caveat that speeds are quite obviously throttled. There have been times when it’s painfully slow. The simcorner AT&T card worked much better and I’m glad I had both options.

Secondly, off to China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong in Jan. Airalo Asia pack seems like my best bet using a spare phone as a hotspot for our other devices. Has anyone used Airalo in these countries, particularly China and WeChat?

[QwertyKnowsBest]

For those who have a business and not aware, Three have a business sales unit. I think they are maybe a small part of Three’s business and in my experience are easy to deal with and have scope for deals.

[strickers]

I just ordered an Asialink eSIM from Airalo, we land in Shanghai on Tuesday morning. I had one quick question about data roaming as this is a multi country SIM, filled in the contact form in the app and had a reply in less than 5 minutes. Wonder when BA will reach this nirvana of customer support?

[davefl]

@strickers Ditto, asked a question about validity period on USA to buy them in the sale and the reply was 5 mins and actually understandble. Amazing service.