Mobile Travelling – Advice to avoid overspend!

Note: This article has been updated in July 2026. The prices quoted in this article exclude VAT, apply to the most recent tariffs, and older tariff charges and allowances can vary.

It’s summer! The travel industry is in full swing after a tough few years, and lots more people are travelling abroad. Whether you’re travelling for work or pleasure, don’t let unexpected mobile overspend take the shine off your trip.

Knowing the best way to reduce and mitigate expensive roaming whilst travelling abroad can seem complex. In this article, we break down the basics of using your mobile abroad and provide some guidance to help you keep costs down. Each mobile network handles mobile data differently whilst travelling, so we have included an overview for O2, Vodafone and EE.

It’s always best to plan ahead wherever possible. Speak to your provider to seek the best advice depending on your travel location and planned activities. Good providers will be able to react to travel quickly and sometimes even retrospectively, but it’s always worth informing the provider and being informed of their advice before travelling.

We’d also encourage users to use (trusted) Wi-Fi access whenever travelling, keeping data roaming to a minimum to avoid potential unwanted costs. In some circumstances our advice will be to simply turn data roaming off.

Using O2 Abroad

O2 still support Roam Like At Home (RLAH), which provides the ability to use your standard tariff allowances when abroad in 41 other European countries.

The 41 countries included in O2’s RLAH service currently are:

Alderney, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey

If you are on an Unlimited O2 agreement, the data allowance in RLAH countries is reduced to a fair usage allowance of 25GB per month; otherwise, you consume your allowances as usual.

In addition, O2 operates Tier 1 and Tier 2 World Traveller Service (WTS) roaming destinations, which give you access to a fixed price roaming bundle. Tier 1 destinations cost £8 per day and include a 25GB fair usage allowance per calendar month, while Tier 2 destinations cost £14 per day and include 2GB of data per month.

O2’s Tier 1 WTS Countries include:

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Sint Maarten, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Virgin Islands, British

O2’s Tier 2 WTS Countries include:

Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Greenland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Palestinian Territory, Réunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

If you’re travelling to a country that isn’t included within RLAH or either roaming tier, you’ll be charged on a per MB basis, with costs varying depending on the destination. This can be very expensive!

Be aware that the timing and receipt of usage from rest of world destinations varies from country to country and alerts can be delayed where data is received late. Users should be encouraged to use apps on the handset to monitor data usage.

If a user spends more than £100 in Rest of World (RoW) data passes or usage in a 24-hour period, then as soon as this rating comes through, an automatic GRPS bar will be added pending further investigation.

All O2 connections are automatically set up with Roaming 24-hour Travel Pass. If you have a user not wanting this Option, you’ll need to contact your provider for alternative rates.

Using Vodafone Abroad

Vodafone offers two data roaming options depending on where you are travelling.

For travel within 43 European destinations, Vodafone’s Euro Traveller service allows you to use your UK allowances for £3.20 per day, included on Unlimited tariffs. A fair usage policy of 25GB applies when using Vodafone abroad in this way, after which data is charged per MB.

The 43 countries included in Vodafone’s Euro Traveller service are (not charge applies to Unlimited tariffs):

Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Channel Islands (inc. Guernsey, Jersey & Isle of Man), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France (incl. Corsica), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Italy (incl. Vatican City), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (incl. Balearic Islands), Sweden, Switzerland

Additions included when on an unlimited tariff:

Albania, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Mexico, Montserrat, Mozambique, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Africa, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA.

For travel further afield, Vodafone’s World Traveller Service (WTS) is available across 107 countries for £8.52 per day. Customers on eligible Unlimited tariffs have 29 WTS destinations included as part of their plan. Again, a fair usage allowance of 25GB applies before additional data charges per MB apply.

Outside of this, the pence per minute rate, SMS costs and data charges will vary depending on the destination country. Check before you travel to avoid shock costs!

The countries included in Vodafone’s WTS are:

Afghanistan,  Albania, Andorra, Anguilla,  Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina,  Armenia,  Aruba,  Australia, Bahrain,  Bangladesh,  Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire,  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil,  British Virgin Islands,  Cambodia,  Canada Cayman Islands, Chile,  China,  Columbia,  Jordan,  Kazakhstan,  Costa Rica,  Curacao,  Democratic Republic of Congo,  Dominica, Dominican Republic,  Ecuador,  Egypt,  El Salvador,  Fiji,  Georgia,  Ghana, Grenada, Guam,  Guatemala,  Guyana,  Haiti,  Honduras,  Hong Kong,  India,  Indonesia,  Israel,  Jamaica, Japan,  Kenya, Kuwait,  Laos,  Lesotho, Macau,  Macedonia,  Malaysia,  Mexico, Moldova,  Mongolia,  Montenegro,  Montserrat, Morocco,  Mozambique, Myanmar,  New Zealand, Nicaragua,  Oman,  Pakistan,  Panama,  Papua New Guinea,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Philippines,  Puerto Rico,  Qatar,  Russia,  Saba (Netherlands Antilles), Saudi Arabia,  Serbia,  Singapore,  Sint Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles),  Sint Maarten,  South Africa, South Korea,  South Sudan,  Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis,  St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname,  Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine,  United Arab Emirates,  Uruguay, US Virgin Islands,  USA, Uzbekistan,  Vanuatu, Vietnam, Western Samoa

Highlighted in bold are countries included with no charge when on an unlimited tariff

Using EE Abroad

Using EE abroad is slightly different again, with data roaming split into three zones (changed from their previous RLAH and Daily Roamer structure).

EE’s current roaming zones are:

• Europe – £3.00 per day (35 countries)
• Business – £10.00 per day (35 countries)
• World – £18.00 per day (40 countries)

All three roaming zones include a fair usage allowance of up to 25GB per month.

The EE Europe roaming countries are:

Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Vatican City

The EE Business roaming countries are:

Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, India, Indonesia, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kuwait, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam

The EE World roaming countries are:

Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Greenland, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Zambia

It’s worth noting that roaming allowances for using EE abroad can vary depending on when your EE connection was activated. Older tariff structures will typically include lower daily data allowance and different call and SMS limits, for example:

• Europe – Unlimited voice and SMS with 2GB of data per day
• Business – Unlimited voice and SMS with 1GB of data per day
• World – 60 minutes, 60 SMS and 1GB of data per day

If you’re unsure which tariff applies to your connection, please speak to us before you travel, and we can provide you with the clarity you need.

Final Advice For Using Your Mobile Abroad

Our main advice is to think about where you are going and what you plan to do. If you need your mobile to roam, speak to your provider to make sure it will be delivered in the most cost-effective way. Each network has a slightly different approach, but generally countries are ‘zoned’ depending on the deals each mobile network has with each destination country. It changes regularly.

Some providers will use the networks above but have their own set of roaming costs which might be different to the information in this article. Always check with your mobile provider! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are an existing customer and want to check your limits for usage abroad.

Business Mobiles From Agile Comms

At Agile Comms, our business mobiles are designed to be simple and flexible. We offer our clients 30-day terms as standard, along with comprehensive usage and billing alerts and caps to help avoid overspend.

Billing and support are all managed through our intuitive online portal to give you full visibility of activity at all times when staff are abroad or simply ramping up usage at home.

If you’re interested in learning more about our flexible business mobile services, please get in touch, and our team can help design a package around your requirements.