Best deals for roaming?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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MrsHJ
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by MrsHJ »

simonhill wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 11:30am Bundles etc may be OK for 2 or 3 week tour but plenty on here are away for months.

Also, check the conditions for the bundles. When EE announced them a while ago, I saw that they only applied to more expensive plans. Those on basic plans were stuck with a daily charge.
Agreed. My USA trip was 2 months and having the three sim made a huge difference. But many of my trips are only a couple of weeks at the moment so you could see they will mop up a lot of regular holiday makers etc that way.

Then you get left with the longer term travellers and business people. I can guess which group will be the priority.

I thought that the world was becoming a smaller and better connected place. This all suggests we’re getting more isolationist - delightful Brexit and maybe also Covid dividend :(

The link I shared on money expert suggested a Pay as you go sim from three might be a good idea still. I haven’t looked into it in detail.
Last edited by MrsHJ on 6 Jan 2022, 1:16pm, edited 4 times in total.
Jdsk
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Re: EE - No More Free Mobile Roaming from January

Post by Jdsk »

RickH wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 12:57pm
Psamathe wrote: 24 Jun 2021, 4:54pmBUT, with the advent of dual-SIM phones I suspect ferry companies on-board shops will start stocking French or Dutch PAYG SIMs so you can get your data from an EU network.
Don't many (most/all?) European countries have much stricter rules on proving residency of the country to obtain a SIM?
Some specifics upthread.

Jonathan
simonhill
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Re: EE - No More Free Mobile Roaming from January

Post by simonhill »

RickH wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 12:57pm
Psamathe wrote: 24 Jun 2021, 4:54pmBUT, with the advent of dual-SIM phones I suspect ferry companies on-board shops will start stocking French or Dutch PAYG SIMs so you can get your data from an EU network.
Don't many (most/all?) European countries have much stricter rules on proving residency of the country to obtain a SIM?
I mentioned this 10 posts up and it has been mentioned before in the thread. Maybe someone could research which countries are easiest.
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mjr
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Re: 'Phone roaming in the EU

Post by mjr »

PDQ Mobile wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 10:59am
Jdsk wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 9:46am "Vodafone and EE delay EU roaming charges return":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-5 ... gn=KARANGA
For 3 weeks!
Not much really considering they all said at the time of the referendum, and afterwards, that they wouldn't change anything.

Simply complete liars.
Oh no they didn't! (It's still panto season.)

They all said they had made no decision about such things (and why would they? It was years away and it could have been included in the EUUK agreement for all we knew then). It was a certain lying campaign which represented that as if there would be no change.

Many of the lying campaign have since been rewarded with government office: maybe if you direct your rage at the correct target, they might be held to account for their part in it?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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PDQ Mobile
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Re: 'Phone roaming in the EU

Post by PDQ Mobile »

mjr wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 1:59pm
PDQ Mobile wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 10:59am
Jdsk wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 9:46am "Vodafone and EE delay EU roaming charges return":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-5 ... gn=KARANGA
For 3 weeks!
Not much really considering they all said at the time of the referendum, and afterwards, that they wouldn't change anything.

Simply complete liars.
Oh no they didn't! (It's still panto season.)

They all said they had made no decision about such things (and why would they? It was years away and it could have been included in the EUUK agreement for all we knew then). It was a certain lying campaign which represented that as if there would be no change.

Many of the lying campaign have since been rewarded with government office: maybe if you direct your rage at the correct target, they might be held to account for their part in it?
The big players ALL said they had "no plans change anything".

At least I still have some rage about it (a lot have just gone quietly to shrugged shoulders) and I will direct it where I so choose.

They don't make as much money on a phone that is on roaming.
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mjr
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Re: EE - No More Free Mobile Roaming from January

Post by mjr »

PDQ Mobile wrote: The big players ALL said they had "no plans change anything".
Exactly! Very much the no-decision-yet statement. Why would they have had such plans when they didn't know that Leave would win, and definitely couldn't know we'd get such a last-minute botch of a Brexit without any mobile phone consumer protections? Planning for what looked like such a small opportunity would have been thought almost a waste of time. They knew they had at least two years to change their plans even if Leave won.

Most mobile phone companies will make money from consumers any way that they can get away with. It's the nature of the market. There's not enough competition or information for the buyers and almost the only thing buyers have in their favour is market regulation.

You can of course rage against the leopards eating people's faces, but the people campaigning in favour of face-eating leopards have let you down twice now: once lying that the leopards won't eat faces, and once dismantling the anti-leopard barriers.
simonhill wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 1:18pm
RickH wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 12:57pm
Psamathe wrote: 24 Jun 2021, 4:54pmBUT, with the advent of dual-SIM phones I suspect ferry companies on-board shops will start stocking French or Dutch PAYG SIMs so you can get your data from an EU network.
Don't many (most/all?) European countries have much stricter rules on proving residency of the country to obtain a SIM?
I mentioned this 10 posts up and it has been mentioned before in the thread. Maybe someone could research which countries are easiest.
According to MoneySavingExpert, https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.co ... _with_data is a good list. It has links to difficult countries and I don't think any European ones are among them, except for some overseas parts(basically - I gloss over their exact status) of the UK and France. In some (including France and Belgium), you have to show photo ID but there is no mention of it having to be an EU ID or proof of residency. Germany requires a German street address as well as photo ID but, bizarrely, it does not have to be your residence. The Netherlands still does not yet require registration, it says, so it's probably a good option for people arriving there on the Harwich ferry or the Eurostar.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by PDQ Mobile »

MrsHJ wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 1:12pm
The link I shared on money expert suggested a Pay as you go sim from three might be a good idea still. I haven’t looked into it in detail.
The PAYG SIM from 3 is my provider.

Unlimited calls back to the UK and some internal EU numbers, though I think there are more restrictions now in that UK mobile to EU mobile doesn't seem to work any more.
To an EU landline is ok.
Plus 4gb of data.
£10 for a month if you get an "add on".

It's a good deal, though loss of calls to EU mobiles is new.
........

Beware, 3 don't like you buying a SIM (or a top up) and then shooting off to Europe.

My wife didn't top up during the long lockdown (no need for a mobile) and then did do so to travel in autumn and they blocked her phone after 5 days away claiming unusual usage.
No warning message or reason given beforehand, just a "no service" on the screen. It took ages to realise they had blocked the phone and wasted lots of time searching through "settings" to try to suss the problem.
A real pain and still to be resolved. But it will be. :evil:
My phone, always topped up through the year, was ok.
st599_uk
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by st599_uk »

PDQ Mobile wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 2:35pm
MrsHJ wrote: 6 Jan 2022, 1:12pm
The link I shared on money expert suggested a Pay as you go sim from three might be a good idea still. I haven’t looked into it in detail.
The PAYG SIM from 3 is my provider.

Unlimited calls back to the UK and some internal EU numbers, though I think there are more restrictions now in that UK mobile to EU mobile doesn't seem to work any more.
To an EU landline is ok.
Plus 4gb of data.
£10 for a month if you get an "add on".

It's a good deal, though loss of calls to EU mobiles is new.
It is a good deal, but it's not available to new customers and you lose it if you upgrade:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... -may-2022/
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simonhill
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by simonhill »

Looking through some UK providers, I see that Tesco are still offering roaming on all their sim only deals even the cheapest at £7:50 per month. No mention of it ending.

Maybe it would have been better to keep the 'Best Deals' thread separate from general chat on roaming. We could then have had a simple list of best deals as they emerge.
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pedalsheep
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by pedalsheep »

1p Mobile state that their 1p per minute tariff still applies in 46 European countries which they list on their website.
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Jdsk
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by Jdsk »

Our great 1p tariff can be used when using your phone in the following destinations.
That's right 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a MB when visiting any of the places listed below, whether that is calls back to the UK, within the country you are roaming in or to any of the other destinations listed.
You can even use our great value data bundles when roaming. Enjoy your holiday without the worry about coming home to huge bills.

https://www.1pmobile.com

Jonathan
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Sweep
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by Sweep »

Jdsk wrote: 8 Jan 2022, 12:11pm Our great 1p tariff can be used when using your phone in the following destinations.
That's right 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a MB when visiting any of the places listed below, whether that is calls back to the UK, within the country you are roaming in or to any of the other destinations listed.
You can even use our great value data bundles when roaming. Enjoy your holiday without the worry about coming home to huge bills.

https://www.1pmobile.com

Jonathan
seem to remember looking at them in the past.
Good for short-term use maybe.
But as I recall you have to pay a certain amount into the account a few times a year or your number/connection lapses and you lose your credit.
So not quite PAYG
Sweep
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pedalsheep
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by pedalsheep »

Sweep wrote: 8 Jan 2022, 2:32pm
Jdsk wrote: 8 Jan 2022, 12:11pm Our great 1p tariff can be used when using your phone in the following destinations.
That's right 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p a MB when visiting any of the places listed below, whether that is calls back to the UK, within the country you are roaming in or to any of the other destinations listed.
You can even use our great value data bundles when roaming. Enjoy your holiday without the worry about coming home to huge bills.

https://www.1pmobile.com

Jonathan
seem to remember looking at them in the past.
Good for short-term use maybe.
But as I recall you have to pay a certain amount into the account a few times a year or your number/connection lapses and you lose your credit.
So not quite PAYG
You have to top up by £10 every 4 months so minimum spend of £30 a year. I've just moved to them from EE who wanted a minimum of £120 a year or a basic PAYG of 25p a minute.
'Why cycling for joy is not the most popular pastime on earth is still a mystery to me.'
Frank J Urry, Salute to Cycling, 1956.
simonhill
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by simonhill »

Asda offer fairly cheap deals - £5 for a PAYG bundle with 3gb and unlimited texts and minutes (3 GB currently being doubled on short term offer).

They say this about roaming:

"No changes post-Brexit
We are not planning to introduce roaming charges to our bundles. You can still roam at no extra cost in our selected European destinations!"


Edit: Lebara also offering roaming on one of the cheapest (moneysavingexpert recommended) deals.

Looks like the cheaper budget providers are a better bet than the big flagship companies, although maybe it is because they can't afford to change their billing systems.
st599_uk
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Re: Best deals for roaming?

Post by st599_uk »

simonhill wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 11:07am Asda offer fairly cheap deals - £5 for a PAYG bundle with 3gb and unlimited texts and minutes (3 GB currently being doubled on short term offer).

They say this about roaming:

"No changes post-Brexit
We are not planning to introduce roaming charges to our bundles. You can still roam at no extra cost in our selected European destinations!"


Edit: Lebara also offering roaming on one of the cheapest (moneysavingexpert recommended) deals.

Looks like the cheaper budget providers are a better bet than the big flagship companies, although maybe it is because they can't afford to change their billing systems.
They piggy back on major networks buying network access in huge bulk and passing on the savings. Some do their own billing, some use a 3rd party.
1pMobile resell EE, Tesco 02, Lebara Vodaphone...

I suppose the question is, will they still offer roaming once they've bought their next block of data.
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