Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

diamonds

Best deals for incoming calls are Sainsburys Mobile, max 8p worldwide, a good few countries are 0p - don't use data tho! expen$ive!!

two_n_six

My 24 month contract with Vodafone ended so I switched to a 30 day contract to give me more flexibility leading up to this holiday.
I was thinking of switching to a Three contract with an all you can eat data and Feel at Home package so that I can keep my number and make all inclusive calls in Australia. The only problem is Dubai can be quite expensive. Does anyone have any advice for this country so that I can access emails and mobile banking if needed

grumbler

Have you seen MSE's Cheap Data Roaming guide?

Also, generally you don't need a contract with Three to take advantage of Feel at Home. You can buy a bundle.

Kingsd316

Three's feel at home are to include Spain and New Zealand from the 1st April, just in time for the Easter holidays.

aah

I've offered to research mobile phone use for a friend going to several Asian countries with her boyfriend for 6 months. They start in India and are going on to Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and return to the UK from Japan. She has a (soon to be unlocked) iPhone 5 currently on an EE contract but shortly will be out of contract. Would like phone so that she can have cheapish data (will mostly use wifi where available) and also use to communicate with her bf in same country should they get split up. Occasional (emergency) phone calls back to UK.
Your help would be greatly appreciated x

grumbler

You are unlikely to find cheap data roaming, especially for several countries.
A local sim is usually the cheapest option.
Either abandon the idea of reasonably cheap data roaming or get a separate phone for calls to UK.

wallofbeans

I'm assuming this has probably been discussed before but in terms of UK networks, Three is the best for Europe and USA roaming isn't it? Does anyone know why they do this kind of thing as standard and nobody else does?

Thanks.

System

Quite a few countries are more than 8p incoming!

diamonds wrote: »

Best deals for incoming calls are Sainsburys Mobile, max 8p worldwide, a good few countries are 0p - don't use data tho! expen$ive!!

grumbler

wallofbeans wrote: »

...Three is the best for Europe and USA roaming isn't it?

For some European countries actually.

redux

wallofbeans wrote: »

I'm assuming this has probably been discussed before but in terms of UK networks, Three is the best for Europe and USA roaming isn't it? Does anyone know why they do this kind of thing as standard and nobody else does?

Thanks.

It depends on your likely level of use. They haven't introduced their standard 3 pence a minute, so you'd be picking a bundle.

Toggle Mobile can also be useful if someone only wants to make occasional calls.

And now that incoming rates are low in Europe, and should be abolished within a year, almost any SIM is ok for incoming calls only, and third party callback could be used for cheaper outgoing.

But if someone wants data use, then Three is certainly a candidate in its Feel at Home countries.