UK mobile use in ROI

jnm21

I like to think I am quite 'up on all things mobile', but this one is new to me!  A family member has a UK number, but stays in ROI large parts of the year.  They currently have a Vodafone contract which came with a 'free' phone and/or has some special all Ireland element.  This is nearly £40 a month.  There is little or no data usage (uses WiFi). 

Now I think I might have read that Vodafone let prolonged use in ROI slide.

Can anyone advise?  I'm thinking that Lebara will apply their EU surcharge, but for light use, this might be better value (£4.95 for 5GB per month for use up here & to keep the SIM alive, plus calls & texts down there at the surcharge rate).

Is Vodafone 'better' i.e. more likely to let light prolonged usage slide?  Is that only true on contract & is there an add on required?

Thanks in advance. 👍

jnm21

Hats off to Vodafone - this page seems genuinely helpful https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/myc

It even recommends a local SIM if you have dual SIM

I think this could be the add-on, which is less apt 
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/ireland-plus

Seems that Lebara surcharges are less, BUT include one for incoming calls...

0.20p/MB (equivalent to £2/GB) for data, 0.04p/sec (equivalent to 2.4p/min) for outgoing calls, 0.01p/sec (equivalent to 0.6p/min) for incoming calls and 0.8p for sending an SMS.

RikM

Giffgaff roaming isn't bad (though there's a 5Gb limit on data)...
https://www.giffgaff.com/roaming-charges

jnm21

Thanks RikM, had a look at that page & the FUP - scarily they reserve the right to block or disconnect the SIM with the usage pattern needed. 

Also I strongly prefer EE or Vodafone for UK usage - o2 or Three would have to have something magical for the ROI bit.