EE PAYG roaming charges

Baled

Hi

From June 6th EE are going to start charging £2.50 per day (or £10 for 7 days) to access my pack allowances when roaming in the EU.

I don't want to move from EE but I do have a dual SIM (but not eSim) unlocked phone so I was wondering if there are any cheaper options available?

It would be mainly light data use (general browsing/maps) with 2 or 3 phone calls home to my parents. I'd make use of it a couple of times a year, maybe 3 times max.

Not looking for any contracts unless they're easily cancellable. Any better value options or just pay the extra £10 to EE?

Thanks in advance.

flaneurs_lobster

For calls to the UK from the EU (if you exclude the internet-based messaging services, which you shouldn't if your recipients are happy with the technology) then a 1p Mobile PAYG SIM allows calls at UK rates from the EU to UK, currently 1p/minute.

Data when roaming is more problematic, that 1p SIM will cost you 1p/MB, that's £10/GB. A data top-up for £10 gets you 10 GB, much better value available for larger data allowances. 

Overall, I would say that for a couple of 1 week trips to the EU then buying the EE add-on (their £15/month deal seems OK) is the easiest and most convenient way to stay connected if your data usage is only going to be light.

I'm going to be buying the Vodafone equivalent add-on for my EU trips this year, with a backup of a 1p Mobile SIM if data usage gets close to the roaming fair usage limit of 25GB.

Others may have further thoughts. 

Baled

flaneurs_lobster said:

For calls to the UK from the EU (if you exclude the internet-based messaging services, which you shouldn't if your recipients are happy with the technology) then a 1p Mobile PAYG SIM allows calls at UK rates from the EU to UK, currently 1p/minute.

Data when roaming is more problematic, that 1p SIM will cost you 1p/MB, that's £10/GB. A data top-up for £10 gets you 10 GB, much better value available for larger data allowances. 

Overall, I would say that for a couple of 1 week trips to the EU then buying the EE add-on (their £15/month deal seems OK) is the easiest and most convenient way to stay connected if your data usage is only going to be light.

I'm going to be buying the Vodafone equivalent add-on for my EU trips this year, with a backup of a 1p Mobile SIM if data usage gets close to the roaming fair usage limit of 25GB.

Others may have further thoughts. 

Thanks! It's a bit disappointing EE have brought the charges in but then again I'm surprised they didn't do it sooner.

I use WhatsApp mainly but there's no hope of that with my parents.

BUFF

Giffgaff possibly? https://www.giffgaff.com/roaming-charges

Depends how much you are going to use it whether it is cheaper or more hassle than worth. If you use less than 1GB/month it would be £6 each time.

sdduk

Have a look at Lebara Mobile run on Vodafone or Lyca Mobile they run on O2
https://mobile.lebara.com/gb/en/
https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/
Don't think they can be beaten for roaming they do EU and International.
Both 30 day contract but you can leave anytime.