You've been warned for years that going on holiday with your smartphone can get you in some serious financial straits, with "bill shock" and outrageous pricing on calls, texts and mobile data all contributing towards a hefty and unexpected extra spend.
It's certainly true that in the past your mobile provider was more than happy to fleece you out of hundreds of pounds because you downloaded a single image while on holiday in Spain, but a crackdown in regulations from both UK watchdog Ofcom and the European Commission (EC) means that the horror stories of yore are at least less common today - unless you choose to blithely ignore warnings, override limits and stream HD video to your phone by the pool.
A lack of clarity around charges and an uncompetitive mobile network market meant that consumers were getting fleeced out of hundreds of pounds because they didn't understand how roaming works or how they could get a better deal.
With a bit of intervention from our friends over at the EC, the roaming market (in Europe at least) has become a lot more competitive, a lot cheaper and a lot more understandable thanks to capped bills, "roam like at home" packages and much stricter regulations.
Still, statistics gathered by the EC in 2014 found that 37% of British holidaymakers turn off their phones completely when they head abroad, and a further 36% turn off data roaming, only allowing themselves to text and make calls. The EC rightly points out that while this is bad news for consumers, it's equally bad for the networks themselves. Then EC Vice President for the DIgital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said at the time:
“I am honestly shocked by these figures. It shows we have to finish the job and eliminate roaming charges. Consumers are limiting their phone use in extreme ways and this makes no sense for the companies either.”
^ Neelie Kroes battled the networks for years and eventually won - a victory for consumers
She added: "It’s not just a fight between holiday-makers and telecoms companies. Millions of businesses face extra costs because of roaming, and companies like app makers lose revenue too. Roaming makes no sense in a single market – It’s economic madness.”
The EC has fought against the mobile networks, who have been dragging their feet for years, pushing them to gradually drop the price of data roaming by 91% and calls and texts by 80%. Although even those massive cuts obviously still aren’t enough to get us using our phones on holiday.
Know your rights
There are now strict regulations on what mobile networks can charge for texts, minutes and data in all EU countries (excluding Turkey and Switzerland), and there are also mandatory cost caps that you can't go over unless you give explicit permission.
The table below shows you the limits that mobile operators have to adhere to in the EU. The limits are based on Euro figures excluding VAT, so the cost in Sterling is subject to changes in both exchange rates and VAT rates.
Limit in € ex VAT | Limit in £ inc VAT | |
Call mins sent/received | €0.19/€0.05 | £0.17/£0.05 |
Texts sent | €0.06 | £0.05 |
MB of data | €0.20 | £0.18 |
The above limits only apply inside the EU, but many mobile networks will offer deals in different countries that end up being much cheaper, as long as you actually use the minutes, texts and data you're paying for. We'll discuss these later.
If you liked it you should have put a cap on it
Mobile operators can charge users up to €50 (around £44 inc VAT) in roaming fees before they have to cut off their service to prevent further spending. This is to avoid "bill shock", forcing consumers to explicitly say that they are happy to spend more than that amount. If this £44 limit is greater than a bill cap you've set yourself, then the smaller cap will apply.
Some networks also put a cap on international roaming, too, although this varies from network to network so you should check that with them before you go.
Conserve data usage while roaming
There are a few simple tips you can follow to avoid getting stung by roaming costs if you don't choose to take advantage of your own provider's roaming deals, see below. The obvious one is to turn off mobile data roaming. This is the simplest way you can stop sneaky apps from using up your mobile data while you're abroad. You can do this on Android by going to Settings, Mobile data, Data roaming. In iOS it's in settings, mobile, data roaming.
This is fairly extreme, though, and if you have purchased a data allowance from your carrier you shouldn't need to do this. Instead, you should make some small changes to make sure apps that can sometimes be a bit data-hungry can't download information unless you explicitly ask them to.
Android has a very useful feature for doing this - in Settings>Data usage, tap on the three dots on the top-right of the screen and select "Restrict background data" (below). This means apps that you aren't currently using will not be allowed to use any data. Additionally, you'll want to make sure your apps don't automatically update while you're using mobile data. By default your apps will only update when you're connected to a Wi-Fi network, but to confirm this, go to the Play Store app and ensure the Auto-update apps setting is set to Wi-Fi only.
Things are a little different on iOS (below). Under Settings>mobile, you get a list of every app on your phone, and you can individually disable an app from using mobile data. Some apps, if you tap on them, will also let you disable background refreshes.
However, there's no system-wide way of doing this so you'll need to decide which apps are most prone to using data without you knowing. Email and messaging apps are the most likely culprits, but any app that can generate notifications will likely be doing some background data usage. You can also stop apps from updating while you're not connected to Wi-Fi. Go to Settings>iTunes & App Store and switch off the "Use mobile data" option. 
Consider moving away from traditional texts and calls and instead use data-based messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. If you can find a Wi-Fi connection you won't be charged for these and so can keep in touch with anyone back home who also has a smartphone.
Borders and cruises
It's worth noting that if you're travelling on the border of a country, you may occasionally end up on another country's mobile operator and you could end up being charged significantly more than you would in the country you're actually in. To avoid this, you should turn off automatic mobile network switching and manually pick a network. On Android you can find this under Settings, Mobile data, Network operators. In iOS From there you can select the operator you were already using, and your phone shouldn't try to connect to another network even if it has a stronger signal.
If you're on a cruise, texts, calls and data at sea can be extraordinarily expensive, as they are routed via the ship's satellite connection. Where possible, put your phone into Airplane mode while you're at sea (unless you're connecting to a Wi-Fi network) to ensure you don't rack up huge bills. Save your texts and calls for when the ship is docked.
Device theft
If your phone is stolen abroad, you may be liable for any charges the thief racks up on your phone before you report it to your mobile network. Even if you don’t use a lockscreen PIN or pattern in the UK, you should certainly set one up when travelling.
Just in case the worst does happen it’s crucial that you make a note of your mobile network's customer service number should you need to call from a payphone or hotel to tell them your phone's been stolen. It’s worth knowing what the local international direct dial code is as well.
Your network may have a cap on how much you can spend while roaming, so this should limit the damage, but it could still be a considerable cost that you hadn't budgeted for. Your phone insurance policy may also cover these charges, so you should check the wording to see if you're covered. Either way, though, you'll want to get it sorted as soon as possible.
Going native
You could also buy a local SIM to save yourself cash. If you're travelling outside of the EU and only want to use your phone for emergencies and for calling your travel companions, a local SIM with a small amount of credit is a good bet. Make sure you get the right SIM card size for your phone, and ensure your phone is quad-band compatible (supports 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies).
The table at worldtimezone.com/gsm.html has a detailed list of network providers by country and also lists which frequencies they operate on. GSMArena.com has frequency information for nearly every phone in existence, so you can check where your phone will work.
UK mobile networks' roaming deals
If you’re lucky enough to spend a considerable amount of time abroad, and in a variety of different countries, then getting the best roaming deal might be crucial. If you regularly visit the same place, then Three might be the answer to all your problems, otherwise you should strongly consider getting a local SIM card.
For those who holiday overseas less often, choosing your mobile provider purely based on their roaming deals is probably not the best choice. That said, if you're trying to pick between two mobile networks and they're offering similar tariffs, their roaming packages could be the thing that swings it, so it's worth bearing in mind.
Most of the deals we'll outline below only apply for EU countries: it's a free-for-all in the rest of the world aside from some very specific cases where your mobile network might have a deal with a local operator for cheaper calls, texts and data. The table below is an example of how some pretty light usage can result in some fairly hefty charges, so if your mobile network is offering reasonably priced roaming deals and you think you have even a slight chance of using your phone for more than a few minutes each day, they're probably worth buying or signing up for.
Activity | Usage | Cost in the EU | Cost in the USA* |
50 texts | - | £2.50 | £20 |
20 minutes of calls | - | £3.40 | £20 |
1 hour of Spotify streaming | ~43MB | £7.74 | £10** |
10 min of 480p YouTube | ~13MB | £2.34 | £10** |
Uploading 20 8MP photos | ~40MB | £7.20 | £10** |
*Based on EE's Zone A roaming pricing
** £10 for 100MB of data for 24 hours on EE
EE
EE's base offering to its pay monthly customers is as follows: You can pay £2 per day for unlimited calls and texts to and from mobiles and landlines in EU countries (the full list is available at EE.co.uk. This is done through an opt-in text message, and you only pay the £2 on days where you receive or make calls or send texts. Otherwise you're charged nothing. If you're on an EE Extra contract, you get all your minutes and texts in 44 countries and won't pay extra for them. They're included in the base price of your contract.
Roaming data is sold separately in a variety of bundles. You can pay £12 for 200MB, or £25 for 500MB, both over 7 days; or £3 for 50MB, or £5 for 100 MB, over 24 hours.
Outside of the EU, costs vary considerably - you'll get a text when you arrive at your destination, which will detail the costs and any additional money-saving bundles you can buy for your destination.
Vodafone
If you're a heavy data user, Vodafone's roaming deals are pretty attractive and very simple. If you're on a contract and travelling within the EU, you can opt into Vodafone's EuroTraveller bundle, which includes all your contract's minutes, texts and data for £3 a day. If you don't use minutes, data or texts on a given day while you're abroad, you won't be charged.
Things are similar on Pay as you go: pay £3 a day and get your UK deal while abroad including minutes and texts, and you'll also get 100MB of data included, too.
Outside of Europe, the same deal applies but it's £5 a day and it currently only applies to 26 countries, most of which are tiny Caribbean islands. It also includes India, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. You can find the full list here.
Three
Three is known for its pretty generous roaming deals, and its rivals have a fair amount of ground to make up when it comes to the variety of countries that are part of its Feel at Home deals. Included on the list of countries you can use all your UK minutes, texts and data are Australia, the USA, Israel, Macau and New Zealand, alongside popular European destinations including Spain, Ireland, Italy and France. 
This applies to both contract and pay as you go customers, although the latter will have to buy a fresh add-on including the minutes, texts and data you want, rather than simply using those out of any current balance you have.
In EU countries not covered by Feel at Home, you'll need to buy an Euro Internet Pass when you arrive at your destination. A link for this will be sent to you by text message. It’s only available for monthly contract customers and costs £5 a day for unlimited internet use, although it does state it’s not intended for video or audio streaming.
O2
For contract customers, £1.99 a day will get you O2 Travel, which has unlimited data (though it doesn’t promise a high-speed connection), 50p outbound calls (60 minutes per call) and 5p texts. You'll need to enable O2 Travel in order to get this.
On pay as you go, your £1.99 gets you 50MB of data, but calls and texts are charged at the maximum allowed under EU regulations.
Virgin Media
Virgin offers data bundles for use in the EU: £1.50 for 10MB, £6 for 50MB and £20 for 250MB of data. Aside from that, you'll pay the EU maximum for calls and texts, and beyond the EU your costs will vary.
GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile
GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile will charge you the maximum allowed in the EU and you'll pay varying amounts beyond the EU, depending on which country you're in.
