O2 Travel International Roaming Review: Countries, Speeds & Fair Usage

On O2, you can use your mobile phone abroad at no extra cost in up to 75 destinations, depending on your price plan.

With O2 Travel, it’s possible to use your mobile phone abroad at no extra cost in up to 75 destinations. In a further 63 destinations, you can pay a flat rate of £6 per day for unlimited minutes, texts and data (with speeds of up to 2Mbps).

The countries in which you’re able to use the O2 Travel offer depends on the price plan you have. On O2’s Pay As You Go plans, you’ll have access to international roaming at no extra cost in 43 European destinations. This increases to 48 destinations on Pay Monthly plans, and to 75 destinations on Pay Monthly Plus (and on regular Pay Monthly plans if you’re living in a Virgin Media household).

In this article, we’ll review the O2 Travel offer including the countries where you’re able to use it and how much it will cost. We’ll also look at data speeds when abroad, the fair usage policy on O2 Travel and alternative roaming offers from other networks. Finally, we’ll look at how you can keep your current phone number if you’re moving to O2 to take advantage of their O2 Travel offer.

What is O2 Travel?

On most O2 price plans, it’s possible to use your mobile phone abroad when travelling to other countries. The destinations that are included within the O2 Travel offer depend on the type of price plan you have:

O2 Price Plan	Inclusive Destinations	Other Destinations
Pay Monthly	48 European destinations	£6/day in 63 non-European destinations
Pay Monthly Plus Pay Monthly with Volt Benefits	48 European destinations 27 non-European destinations (75 destinations in total)	£6/day in 36 non-European destinations
Pay As You Go	43 European destinations	£1.99/day in 5 European destinations

For customers with an O2 mobile broadband plan, the O2 Travel offer isn’t currently available. This is because international roaming is not available on O2’s mobile broadband service.

O2 Europe Zone Countries

All Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go customers on O2 can use their normal UK allowances when travelling in Europe. On Pay Monthly, there are 48 European destinations included. Meanwhile, there are 43 destinations included if you’re an O2 Pay As You Go customer.

The following destinations are part of O2’s European roaming zone (locations marked with a † are only available on Pay Monthly plans) :

• Austria
• Azores
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canary Islands
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• French Guiana
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Guadeloupe
• Guernsey†
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Isle of Man†
• Italy
• Jersey†
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Madeira
• Malta
• Martinique
• Mayotte
• Monaco†
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Reunion
• Romania
• Saint Barthelemy
• Saint Martin
• San Marino
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland†
• Vatican City

† If you’re an O2 Pay As You Go customer, inclusive roaming is not available in 5 European destinations (Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Monaco and Switzerland). Instead, you’ll need to pay £1.99/day for up to 100MB of data in these countries.

Within Europe, you’re able to use your inclusive minutes and texts to contact any other number within O2’s Europe Zone. Your usage of European roaming is subject to the fair usage policy described here: the most important being that it should only be used “for periodic travel, like holidays or short breaks”. If you use your mobile phone abroad for 63 days or more in any four-month period, O2 reserves the right to apply a regulated surcharge to your usage (currently 3.3p/minute, 1p/text and £3.50/GB).

You’ll be able to use up to 25GB data per month when abroad (or less if your normal UK data allowance is less than 25GB).

On O2’s Pay As You Go plans including Big Bundles, roaming is not included in Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Monaco or Switzerland. In these places, you can pay £1.99/day for 100MB of data.

O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Countries

If you choose one of O2’s Pay Monthly Plus plans, you’ll get inclusive international roaming in a further 27 destinations outside Europe. This is also available to customers living in a Virgin Media household, when you apply for Volt customer benefits.

Within O2’s Travel Inclusive Zone countries, you’ll get unlimited minutes, texts and data when abroad in the following destinations:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Botswana
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Greenland
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guyana
• Honduras
• Madagascar
• Mexico
• Myanmar
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Rwanda
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela
• Yemen

There’s traffic management applied when you’re abroad, so your download speeds could be slowed down, depending on your usage.

O2 Travel Countries

In 63 destinations outside Europe, customers with an O2 Pay Monthly contract can pay £6/day to use their mobile phone through the O2 Travel offer. With the offer, you’ll get unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data abroad (with a maximum download speed of 2Mbps).

You can use the £6 per day O2 Travel offer in all of the following destinations:

• Albania
• Anguilla
• Argentina*
• Aruba
• Australia*
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Bermuda
• Botswana*
• Brazil
• British Virgin Islands
• Canada*
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands
• Chile*
• China
• Colombia*
• Costa Rica*
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador*
• El Salvador*
• Greenland*
• Grenada
• Guatemala*
• Guinea*
• Guyana*
• Honduras*
• Hong Kong
• Indonesia
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Madagascar*
• Malaysia
• Mexico*
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Myanmar*
• Netherlands Antilles
• New Zealand*
• Nicaragua*
• Panama*
• Paraguay*
• Peru*
• Rwanda*
• Saint Lucia
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• St Kitts & Nevis
• St Vincent & the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Thailand
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Turkey
• Turks & Caicos islands
• United Arab Emirates
• United States*
• Uruguay*
• Venezuela*
• Yemen*
• Zambia

* This country is also part of the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone offer. If your tariff includes this offer, you won’t need to pay the £4.99/day charge.

To opt-in to the O2 Travel offer, text TRAVEL to 23336. It can take up to 24 hours for O2 Travel to be enabled on your account so it’s best to opt-in before departing on your trip. To opt-out of the offer and to pay O2’s standard international roaming rates instead, text NOTRAVEL to 23336.

The £6 per day O2 Travel offer isn’t available to customers on O2 Pay As You Go.

Roaming Speeds

In the past, O2 has been criticised for reducing the download speeds on their service for customers travelling abroad to other countries.

According to their terms and conditions, there’s now a download speed limit of 2Mbps when you’re travelling abroad in other countries. This has applied from June 2022.

The 2Mbps speed limit should be enough for most day-to-day use such as browsing the web, sending messages and using social media. It’s also enough for things like maps and for listening to music. If you’re streaming online video, it should be possible to stream in standard-definition. However, it won’t be possible to stream in HD quality.

Fair Usage Policy

O2 has a fair usage policy for their O2 Travel international roaming service. The fair usage policy depends on whether you’re travelling to another European country or to a country outside of Europe.

Within Europe

If you’re travelling to another country within O2’s Europe Zone, it should be on a temporary basis, such as for a holiday or short trip.

According to O2’s terms and conditions, a surcharge may be applied for your usage if you spend more 63 days abroad in Europe over a rolling 4-month period. If you exceed the 63-day limit, O2 should give you the opportunity to demonstrate prevailing use in the UK. They should also give you two weeks notice before a surcharge is applied at a rate of 3.3p/minute, 1p/text and £4.50/GB of data.

Outside Europe

If you’re travelling to an O2 Travel country outside of Europe, the following fair usage limits apply:

• The download speeds available for file transfer, online gaming, peer-to-peer downloads and network backup services is restricted. According to O2, these services “may not work with O2 Travel”.
• Audio and video streaming optimisation are in use. This may reduce the quality of your streaming content when abroad.
• The use of tethering and personal hotspot is not permitted in O2 Travel countries. This means you’re unable to share your data connection with other devices.
• When using O2 Travel outside Europe, your SIM card can only be used inside a smartphone.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re joining O2 to take advantage of their O2 Travel offer, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.

To do so, ask your current mobile network to provide you with a PAC Code. You can get this through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075.

Once you’ve received the PAC Code from your old network, order your new mobile phone or SIM card from the O2 website. When it arrives, you can provide the PAC Code to O2 by submitting it through this online form. Your phone number transfer will then be scheduled by O2, normally for the next working day.

For a step-by-step guide on moving your phone number to O2, please select your current mobile network from the drop down menu below:

More Information

For more information about O2 Travel, please see O2’s official website.