Pre-holiday checklist: everything you need to know about using your phone abroad

June 4, 2019

Your bags are packed, you’ve double and triple checked that you’ve got your passport – you’ve officially got that holiday buzz.

Before you get the airport drinks in, here’s a couple of checks worth doing to make sure that your holiday goes off without a hitch.

Forget roaming charges

Are you even on holiday if your Insta story doesn’t document every picture-perfect moment? If you’re in a Go Roam destination, that’s not a problem. You can use your phone in over 70 destinations worldwide just like you would in the UK, for no extra cost.

What if you’re somewhere that’s not included in Go Roam? The thought of a huge bill waiting for you when you get home is enough to make you put your phone on aeroplane mode, right?

But what if we told you that you could share those truly Insta-worthy pics without having to worry?

Data Passport

The Data Passport gives you the freedom to use data as you like, until midnight GMT+1, for just £5 a day. Perfect.

Roaming rates just got better

We want you to live your best holiday life, sharing those beach photos and streaming your holiday vibes playlist.

So, until 24 January 2020, you can roam in 26 different countries that aren’t included in Go Roam,  for 10p per MB instead of the usual £6 per MB.

For a full list of countries included and terms, head on over to our roaming support page.

Activate International Roaming

Now you’ve got roaming charges sorted out, you want to make sure you can use your services as soon as you arrive, right? How else are you going to let bae/your parents/pets know you’ve arrived safely?

Before you head off, make sure you’ve got international roaming set up on your account. To do this, go the Three app, tap ‘Phone settings’ then ‘using your phone abroad’. You can check this on My3 too – just go to ‘making calls abroad’.

If it’s active, it’ll show as ‘you can make calls abroad’ – if not, give us a call and we’ll update your settings for you.

Don’t forget Airline and Maritime networks

Tempted to send that above the clouds snap or I’m on a boat selfie? Before you add them to your Snapchat or Insta story, remember that Airline and Maritime networks aren’t part of Go Roam. That means charges will apply if you connect to them. So, to avoid that dreaded bill shock, why not take the picture then send it once you’ve arrived instead?

Data Roaming

Want to be able to use your phone as soon as you arrive? Make sure you’ve got data roaming switched on in your phone settings.

Now the techy stuff’s taken care of, you can concentrate on living your best holiday life.