Roaming & calling abroad FAQs

In our Go Roam in Europe destinations, you can use up to 12GB of your data allowance. Any usage over this fair use limit but within your allowance is subject to a surcharge. There are no fair use limits for calls made to standard landline or mobile numbers or texts sent within our Go Roam in Europe destinations, or back to the UK.

If you're on a plan with Unlimited data, you can use your device as a Personal Hotspot when roaming in the EU. If you're on an Essential plan, you can change your plan or buy an Add-on if you want to use your device as a Personal Hotspot.

If you have a data allowance greater than 12GB, you can use up to this amount of data each month. Any usage over this fair use limit but within your allowance is subject to a surcharge.

• If you have Unlimited texts, you can send up to 5000 texts back to the UK (landline and mobile numbers) per month unless you’re on Pay As You Go, in which case you can send up to 3000 texts back to the UK each month.
• If you have 3000 or more minutes included in your allowance, you can use up to 3000 minutes on calls back to the UK to standard mobile and landline numbers each month.
• If you exceed your text or minute fair use limits for any two months within a rolling 12-month period we have the right to suspend international roaming on your account, meaning you will no longer be able to use your device or allowances abroad.

You should also note:

• You can't use your phone as a Personal Hotspot in our Go Roam Around the World destinations.
• You'll be able to stream, and connect to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), while in a Go Roam destination, but both of these may be slower than they are in the UK.
• You can choose to purchase our Data Passport, which gives you unlimited data to use until midnight (GMT+1) on the day of purchase for just £5. You can use this unlimited data allowance to tether or stream to your heart's content and connect to VPNs. Visit About the Data Passport to find out more.
• We may restrict your ability to use your data allowance for file-sharing, like peer-to-peer download services, and using certain sites to download or share large files. This is so that we can manage demand from overseas and make sure that everyone can use the service.
• Pay As You Go customers are required to activate their account by inserting their SIM before leaving the UK in order to enjoy Go Roam.
• Use of a SIM card exclusively to receive inbound calls in a specific Go Roam destination may result in suspension of that SIM card. Our systems are designed to identify this automatically. If you believe that your account may have incorrectly been suspended because of this, please call + 44 7782 333 333.
• In Go Roam destinations, Three may deploy traffic management measures - known collectively as TrafficSense™ - to protect the network and to give customers the best internet experience. Find out more about TrafficSense™

If you’re traveling to a non-Go Roam destination, you will not be able to use your available allowances. Instead, you’ll be charged the standard roaming rates which vary depending on destination. Visit our Roaming Abroad page to find out more.

Pay As You Go & SIM Zero plans

Our Pay As You Go and SIM Zero plans don't automatically come with an inclusive allowance. You can get an allowance for use in the UK and in our Go Roam destinations by buying an Add-on or Data Pack. These are subject to our fair use policies.

Otherwise, when roaming in our Go Roam in Europe destinations, you'll be charged at: 

• 35p per minute 

• 15p per text 

• 10p per MB. 

Usage in our Go Roam Around the World destinations may cost more – see our roaming page for details.

Using your Go Binge allowance in Go Roam destinations

If you have Go Binge as part of your plan, you can use it in any of our Go Roam destinations, as long as you've got data left in your monthly allowance. If you've already used up your data allowance, you won't be able to use Go Binge in Go Roam destinations. The fair use data policies still apply when using Go Binge.

Use Wi-Fi for data and calling.

You should be able to connect to local Wi-Fi where you’re staying. Use apps like WhatsApp to place calls over Wi-Fi.

Buy a local SIM.

We don’t lock any devices you buy from us. This means you can buy a SIM card to use in your location. Just make sure to check local charges first, so you know it’s cheaper to use.

Switch on flight mode.

If you’re easily tempted to use your phone, this will help reduce your usage. It also doesn’t affect GPS, so you’ll still be able to get directions if you’re travelling.

Avoid heavy data apps.

Streaming apps like YouTube and Spotify obviously use lots of data. Internet browsers such as Chrome are also surprisingly high data users. Social apps including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat consume a lot of data too. This is because they download pictures and video to your phone automatically. If you check the app settings, you may be able to restrict what they can download without your permission.

Download, don’t stream.

When you have Wi-Fi, take the opportunity to stock up on your favourite music, videos, and podcasts. This will help you to stay entertained without using any data.

Spend Cap and Worldwide roaming data limit.

We don't think you should spend more than you want to when using your data abroad. To help manage your costs, we've set a worldwide data roaming limit of £45 per month. If you want to find out more, click here.

You can also manage your spending while abroad by setting up a Spend Cap that applies to all out of allowance charges in the UK and while roaming abroad, including the daily roaming charge which unlocks your plan’s allowances in Go Roam destinations for 24 hours. If you’ve already got a Spend Cap, this will already apply to any roaming charges you make for calls, texts, and data. Please note, if your Spend Cap is set to zero or if you exceed your Spend Cap limit whilst roaming in a Go Roam destination, you will not be able to: 

• make calls.

• send texts.

• access data.

Find out more about changing your Spend Cap.

If you're having trouble using your device abroad, make sure you have: 

• data roaming switched on in your device settings

• international roaming switched on in your account.

If you can't switch international roaming on in your account, get in touch so we can help.

Roaming networks abroad.

Go Roam works on other operators' networks. We have arrangements for each destination and you'll automatically roam onto the right network. As you're roaming on another operator's network, the coverage may not give you the same level of signal you're used to back home. When you go online, data speeds may be slower as well.

If you're connected to an airline or maritime network, such as the network on a plane or cruise ship, that doesn't count as being connected to a Go Roam network. You'll be charged at roaming rates to use these networks. Please note, if you're near a port it can be easy to accidentally connect to a ship's network, so make sure you're connected to a national network instead. This can also happen if you're near the border of another country. If you roam onto a non-Go Roam network, you will be sent a text message to let you know what roaming rates to expect.

Problems calling UK numbers.

When you're abroad, you can't call numbers that begin with 070, 09 or 118 directory services. You can call 08 numbers, but this will come out of your allowance. If you don't have an allowance, calls to 08 numbers will cost up to £1.40 per minute.

Inadvertent roaming is when your device connects to a network in a different destination from that which you're currently in. This can happen if you live or travel near to an international border, or on a coastline where you may connect to maritime services. Connecting to another network could mean you potentially pay higher roaming charges.

To avoid this, you can turn off data roaming on your device and look out for any notification messages that we send you. You can check roaming costs on our Roaming abroad page.​

Inadvertent roaming in Northern Ireland

If you live close to the Northern Irish border, you may sometimes roam onto a Republic of Ireland network without meaning to.

To ensure there are no accidental charges applied to your monthly bill in this circumstance, we've excluded the Republic of Ireland from our monthly fair use limit of 12GB, which usually applies when roaming in our Go Roam in Europe destinations. This means you'll be able to use your data without fear of inadvertently crossing the 12GB limit.

There are no fair use limits for making calls or sending texts whilst roaming in a Go Roam in Europe destination, and the Republic of Ireland is also excluded from the daily roaming charge.

You can only use Go Roam for periodic travel, like holidays or short breaks. To ensure all customers can benefit from roaming, we have put in place the following rules for prolonged periods of roaming.

We'll monitor your usage, and if you spend two complete months in one or more of our Go Roam destinations in a rolling 12-month period, we have the right to suspend international roaming services on your account. This means you'll no longer be able to use your device or allowances abroad. Of course, we’ll let you know in advance if this is likely to happen. You'll need to stop using your roaming services exclusively for roaming in Go Roam destinations and return to the UK to avoid suspension. If you spend a full two months abroad but some of that time is spent in a destination that isn't included in Go Roam, the restriction won't apply.

If you've had international roaming services suspended, and since returned to the UK, please contact us to let us know of the change in your location, and we'll unblock your roaming services.

You don’t need to do anything to activate your Daily Go Roam Passes. Go Roam works automatically when you arrive in a Go Roam destination, as long as data roaming is switched on in your device's settings.

When you arrive in your roaming destination, you’ll receive a text confirming the roaming charges in that country.

The Daily Go Roam charge is triggered as soon as you use any of your plan’s allowances in a Go Roam destination. For example:

• When you make an outbound call to a standard UK mobile or landline number;
• When you send a text back to the UK;
• When you make calls and send texts between Go Roam in Europe destinations;
• When you use your data allowance. This includes when you use data in excess of the fair use limit - up to your allowance.

You can purchase Go Roam add-ons for 3 days, 7 days and 14 days via your Three app.

If you don’t purchase a Go Roam add-on, and are still roaming, the daily roaming charge would then be £2 in Go Roam in Europe destinations and £5 in Go Roam Around the World destinations.

If you’re traveling to a non-Go Roam destination, you will not be able to use your available allowances; you’ll be charged the standard roaming rates which vary depending on destination. Visit our Roaming Abroad page to find out more.

Daily Go Roam passes lets you use your Passes in up to 71 destinations around the world. This is made up of Go Roam Europe, and Go Roam Around the World. View all our Go Roam destinations.

Currently, all roaming destinations have at least one roaming partner supporting 2G and 3G services. This is likely to change later this year, though. Most of our roaming partner networks will close their 2G and 3G capability to make way for 4G and 5G capability.

We aim to have a range of partners with access to different spectrums in each destination. Unfortunately though, we don’t have control over their infrastructure plans. Therefore, we suggest you upgrade to a device that’s compatible with 4G Calling Abroad.

We recommend you check each destination before travelling. We’ll try to keep our roaming information as up to date as possible, based on information shared from our partnering networks. However, you should also check locally for any updates on their destinations via local roaming websites.

If your current device doesn’t have 4G Calling Abroad capabilities and you would like to switch to one that does, check out your upgrade options.

In the event all our roaming partners close their 2G and 3G network in a destination, you won’t be able to use voice services, including emergency calls, if your device isn’t 4G Calling Abroad enabled. In these circumstances, you will need to call the emergency services using a fixed phone or an alternative mobile device which is 4G Calling Abroad enabled.

You’ll be able to make calls as normal if:

• Our roaming partners support 2G or 3G connectivity.

• 4G Calling Abroad is active in your destination and you have an enabled device.

To check if your device has 4G Calling Abroad enabled, go to Device support. When you’ve found your device, tap Specification and scroll down to Network. It will say whether it’s compatible here. Please remember that having a 4G device isn’t enough – check that your device has the latest software installed and that 4G Calling Abroad is enabled in the settings.

• Normal text relay will be unaffected.

• Emergency text relay will be unavailable.

• Directory information services will be blocked, as with 3G roaming.

• E-Call is a data service therefore will be unaffected by 4G Calling Abroad. 

The times and dates of calls or texts made over 4G Calling Abroad will show on your monthly bill. They will be in UK real time and not in the time zone of the destination they were made in.

Premium rate access, spend alerts, roaming alerts and payment services all remain the same.

There are no extra charges from 4G Calling Abroad.

As Mobile Broadband is a data only service the activation of 4G Calling Abroad won’t impact it.