If you’re heading for your first EU break since Brexit you may be trying to wrap your head around what changes will be made to your travel.

You want to make sure you avoid any unnecessary delays or charges to your long-awaited break.

Once such charge you may not realise you rack up is EU roaming charges. If your mobile network has these charges you could unknowingly spend a small fortune on calls and texts.

To help you save vital holiday pennies, we’ve put together a list of some of the mobile networks that offer free EU roaming and how you can sign up.

Mobile networks that don’t have EU roaming charges

Tesco Mobile

With Tesco mobile, 48 countries called ‘Home to Home’ will allow you to use your phone as normal, with texts and calls coming out of your allowance as normal. This will remain the case for 2022.

However, this is set to change on January 1, 2023.

According to MSE, Tesco mobile will then start charging pay-monthly users who joined or upgraded from 16 June to use their mobiles in Europe.

If you took out a pay-monthly contract on or after 16 June 2022, you'll be charged 10p per MB of data used in Europe from 1 January 2023. You'll also be charged 55p a minute for calls and 20p per text.

This can be avoided by taking out Tesco Mobile's roaming bundle that is yet to be launched.

You can sign up for a Tesco mobile sim card or plan here.

O2

O2 also offers EU roaming as part of its plans. Your data (subject to a roaming limit), minutes and text allowances will work in O2’s Europe Zone, just like they do at home.

Dunfermline Press: (Canva)(Canva)

If your UK monthly data allowance is over 25GB, you’ll have a Roaming Limit of 25GB when roaming in the Europe Zone.

Find up more and sign up for a plan here.

BT mobile

BT’s ‘Roam Like Home’ allows you to use your texts, calls and data abroad at no extra cost than at home.

All the SIM plans include data roaming in 47 destinations worldwide.

Find out what countries are included and sign up here.

Giffgaff

With Giffgaff, you can use your phone in the EU and selected destinations just like you use them at home and at no extra cost.

For pay-as-you-go, charges will be the same as they would in the UK.

The goodybags have a roaming cap, but only after you’ve used 20 GB.

From midnight 26 July, however, Giffgaff will be updating its EU roaming charges to ensure it can continue to offer value to its members at home. 

Under EU legislation, UK mobile networks incur interconnect costs when people roam in the EU.

To mitigate some of that cost, giffgaff is giving members up to 5GB of their goodybag allowance to roam in the EU and selected destinations, at no extra cost. After this, there will be a charge of 10p/MB while roaming which is the same as giffgaff’s out of bundle charge in the UK. Members will still have unlimited minutes and texts across the EU (subject to fair usage).

You can find out more and sign up for a Giffgaff sim card here.

ID Mobile

All ID plans come inclusive with EU roaming, so you don’t need to worry about any unexpected bills.

You can “roam like at home” in 50 destinations throughout the EU, EEA and beyond. The minutes, texts and data you use simply come out of your remaining monthly allowances.

Find out more and sign up here.