How does roaming work on Three UK?

Three UK has long been known for its generous roaming options, particularly with its Go Roam packages that cover multiple destinations.

However, roaming policies have changed in recent years, with additional charges now in place for many travelers.

Understanding Three’s roaming structure will help you stay connected while keeping your costs under control.

You can also read our pick of the best eSIM plans as an alternative to paying roaming costs for mobile data.

Roaming in Europe

If your contract started before 1 October 2021, you can roam in Europe for free using your normal UK allowances. If your contract started after this date, you’ll need to pay £2 per day for the Go Roam in Europe package.

For Pay As You Go customers, Three doesn’t charge a daily fee, but you’ll need to buy roaming add-ons or use credit converted to overseas-friendly plans. Data packages can help avoid excessive costs while traveling.

Roaming outside Europe

Three offers different roaming packages for worldwide travel. The Go Roam Around the World option costs £5 per day and covers 22 destinations, while the Go Roam Around the World Extra package costs £7 per day and covers 72 destinations. See the full list of destinations covered on the Three website.

Both options allow you to use your UK data, texts, and minutes abroad but limit data usage to 12GB. If you need more, purchasing a Data Passport for £5 provides unlimited data access for 24 hours.

Three’s Go Roam packages cover over 160 countries in total – you can use the Destination Checker to see if your destination is covered and which roaming package you’ll need. If it isn’t, then you’ll need to refer to the rather complicated price guides from Three which break down into various plans and commencement dates. 

Here’s more info on Three’s roaming charges

What is roaming?

Roaming is the term used when you choose to use your standard phone plan in a region outside of the one it was intended for; meaning you can still call, text and access the internet while abroad without having to change your SIM (or device).

Typically, using your phone while roaming has the potential to lead to significant charges; as carriers/networks typically invoke an additional fee per message, minute or megabyte used, outside of your plan’s native region.

If you have SIMs with other operators, check out our other guides:

• What you need to know about roaming on EE
• What you need to know about roaming on Vodafone
• What you need to know about roaming on Three
• What you need to know about roaming on O2

You can also read our roaming charges explainer.