The £2.90 trick to avoid data roaming charges abroad

A plane coming in to land at an Airport. PIC: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Holidaymakers from the UK who want to use their mobile phone will face charges when visiting EU countries after many of the major networks introduced roaming charges.

EE, Sky Mobile, Three and Vodafone have all introduced roaming charges, while only O2 and some of the more budget networks such as GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile still allow data roaming to an agreed data cap.

However, savvy holidaymakers can spend less than £5 and avoid roaming charges even if they are mid-contract on a major network.

To beat the roaming charges they can simply buy a monthly SIM contract that allows data roaming and switch their SIM card before travelling abroad. Using a SIM on a monthly rolling contract means it can be cancelled after the trip, meaning a small one off payment to avoid being hit with big network charges for data use abroad.

£2.90 for 1GB

You may not have heard of Spusu but the Austrian operator has been in the UK for a year now and is currently selling the cheapest SIM deal on the market. We cannot find a cheaper option than the £2.90 SIM that gives you a modest 1GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and, crucially, can be cancelled at any time.

The rolling monthly SIM is perfect as a stop gap if you are between contracts or if you are a light data user. It is also perfect to use if you are going abroad because 1GB of data, 500 texts and 500 voice minutes work across the EU and Switzerland.

You can get it here.

£5 for 5GB

The Lebara £5 plan is the best SIM only deal available if you are going abroad. For just £5 you get 5GB of data and free data roaming. It also runs on the Vodafone network so you know it will have good service if you already use Vodafone.

The £5 deal lasts for 30 days so you can buy the SIM, use it for your trip abroad and then discard if you already have an existing contract. It can also be kept on as a versatile and cheap option for everyday use.

You get 1,000 UK minutes and 1,000 UK texts with the deal and unlimited texts and minutes to other Lebara users.

You can get it here.