EE roaming: Charges, zones, and how to avoid overpaying

Does EE charge for roaming? A quick answer

EE may charge you to use your plan abroad, depending on when your plan started and which roaming benefits it includes. Free EU roaming only comes as standard with eligible EE plans started before July 7, 2021. Since then, most customers pay extra — either a daily charge or for a roaming pass — though some higher-tier plans include roaming or let you add it as a free extra.

If you travel regularly, those extra charges quickly add up. One way to avoid them is Saily Ultra, which provides plans in 121 destinations for a monthly price. You get a 30 GB high-speed allowance, followed by unlimited data at up to 1 Mbps. So you can use travel data without paying EE’s daily roaming charges.

EE’s EU roaming charges and data allowances

If your EE plan doesn’t include EU roaming, you can pay £2.72 per day to use your UK minutes, texts, and data allowance in EE’s EU roaming zone. For longer trips, EE offers a seven-day pass for £16.50 and a 12-day pass for £27.50. In the Republic of Ireland, calls, texts, and data used within Ireland or to the UK normally come from your UK allowance without the daily charge.

EE’s European roaming zone covers EU and EEA destinations as well as several places outside the EU, including Switzerland. For a broader explanation of how roaming works across the region, see our EU roaming guide.

Some EE customers don’t need to pay these charges. As covered above, plans started before July 7, 2021, include EU roaming, and certain newer plans come with EE’s Roam in EU add-on. Roaming is included with select Essentials Plus, All Rounder, and Full Works plans, so it’s worth checking your plan in the EE app before you travel.

EE also applies a 50 GB fair-use limit to roaming data on plans with larger UK data allowances. Once you reach that limit, extra charges apply even if you still have data left in your domestic allowance.

For pay-as-you-go (PAYG) customers, roaming isn’t included in any plan — instead, EE sells dedicated EU roaming add-ons. EE’s published PAYG price guide lists a 24-hour add-on for £2.50 and a seven-day add-on for £10.

If you’d rather avoid daily roaming fees and plan-specific rules, a Saily eSIM for Europe gives you a separate travel data plan that you can set up before your trip.

EE roaming outside the European roaming zone: Zone 1 to Zone 4

Outside its European roaming area (which includes EU and EEA countries as well as Switzerland), EE divides destinations into four main roaming zones. This type of international roaming lets you keep using your EE service by connecting to a partner network abroad, but the price and data allowance depend on the zone.

Zone 1 and Zone 2 passes let you use your UK plan allowance for 24 hours. Zone 3 is more limited, with unlimited minutes and texts but only 500 MB of data, while a Zone 4 pass includes just 10 MB of data. EE also has a separate Zone 4* group where a standard 24-hour roaming pass isn’t available.

Good to know: Although it’s a popular destination for UK travelers, EE doesn’t include Turkey in its EU roaming area. Instead, it’s part of ROW Zone 1, along with the USA, so the standard EU daily charge doesn’t apply. Be sure to check your destination’s zone before you travel so you understand which rates and allowances apply.

The EE worldwide roaming passes

EE’s roaming options depend on when you took out your plan. On some older All Rounder and Full Works plans, roaming may be available as an Inclusive Extra, letting you use your UK allowance in EE’s European roaming area and in some destinations beyond it. Newer plans work differently — All Rounder plans include EU roaming only, while Full Works plans also include roaming in ROW Zone 1. 

If roaming isn’t included in your plan, EE currently charges £6 for a 24-hour Zone 1 pass or £30 for seven days. Zone 2 costs £8 for 24 hours or £40 for seven days. Both let you use your normal UK plan allowance while the pass is active. That means the seven-day Zone 1 pass matches the daily cost at five days and becomes cheaper from six days onward. Five daily passes cost £30, the same as the weekly pass, while six days would cost £36 at the daily rate.

EE pay-as-you-go roaming rates

EE pay-as-you-go roaming works differently from roaming on EE’s pay-monthly plans. In the EU, you can pay £2.50 for 24 hours or £10 for seven days to access the minutes, texts, and data in your domestic plan. Without an active plan or EU roaming add-on, EE charges calls and texts at its standard roaming rates, and you’ll need to buy an add-on before you can use mobile data.

Outside the EU, standard call and text prices vary by destination. For example, EE currently charges £1.20 per minute to make or receive calls in the USA and Canada, with texts costing 60p each. Rates can be higher elsewhere.

Pay-per-use charges add up fast, so a roaming pass or a travel data plan often works out cheaper. If you’re using pay-as-you-go abroad, check the rate for your destination before turning on roaming rather than assuming your normal UK prices will apply.

Is EE roaming worth it? Cost by trip length

Whether EE roaming is worth the cost depends on how long you’re away. For a short EU trip, the daily charge is fairly small. Stay for a week or longer, though, and EE’s roaming passes add £16.50 for seven days or £27.50 for 12 days to your phone bill.

*Prices retrieved on August 13, 2026.

EE’s daily EU charge applies per UK calendar day, from midnight to midnight UK time, so the number of charges may differ from how long your trip actually lasts.

For a weekend in Europe, paying EE’s daily rate may make sense if you want to keep using your existing plan. For longer trips, it’s worth comparing the total with alternatives before you leave, particularly if you’re visiting several countries or traveling outside EE’s European roaming zone.

Saily Ultra plans include a high-speed data allowance followed by unlimited data at up to 1 Mbps across multiple destinations for a monthly price, so your data cost doesn’t increase with each day you spend abroad.

How to activate EE mobile data roaming

Before you travel, make sure roaming is active on both your EE account and your device:

1. Check your EE account. If you’re a pay-monthly customer, text ROAMING to 150 for free and follow the instructions to check that your account is set up for roaming. If you use PAYG, make sure you’ve used your SIM on EE’s UK network before you travel.

2. Turn on data roaming. Open your phone’s mobile network settings and make sure data roaming is enabled. If you’re not sure what that setting does, check out our guide explaining what data roaming is.

3. Check your plan or balance. Make sure you have the roaming pass, add-on, or PAYG credit you’ll need for your destination.

4. Connect when you arrive. Your phone should connect to a partner network automatically. Expect a welcome text from EE with information about the roaming options available.

It’s best to check your roaming setup before you leave the UK, especially if you need to activate it for the first time.

EE roaming vs. Saily eSIM: Which is cheaper for your trip?

EE roaming can be convenient because you can keep using the same SIM and allowance you use at home while traveling abroad. But the cost depends on your destination, plan, and how long you travel. A Saily eSIM separates your travel data from your EE plan, with either a data plan for your destination or a Saily Ultra subscription for frequent travel. 

If you haven’t used one before, check out our guide to what an eSIM is and how it works. It’s one of several ways of using your phone overseas without roaming on your regular mobile plan.

💡 Pro tip: You can download the Saily app to choose a plan and set up your eSIM before you travel. You may also use the Saily website to manage your eSIM account.

For a short trip, particularly within EE’s EU roaming area, EE may be the cheaper and simpler choice. A single-destination Saily eSIM can make more sense if you mainly need data and don’t want to pay your carrier’s roaming rate.

For frequent or multi-country travel, Saily Ultra removes the need to work out EE roaming zones for every destination. Ultra plans start at US$29.99 per month (around £21.99) and include data across 121 destinations. Each plan comes with a set amount of high-speed data, followed by unlimited data at speeds of up to 1 Mbps for the rest of the month.

EE isn’t the only UK network that uses destination- and plan-specific roaming rules. Vodafone also divides destinations into different EU roaming zones, while the cost of O2 roaming in the USA depends on whether your plan includes international roaming or you need to pay for O2 Travel.

Use a separate number while traveling 

A travel eSIM usually only covers mobile data, but Saily also offers a phone number add-on if you need to make calls or send texts while you’re away. For US$0.99 per month, you can get a dedicated US (+1) number through the Saily phone number add-on. Call and text plans start at an additional US$0.99.

The number works alongside your Saily data plan and can be used to make and receive calls, send SMS messages, and receive verification codes from supported services. Together, Saily Ultra, the phone number add-on, and a call-and-text plan cover data, calls, and texts — so you don't need an EE roaming pass at all..

Good to know: Your Saily number will be a new US number, not your existing EE number. If you need to stay reachable on your usual UK number, you’ll still need to keep your EE line available. You can read more about how the feature works in our guide to Saily eSIMs with a phone number.