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Single fee to extend UK allowances to USA roaming

Darin McLean
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Hi, does ID Mobile have any plans in the near future to introduce a single charge, either as a daily, weekly, or periodic fixed rate that will allow one’s UK allowances (up to a reasonable amount) to apply to using the phone in the USA?  This is something that 3 used to offer for free in the past, and most other mobile providers offer it at a fixed price.  This would avoid being charged every time a call is made either on the ID phone from USA to the UK, or vice-versa.  Typical costs for this tend to be anywhere from £3 to £5 per day, or lower on a daily basis if purchasing a multi-day package.  I need to go the the USA but am getting worried about the cost of keeping in touch with people back home in the UK.  I won’t have any wifi or data networks to piggyback on for calling while in there.  Many thanks.

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Best answer by andewhite 22 March 2023, 13:26

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andewhite
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I doubt iD Mobile intend offering roaming add-ons outside of the EU, but who knows.

Otherwise, if you’ve got a dual SIM handset, just get a local SIM card to use while in the USA.

Most airport arrival halls have stalls selling PAYG SIM cards, aimed at international arrivals. Hope your trip to the US goes well.

Darin McLean
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It’s a real pity.  I’m a big fan of ID Mobile and have found their service to be great otherwise, but due to an upcoming work trip to the US might have to change to a different mobile provider that has a fixed-price roaming add-on option there.  I get loads of UK calls on my mobile, and normally they can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, so at £1.68/minute the costs could quickly become absurdly high.  Picking up a phone in the US isn’t a solution for me unfortunately, as the calls will be incoming to me from the UK.  Switching to mobile data calls via WhatsApp doesn’t appear to be a good alternative either since I believe the data charges per MB are quite exorbitant.  Before ID Mobile I used Three when it still had European and US roaming included in the deal.  That was really great, but unfortunately they stopped it being included and moved to the fixed daily price model like most other operators.  When I moved to ID Mobile I had naïvely assumed they too would have a fixed price roaming option available for my once or twice yearly trips to the US.   

andewhite
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I guess WhatsApp is an alternative to a mobile telephone call, if the caller is using WhatsApp too, and knows to call you using WhatsApp while you’re in the US.

While I was in the US recently, I bought a very cheap data-only eSIM (as 2nd SIM in my dual SIM handset). This worked well for me, and helped me avoid high call costs and roaming mobile data rates.

These days Vodafone/VOXI might be best for roaming options outside the EU.

 

Darin McLean
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Thanks for your suggestions.  My US trip isn’t for another month or two so I’ve still got a bit of time to find a good solution.  In an ideal world I could find another provider to switch my number to for a month or two and then switch back to ID Mobile after my return to the UK.  ID’s deal is really fantastic for everything I need except for the visits to the US.  I travel in Europe roughly every 5 to 6 weeks, so having the roaming included in the plan works great.   

andewhite
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SMARTY’s roaming rates for the US don’t look too bad - 5p/min to receive a call (from anywhere), and 10p/MB for roaming mobile data (with iDMobile its £1.50/min and 30p/MB respectively).

In addition, SMARTY plans have inclusive EU roaming, just like iD Mobile.

Darin McLean
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That’s really helpful, many thanks!  Will have a look at SMARTY.  I recall looking at them when I was switching from Three, but I chose ID Mobile because their reviews seemed more positive.  10p/MB for mobile data could still add up, as I would normally go through at least 1GB during my US visits, which would equate to £100.  Unfortunately, I won’t have any wifi to piggyback on so need to rely on mobile data for all my data traffic which generally includes loads of emails.  I suppose a temporary US mobile could be a solution for the data though.   

andewhite
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If you have a dual SIM handset, a local SIM (US) data-only plan might be the solution.
Just turn off mobile data on your UK SIM, and only use mobile data from the local SIM.
🍀🤞

Darin McLean
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That’s very interesting, many thanks for the suggestion.  I’ve never used dual SIMs, but it does appear that my iPhone 11 should support this as long as both cards are nano sized.  But it has occured to me that this might not solve my data problem when using WhatsApp as it’s dependent on the phone number which is on the SIM card.  Isn’t that right?  So if I turn off mobile data on my UK SIM card, I will lose WhatsApp communication with everyone who’s got my UK number which is pretty much everyone I would be communicating with while in the US, lol.

andewhite
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I found WhatsApp worked perfectly, with the dual SIM setup I used with my iPhone 13 @Darin McLean. 

I just turned OFF mobile data for my UK SIM card while in the US, and any apps needing mobile data obtained this via the 2nd (non-UK) SIM card in my iPhone, including WhatsApp.

 

Tom
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Hi @Darin McLean 

 

We don’t currently have any plans to add roaming bundles or add-ons to our plans, if you are roaming I’d recommend taking a look at the following link for the rates in any countries you plan on visiting.

 

https://www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/international-and-roaming-charges

 

Tom

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Darin McLean
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Thanks for your reply Tom and the confirmation about ID’s plans.  I had already seen the roaming charges, which would end up being very expensive for me. I think ID is fantastic for pretty much everything else I need it for except for my upcoming trip to the US 😥.  It’s quite a shame no bundle or add-on solution is available from ID.      

Kash
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@Darin McLean,

Unfortunately we only offer inclusive EU roaming at the moment.

It may be something that we offer in the future.

 

Kash

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McCarthaigh1953
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I think the failure to offer a roaming package for USA is going to be a growing problem post-Covid as travel returns. It would be a great bonus and loyalty reward. I would be happy to pay a set day fee as other providers offer.

Darin McLean
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Completely agree.  It’s the only flaw that I’ve come across with ID mobile who otherwise provide a truly fantastic service at the right price. 

Kash
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Hi @McCarthaigh1953 @Darin McLean,

This may be something that we offer in the future and our website will reflect this soon.

 

Kash

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McCarthaigh1953
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Kash, how soon, is the question this member due to holiday in Jun 23 wants to know...

Darin McLean
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Can’t happen soon enough for me too, as I’ll be travelling to the US at the end of May for an extended period of time and will need certainty very soon in regard to whether or not I need to find an alternative mobile solution for when I’m there.  Sadly, the current cost of data and calls on ID Mobile while I’m there would be prohibitive.

Ghostwalker
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Depending on your length of contact with ID Mobile you could switch to a Three PAYG SIM, I believe these still include international roaming, and then switch back to ID when you return. You can get a 50gb SIM for 13 quid on Amazon.

Darin McLean
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Thanks for your suggestion.  I had Three before switching to ID Mobile.  My main reason for switching was because Three had ended its inclusive roaming in Europe, i.e. they introduced a daily charge.  I spend around 2 weeks per year in Italy, so this would have added quite a fair bit to the annual cost.  ID has been fantastic in regard to EU roaming, but I’d overlooked its lack of roaming in the US.  My trips there are less frequent, but my next one will be in a few weeks time.  It might make sense to get a Three PAYG sim card with inclusive US roaming and insert it as a dual sim into my iPhone in anticipation of my USA trip, and then while in the USA simply turn off data on the ID sim.  This was an excellent suggestion by andewhite a month ago.  I’m also wondering if this would work - if I turn off roaming on the ID sim card so that any calls to my ID mobile phone number, or outward ones by me, would be done as wifi calls thus avoiding international roaming rates?  

andewhite
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Depending on your length of contact with ID Mobile you could switch to a Three PAYG SIM, I believe these still include international roaming, and then switch back to ID when you return. You can get a 50gb SIM for 13 quid on Amazon.

I believe you’ll still need to buy a Three roaming pass to use your Three UK’s PAYG bundle allowances while roaming in the USA. 

The Three “Go Roam” feature for 89 destinations has operated differently for Three bundles/plans started after 30-Sep-2021. 

 

Darin McLean
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Thanks andewhite.  

It does look like Three might actually include USA roaming at no extra cost in their PAYG deals.  Here’s their 25GB deal at £15 which I found on their site:  3 deal

The deal states “Free worldwide roaming in 71 destinations.”

My main worry in regard to getting a Three sim however, is that every time I travelled to the US in the past when I had a pay monthly sim from them I was never able to get tethering to work through it.  Spent literally hours on the phone with Three’s tec support who kept telling me it should work but it never did.  My wife’s Vodafone sim tethered with no problems. 

andewhite
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Thanks andewhite.  

It does look like Three might actually include USA roaming at no extra cost in their PAYG deals.  Here’s their 25GB deal at £15 which I found on their site:  3 deal

The deal states “Free worldwide roaming in 71 destinations.”

My main worry in regard to getting a Three sim however, is that every time I travelled to the US in the past when I had a pay monthly sim from them I was never able to get tethering to work through it.  Spent literally hours on the phone with Three’s tec support who kept telling me it should work but it never did.  My wife’s Vodafone sim tethered with no problems. 

If you’ve got a Three PAYG, or a Three Pay Monthly plan that started AFTER 1 October 2021, there’s a daily roaming fee to unlock your UK allowances - for 24 hours - in any Go Roam destinations.

You'll be charged as soon as you use any of your plan's allowances in a Go Roam destination.
The fees are £2/day in Europe, and £5/day around the world.

 

Mohammed
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Kash, how soon, is the question this member due to holiday in Jun 23 wants to know...

To clarify, this isn’t something that’s confirmed but Kash was advising it could change in the future and if it does the website would be updated to reflect.

We have no current plans to introduce inclusive roaming in the USA (though it was offered once upon a time on our legacy Takeaway plans).

Mohammed

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