question about the £3 international bolt on

[kittypoosy]

I am going round in circles trying to find out the best way to use my mobile while in Australia for a few weeks.

I asked in an o2 shop & was told that if I use my phone at any time I would be charged £6 p/day for the duration of my holiday, also there are no bolt ons available for me.

I have now found online the £3 per month International Bolt On, available to me, which reduces mobile calls & txts to 5 & 6p/min.  However there is no other information there re other charges.  If I buy this bolt on, then turn off roaming and only use local wifi for data, will I still be charged £6 a day for using the phone?

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@kittypoosy 

That bolt on is for use in UK to call abroad, not whilst abroad.

Roaming charges are vas you have been advised unless you have travel inclusive on your account.

Guide here Guide: Roaming MegaGuide 

[kittypoosy]

Oh darn! thanks. Perhaps the best way is to upgrade for a month as I'm out of contract now anyway. We rarely travel abroad & thought by now all this stuff would be simpler 😑

[MI5]

@kittypoosy 

Perfect if you can upgrade to a tariff which includes travel inclusive.

[kittypoosy]

ok, I have another query now. The man in the O2 shop told me the £6 p/day charge would be automatically triggered when my phone connected to the Australian network, ie when I step off the plane (or so I understood).  That would mean £126.        Now I've found this on the O2 website  

"You'll only be charged on the days you use O2 Travel. The daily charge applies from midnight to midnight local time (based on the capital city of the country you're in), and will be triggered if you make calls, send texts or use data. It won't be triggered by receiving calls or texts."

So if I have to call/text UK on say 3 seperate days during our hols it will cost me £18, no matter how long the call, or how many texts on those days. Am I understanding this correctly?

[MI5]

@kittypoosy 

Yes, it only costs you on the days you use it.

You get 120 mins of calls and 120 texts per day, free. 

Anything over that is charged at roaming rates.

Data use will also trigger the charge so you need to make sure all data connections are off in the phone settings, as the phone will use data without you knowing about it.

[kittypoosy]

That's so helpful, thankyou very much👍

[MI5]

You're welcome

[Bambino]

@kittypoosy If you don't need to use data on any particular day, you can download WhatsApp if you don't have it already. You can use the app over WiFi to call, text and video call your friends and family in the UK who also have the app for free.

[gmarkj]

Something else to look out for @kittypoosy: depending on which phone you have, turn off visual voicemail/iMessage or similar.

Your phone may send an SMS "behind the scenes" to register for those services, which you are charged for (and will cause the £6 per day charge).

The phone does this when it is turned off/on (and possibly when airplane mode is turned off - not 100%)