Confused About Roaming – Virgin Media + O2 SIM Promo Says 75 Destinations, But I Only Get 27?

[Gruntyk]

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone here can help clarify something for me.

I recently signed up for a Virgin Media broadband package, and as part of the deal, I added an O2 Pay Monthly SIM. One of the advertised benefits was that I could "roam freely in 75 destinations at no extra cost, with O2 Travel Inclusive Zone" — which sounded great, especially as I travel a lot for work.

However, I just got back from South Africa and found that roaming there wasn’t included. After calling O2, I was told my plan only includes 27 destinations, not 75 — and that South Africa isn’t one of them.

This has left me pretty confused, as the original promo clearly mentioned the 75 destinations. I came across another O2 page that lists 75 countries under the O2 Travel Bolt On, which includes South Africa, and this is what I assumed the promo was referring to.

So, my question is:

• Which roaming package is actually included with the O2 SIM when it’s added through a Virgin Media broadband deal?

• Is it the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone (27 destinations), or should it be the broader O2 Travel (75 destinations)?

• Has anyone else had this experience or been able to get it sorted?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. Just trying to figure out whether something was missed on my account, or if the promo wording was misleading.

Thanks in advance!

[pgn]

As here, @Dave-O2 

Scroll all the way to the very last drop-down here:

https://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel-inclusive-zone

Viz:

"Our O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On covers 27 destinations outside Europe, whereas our O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate Bolt On, which is only available with our Ultimate Plans, covers ​75 destinations outside Europe, including Turkey, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Thailand ​and over 20 Caribbean Islands."

And offending 75 also in the smaller print on

https://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-media-o2

 

🧐🙄

[Dave-O2]

Morning @pgn 

So the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate Bolt On is different and does cover ​75 destinations outside Europe, including South Africa.

This is only available on the Ultimate Plan.

@Gruntyk If you want to confirm which plan you're on, please drop me a PM with your mobile number.

[Cleoriff]

@Dave-O2 

O2 were a bit crafty with that change. Originally we had:

O2 Travel and

O2 Travel Inclusive (which covered all 75 countries)

Then without any warning (about the time of Volt) they brought in 

O2 Travel Inclusive Ultimate

You then had to have an Ultimate tariff to get the TIU. 

[Enlli]

Hidden price rises.

Anyone got screenshots of the ooriginal deal?

[Cleoriff]

@Enlli 

No screenshots but over the years we had the following:

1) Roaming Guide (Contract) written by @darrengf in 2017. It's still in the Index but should be removed as it was written about travel costs post Brexit and is out of date now.

2) @EmilieT (one of our ex managers) wrote a Roaming Megaguide which did include O2 Travel Inclusive and showed the 75 countries. This was written in 2019.

3 @Chris_K Wrote the new Guide: Roaming MegaGuide in 2022. It replaced the one written by @EmilieT 

If you check, this only mentions O2 Travel and O2 Travel Inclusive. NOT O2 Travel Inclusive Ultimate

O2 Travel Inclusive only available in 27 additional out of Europe countries)

However, 'Rest Of The World' Info is included.

@Dave-O2

This guide needs amending to include O2 Travel Inclusive Ultimate. Also, many of the blue links which did lead to O2 info, no longer work. Just get an error message.

[Dave-O2]

Thanks for the tag @Cleoriff 

I'll look at removing the old guides and ensure the latest roaming guide is updated with all relevant information 😊 

[jonsie]

Nice one @Dave-O2 👍

[Cleoriff]

Thanks @Dave-O2