O2 Travel Changes 7/4

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I have been usng the free O2 Travel bolt on since 2016 as I travel to European countries quite often. I use it primarily to browse for when wifi is unattainable. I browse and I get charged £1.99 for the day. In terms of of making phone calls and text messages. If I text a UK number whilst in a European country I get charged 4p. So the overall current setup is:

"While travelling in Europe just pay a 50p connection charge to make and receive calls between European countries then talk for free for up to 60 mins. You'll pay just £1.99 for the days you use data in Europe & there’s no upper limit, but traffic management steps apply. £40 monthly spending limit for data outside Europe."

An email has been sent out from O2 stating changes to how O2 travel works. It now states that:

"From 7 th April 2016, we’ll be adding calls and texts sent back to the UK and within O2 Travel destinations, to the data you already get with our O2 Travel Bolt On. This will give you data, up to 120 minutes and 120 standard texts, per daily charge within selected destinations in Europe. With O2 Travel you’ll only be charged for the days that you use it."

My udnerstanding is that from 7/4 if I am in a European country and I text a UK number, rather than being charged 4p like I used to be, I will be charged £1.99.  Is this correct? I appreciate they are saying you can send up to 120 messages and still get charged £1.99 but I never send 120 messages. I usually send just a couple. By this logic, the £1.99  charged that was activated only when you used data, will now also be activated by sending a text message. If I send one text per day for 3 days I will end up paying £5.99? 

Can someone please verify tell me if I have misunderstood the change?

Thank you.

PS: I am not asking to be told about the different options to circumvent sending a text.. I just want to know that I have understood the changes correctly.

[Anonymous]

In addition to what @GrahamW wrote, there issue to be had about how the information was dessiminated to users.

Perhaps, o2 could look into MORE options to get such import messages across. Maybe incorporate a section in the MyO2 app for important information or changes like this?

[GrahamW]

Thank again PhoneDoc.

Once more your clarity and brevity are exemplary !

I hadn't realised the asymmetry of call costs between the UK and Spain.  It costs £1 per min to call Spain but only 16.5p per min to call the UK.  Go figure !

On the wider point, your "light user v. heavier user" explanation makes it now clearer than ever to me that this new "O2 Travel" bolt-on really requires a reset for most (if not all users).  O2 should have opted us all out "a priori" and then, with your explanation, invited us to join if we wanted to either use data or make long calls.

For my part, I can llive without data on holiday.  In the past I have restricted my browsing to WiFi areas with mobile data turned off and so and have never once triggered the current (confusingly similar) £1.99 daily data charge.

Clearly my pizza calls are going to be less than 12 mins, so I'll use normal roaming @16.5p per min.

I now see that I have already been "caught out" with O2's "tricky" charging, even with the current version of O2 Travel.  During my last several visits I have paid 50p per pizza call when I could have opted out of travel and paid 16.5p per min instead !

[Cleoriff]

Not forgetting that pizza order could have taken 4 minutes. .then you would have paid more than 50p #justsaying 

[darrengf]

I know that there has been a lot of discussion on roaming with the new bundle. However if I'm right. As per Vodafone website, the European charges are also dropping by legal requirement of eu on the 30th April.

This is from Vodafone own website. Changes to Pay monthly roaming charges
From 30 April 2016 you can use your phone or tablet in our Europe Zone 1 for less. You’ll pay less to use data, make calls and send texts, so you can keep in touch with loved ones back home - or new friends you’ve met along the way - without worrying about the costs.
Standard roaming charges
Roaming charges in Europe Zone 1 Until 29 April 2016 From 30 April 2016
Making a call to another country (charged by the minute, 30-second minimum call charge)
Now 16.5p from 30th April 4.3p

Receiving a call from another country (charged by the minute, 1-second minimum call charge)
Now 4.3p from 30th April 0.9p

Text message
Now 5.1p From 30th April 1.6p

Data (including dongles)
Now 17.4p a MB! From 30th April 4.3p a MB

These prices include VAT where applicable.
These changes won’t apply in our Europe Zone 2, which covers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Isle of Man and Channel Islands (inc. Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm), the Faroe Islands, San Marino, Switzerland and Turkey.

Opt in to Vodafone EuroTraveller and you can take your UK data, minutes and texts anywhere in our Europe Zone for just £3 extra a day (inc. VAT). This could make your savings even greater when using your phone or tablet in Europe, and you’ll only pay on the days you use it.

EE OR Threes haven't put new pricing up yet, but if I'm correct, o2 will also be changing there's due to EU regulation.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/campaigns/roaming-july-15-paym/changes-to-pay-monthly-roaming-charges/

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/roaming-tariffs

so I would double check before you opt in or opt out as if roaming rate do drop,  sending 1 SMS could charge either 2p or £1.99.

😳

[MI5]

Yes, I did say a while back in the thread that I assumed standard charges would be dropping too but I haven't found the revised o2 pricing as yet.

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Yes, I did say a while back in the thread that I assumed standard charges would be dropping too but I haven't found the revised o2 pricing as yet.

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Agree...we know the implications of O2 travel....but wouldn't you think the standard rates would have been published IF they were going to change? (It may have saved a lot of anger on this thread)

[MI5]

I'm sure o2 will get round to it in their own time......

[darrengf]

I'm still waiting to hear about the changes via email or SMS, I've had nothing and I can tell you that no one where I work has had anything yet as everyone comes to me to check on things.  So they have either stopped the info being sent and a revision is going to be sent or something has changed?  

[MI5]

Dunno, had my email a few days ago
....

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Dunno, had my email a few days ago
....

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I think mine came a couple of days after you.. as I was claiming jokingly that maybe I was exempt...

Edit. It came on the 4/3