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.

[jonsie]

To be honest it's highly unlikely they will revert to the original O2 Travel charges. Most customers on here will lose out and be paying more. The only viable options for you are a change of network, unlock your phone and use a local sim card or do all your calls and messages via free apps over wifi.

Some will think the new flat rate of £1.99 per day is a real money saver, most obviously the heavy users. I would lose out with my occasional text and phone call but I have always managed over the years to use wifi only or a local sim card or both.

[MI5]

I guess it's here to stay so people will need to either adjust the way they use the phone abroad or find alternative ways to be in contact.

[PhoneDoc]

As far as I'm aware standard rates are the default on any O2 contract bought anywhere? At least in stores it certainly is. We have to specifically tell customers how the bolt on changes roaming rates and ask if they want it or not.

The exception would be upgrading customers who have previously opted in to O2 Travel - their preferences will be carried forward by default.

[MI5]

I wasn't asked if I wanted the o2 travel box ticking when I last took a contract in an o2 shop (travel was enabled when I checked), but that was a few years ago now.

[PhoneDoc]

Did you have O2 Travel enabled on your account prior to this?

[MI5]

No, it was a new contract.
Another one taken 6 months later from CPW did not have o2 travel enabled and I have subsequently seen the same pattern with other customers.

[jonsie]

My son bought a phone from the O2 store in Accrington a month ago. I checked the phone for him before he went to Javea and O2 Travel was already activated as a bolt on in My O2.

[GrahamW]

<< You do realise you can opt out of travel and just pay standard rates? >>

Yes.  But here's the poblem.

At 16.5ppm a twelve minute call will exceed £1.99.

A family call could easily exceed that ... so the Travel option looks good.

However, when I make a very short call (or send an SMS, or end up with an answering machine !) the £1.99 charge is, by anyone's measure, excessive.

So there is no way of knowing a priori whether opting in or out will be better ... in fact EITHER could turn out to be much worse !

The good thing with the "old" system was that 50p was a disincentive to make lots of "pointless" calls ... but if you did want to call someone, 50p was a reasonable cost AND you could talk in a relaxed manner without worrying about the clock !  Also, you knew where you stood throughout the holiday - the cost was simply going to be the number of calls made x 50p (OK, plus a few pennies for SMSs).

[MI5]

Yes, see your point, but with Tugo over wifi for low users I still think you can opt out and save money.
Heavy users will win too so with an adjustment to how we use our phones, everyone could benefit.

[PhoneDoc]

Ah - apologies for this then - the advisor wasn't following the process correctly. They should have explained how O2 Travel changes roaming charges and asked if you would like to opt in. Because it can impact billing, advisors should definitely not be opting customers in on their own volition. I believe this was recommunicated about 6 months ago, so I'd like to think the incidence of this happening is now a lot lower.