Roaming questions

[Rozii]

Hi,

I currently have both the O2 Travel (Zone 2) Bolt On and the O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Bolt On as a Volt customer. As I understand, these allow me to use data, calls, and texts in Europe and 27 extra countries outside Europe.

I’m currently in Turkey and I understand that, to use services here I’d need to either trigger the £7 daily charge on the days I use my phone or switch to an Ultimate tariff.

I have a few questions I’d really appreciate clarification on:

1- If I trigger the £7 Bolt On, is there a usage cap, particularly for minutes? I’ve seen mentions of a 120-minute limit in some places. My primary need is to receive calls from the UK, not make them. Are there limits on incoming minutes?

2- I’ve read that receiving texts or calls doesn't trigger the daily charge unless you use data, make a call/text. However I recently answered a call while in Turkey (from a US number), and the Bolt On was triggered.
Would this have happened if the call had been from the UK instead?
Does simply answering a call (and speaking for a few minutes) from a UK number trigger the £7 charge, or is that treated differently? USA call was an exception, though I don’t get charged if I receive a call from abroad while in the UK.

3- I didn’t receive any notification or warning that the £7 Bolt On had been triggered, no texts or app alerts. I only noticed it while checking my account page for tariffs and saw the timer counting down in the "Abroad" section. Even customer service confirmed it was active, but they couldn't explain the lack of notification or verify any extra charges yet. This was quite confusing, especially since I wasn't aware it had been triggered until it was almost over, and I didn’t get to use it properly.

4- Let’s say I switched to ultimate plan then I traveled for more than 63 days. If I turn off roaming and stop accepting calls after receiving the fair usage warning or 63 days, can I simply switch services back on and resume my regular UK tariff immediately upon returning? Or does the system require that the majority of the following 4 months must be spent in the UK before my usual tariff fully resumes? If so, would that mean potentially facing high or out-of-bundle charges during that time in the UK after my trip?

5- Is there 63 days limit on travel zone 2 daily charge option or can you use it as long as you pay £7 for every day you use?

I know this may be a bit confusing, but I’d appreciate any assistance.

My main concern is understanding whether, with both Travel Bolt included but not ‘active’, I would be charged for receiving calls from the UK and speaking for x amount of minutes. Most resources only cover outgoing calls, and it’s unclear what limits or charges apply to incoming calls.

Thank you very much for your help!

[pgn]

@Rozii 

1. Usage cap, no - but your Spend Cap will apply. No limit in incoming, but turn off Voicemail before you leave the UK as incoming calls sent to voicemail incur a charge for a call back to the UK.

2. Incoming call will trigger the roaming charge if answered; incoming SMS will not.

3. Any roaming activity will trigger it. Turn off cellular, WiFi calling and use only hotel data to avoid it triggering. And turn off voicemail.

4. After 63 days, all data and calls and texts become chargeable. Return to UK reverts to normal usage as per your tariff rates, but travelling outside UK within 63days will revert to chargeable, as above.

5.63days is it - after 63 days, charges apply, and O2 may throttle you if you persist.

Guide: Roaming MegaGuide 

[MI5]

@Rozii 

For the fixed price of £7 a day (for the days that you use it), you get unlimited minutes, texts and data in 63 destinations outside Europe (including USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & Mexico).

If you have a Spend Cap, the price of the O2 Travel Bolt On won’t be included in your Spend Cap.

How does O2 Travel work?

You’ll only pay for the days that you use it. If you don’t use it, there’s no charge.

The daily charge covers 24 hours from first usage and is triggered if you make a call, send a text or use data. It won’t be triggered by receiving calls or texts.

On Pay Monthly, there’s no limit on data usage. You can make unlimited calls back to the UK and within your destination. Calls to other countries aren’t included and will be charged at standard roaming rates.

While roaming, data speeds are capped at 2Mbps (that’s fast enough to watch standard definition Netflix on your mobile).

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

[Rozii]

Thank you.

The information provided mainly relates to outgoing calls and other usage, which is quite clear. However, the only mention of receiving calls states that the daily charge won’t be triggered. Yet in practice, it does get triggered if you receive and answer a call. I just don’t know for certain that it triggered because it was for receiving call and accepting it or because the call was from US.

That’s why one of my questions was specifically about this, to confirm whether simply answering an incoming call (from the UK) triggers the daily charge, as the information above seems to suggest otherwise.

I understand that receiving calls and texts without answering does not trigger any charges, and I’ve experienced this myself while travelling over the past three months. I’ve regularly received texts and missed calls without being charged. However, it’s unclear whether answering a UK call (and speaking for a few minutes) would activate the £7 daily charge.

I am now guessing, it would and I may need to change my tariff to ultimate plans, if I want a cheaper way to be able to answer as usual.

[MI5]

@Rozii 

Receiving and answering calls should not trigger the charge.

You need to get O2 to refund you if charged.

[Rozii]

Thank you very much for your response.

Regarding 3- I understand that using data, making calls, or sending texts will trigger the daily charge. However, shouldn’t I receive a text or some kind of notification when it becomes active? Is there no system message to confirm the start and end time of the £7 charge period? Or are we just expected to track it ourselves from the moment we use it?

As for 5 -I’ve been abroad for over 3 months now, with roaming on but cellular data turned off, and I haven’t used any services. I’ve only received texts and missed calls, which did not trigger any charges until yesterday, when I answered a call from USA.

Now I’m wondering: if I use the daily charge a few times (let’s say three separate days over the span of three months), does the fair usage policy calculate the 63-day allowance from the first time I triggered the charge? Or from when I got the initial welcome text abroad? I also received that text two times, as my phone was on airplane mode for 2 weeks at some point. It’s unclear how O2 tracks fair usage in cases where usage is infrequent but spread out over more than two months.

I’m seriously considering switching to the Ultimate Plan, mainly so I can use my services freely during the last 6 weeks of my trip. But I’m concerned that O2 might throttle or restrict service immediately, simply because I’ve been abroad for a while, even though I’ve barely used the services apart from one day.

[pgn]

@Rozii - you say you have been away for 3 months when this charge for answering a call whilst roaming landed - that is outside the mandated 63days limit.

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/roamfairuse

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/o2-consumer-fair-usage-policy

[Rozii]

@pgn Yes, it’s correct that I’ve been away for that long but it’s important to note that my phone wasn’t actively on or using any services for most of that time.

I haven’t used O2 services for more than 63 days. In fact, I only used it once by answering the phone call, yesterday, and it wasn’t even charged with surcharge rate, which you’d expect if it had fallen outside of fair usage. I also haven’t received any warning texts regarding fair usage.

On my account page, I could only see the countdown for the remaining travel time minutes on that single day as if the daily Bolt On had been triggered but no actual charges appeared. Customer service couldn't see any either. One advisor first said bolt wasn’t active, then later corrected themselves and said “Sorry for the misinformation, yes, it is triggered and active, but there are no charges on the account”

There is still no visible charge, but it may be delayed on the system, who knows.

I’ve had similar situations in the past, for example in 2020 and again in 2022 where I was abroad for more than 3 months, didn’t use my UK services at all, and just used a local eSIM. My o2 SIM was on throughout and still worked after the 63 days with no issues or charges. So I assume the fair usage rules apply based on actual usage rather than just being physically abroad.

Especially makes me think that way based on this line in their T&C: Using our inclusive roaming services outside the UK for more than 63 days in any four-month period is what we consider to be unfair use.

What I’m still unsure about is how the 63-day fair usage period is calculated in relation to the Travel Zone Bolt On. Is it counted as 63 consecutive days from the first time it’s triggered, or as a total of 63 individual days on which the Bolt On has been activated? That part remains unclear

Anyway, I think I’ll try using VoIP to receive my calls for the remaining 6 weeks, as I’d rather not commit to a ultimate contract to use my services abroad with no extra charges, only to be told I’ve already exceeded the fair usage limit simply by being physically abroad, even without actually using the services.

I might also try answering a UK call on another day to see if that triggers the daily charge, that would help clarify things, since the US call seems to have complicated the situation, and I got two conflicting responds here about whether receiving and answering a call from UK would trigger it.

I will feel quite silly to not use this option if it doesn’t trigger it as I missed some important calls

Hope that all made sense 🙈

[pgn]

An interesting section in these terms:

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/our-latest-pay-monthly-mobile-agreement

2.5 Other than in our Europe Zone, you will be charged for incoming calls if you're using your Equipment abroad, including the cost of receiving voicemail messages. If you use Services abroad, it will usually take longer to be billed. It's best to check the cost of using your Equipment abroad (excluding our Europe Zone) before you travel. Accidental roaming might occur if you are in an area close to national borders because your Equipment picks up a network across the border. If this happens, you may be charged as though you were roaming on an international network. You can prevent this if you are near a national border by setting your Mobile Phone or other Equipment (as applicable) to do a manual network selection and select the 'O2' Network. For more information about using our Service abroad, please visit your nearest O2 store or www.o2.co.uk/international.

Again, does O2 Travel (not O2 Travel Inclusive or O2 Travel Inclusive Ultimate) over-ride this?

As for the 63 days, my understanding was that started the first time your phone was picked up on a roaming network, and countdown would end the first day the phone was back on the UK O2 network. But it's a ropey area - contact O2 via Social Media using either of the links below for clarification. And don't forget - a lot of these rules changed this year, so be sure any agent working with you on the Social Media team has the latest version in front of them.

Good luck, @Rozii.

[MI5]

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@pgn wrote:

An interesting section in these terms:

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/mobile/our-latest-pay-monthly-mobile-agreement

2.5 Other than in our Europe Zone, you will be charged for incoming calls if you're using your Equipment abroad, including the cost of receiving voicemail messages. If you use Services abroad,

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But the link and extract I posted above says different.

The daily charge covers 24 hours from first usage and is triggered if you make a call, send a text or use data. It won’t be triggered by receiving calls or texts.

So I don't think the pay monthly T&C's refer to O2 Travel bolt on usage.